Edric seemed a bit startled as the little girl standing beside the topiary began to grin and get all… cheerful. He looked around for a moment. Was she smiling… at him? Had he made her smile? Cheered her up? MADE HER HAPPY?! WHAT?!

Edric didn't make people happy. Edric irritated people.
Edric didn't make friends. Edric made enemies.
Edric didn't do GOOD DEEDS, he just sent everyone running off in the opposite direction!

So… basically… he had no idea how to react to this. So he tried to smile back. But instead he just kinda looked like this.

The boy's uneasiness didn't go unnoticed and the second year raised her eyebrows, wondering what was going on. He seemed unsure how to react to her happiness but she had only smiled at him, surely this had occurred before! It wasn't exactly an uncommon gesture. She watched uncomfortably as the boy smiled tried to smile. What appeared on his face though was slightly frightening and looked painful. "All right?" She asked, concerned.

Not wanting him to continue making that face for fear it might actually get stuck that way, Ella tried to change the subject. "I just realized I never even told you my name. Bit strange since we've just had a whole conversation, yeah? I'm Ella."

Edric's grimace smile dropped as the girl asked if he was alright. Wut? Why would she ask if he was alright? Was there something wrong with his face? With his smile?! Self-conscious now, Edric brought a hand in front of his mouth as if hiding it would get the memory of his awful forced smile out of her head.

Luckily, the girl had been kind enough to switch the subject.

"I'm Edric," he replied after she introduced herself. "Sixth year Gryffindor… you?" Judging by her robes he could tell she was in Hufflepuff at least.

Paulie rolled his eyes yet again when she mentioned the veritaserum. "You really don't trust me at all? I just saved you from a broken neck!" Okay, maybe nothing quite that drastic, but he DID help her down, didn't he?

How are things going with him and Tori? Is their relationship just as strong despite the long distance and lack of communication? Ewww, okay, Paulie didn't like this game already. But he gave his word, and so he slumped against the back of the bench some more and sighed pathetically. "I love Tori, a lot." And yes, that was the first time her ever said OUT LOUD that he loved her. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, maybe? "But the long-distance thing just isn't working out so great. For me, at least." He matted down his hair a few times. "I seriously hate it. And what makes it worse is that I know it's not gonna change any time soon 'cause she'll still be goin' to school and I'll be shipped off to who knows where!" And Paulie didn't know what in the world was the right thing to do about this.

He slipped his hands in his pockets and figured now it was time to move on. "Well, now that you've succeeded in making me sa-aad," Paulie said with an attempted smile, though he was only half-joking. That was actually probably why he didn't like saying these sorta things: because he didn't like showing that Paulie Foster did get sad. "I forgot what I was gonna ask you.." His forehead crinkled. "Oh! How are you and Adam, like, relationship-wise?" And he had totally asked that question before she asked hers, so SHE had been the question copycat.

Anya nodded. "Of course you are! I don't make friends with meanies!" Anya just meant that Hufflepuffs had a reputation for being nice and agreeable.

Just like Alec. (And yes. She did smile a little at the thought of the badger.)

Anya shrugged. "I find lots of stuff interesting. Like. If you saw a cloud that looked like a unicorn... that would be pretty exciting news." And she wasn't just saying that. It really would be exciting!

Well to her anyway. Probably because she had a knack for only seeing elephants in clouds.

Anya clapped her hands excitedly. "I know. Isn't it?! He's the best." She grinned happily. "I wanna meet your best friend now. That way we can talk about them together. That would be fun, right?" And it sounded like something girls did together.

She did trust him, and it wasn't because he saved her from a broken neck but because he did live up to her expectations last year when he pulled off the act of flirting and kept his mouth shut about it to his best friend - so yeah, he lived up to even higher than her expectation. Louisa didn't even know if this was bad or good. She let it go, though, because he started answering.

Whaaaaoooo.

Louisa's face slowly changed from smug to sympathy. The surprise that Paulie Foster actually felt this way toward this Tori girl was hidden well. Maybe it was mean of Louisa to be surprised, since Paulie was a human being after all, but she'd never thought he'd actually commit to one girl just because he loved her. She found herself staring at him quite differently too, when his tone was a bit bitter or sad. "I wasn't aiming to make you sad." she said softly. She had like... a dozen questions now, too. But she waited until he re-asked his original one.

Her head turned to look up at the cat as she answered, "It's not different from when we were merely friends." And her tone was very neutral, "Maybe it's because it's been only like a week..." she looked back at Paulie and hesitated. The next words were dangerous and she wanted to know if Paulie was the one to know them or not.

....

"I don't have romantic feelings for him," she almost whispered and then pursed her lips together. A second later she elaborated, "I mean, don't get me wrong. I am happy that we're giving this a go, and I am even happier that he is happy. But I can't say I'm in the same boat as him. Not yet, anyways." Was that bad? Louisa sighed and started fiddling with the bandaged wrist, "I think once we..." kiss? hold hands? "... actually act like a couple, it'll come to me." Even if not, Louisa wanted Adam to stay her boyfriend. She was happy and that's that.

"Does she love you as much as you do? You trust her enough to be committed to her even when she's thousand miles away somewhere, is she doing the same?" BAM! Louisa's trust issue was starting to surface.

Ella mentally scolded herself for asking if this boy was alright. Especially since this caused him to put his hand over his mouth. Sigh. Ella could be tactless sometimes.

Edric huh? Ella made a mental note of his name and face in case she saw this boy around the castle again which was bound to happen. And he was a sixth year? Merlin's beard, he was old. Older boys kids usually made her squirmy but she was trying her best not to show it. She was twelve now after all... That was nearly teen status, no? "Second year Hufflepuff." She said proudly, sitting up a little taller. "Do you like being a Gryffindor?" She asked suddenly, curious. She only knew a couple and was wondering what it was like what with all that bravery and whatnot bottled up into one house.

Edric, almost like a hunting dog, could sniff the girl's surprise at his year. Hm. He loved intimidating the little ones. Mwahahahha. He wasn't feeling much like bullying at the moment, though. Ella was too near his good side for him to scare her off now.

"Second year?" he repeated, eyebrows slightly raised. D'awwww. Her time here was only beginning.

And then Ella was asking if he liked being a Gryffindor.
"Well, I haven't much of a choice, have I?" asked Edric, raising an eyebrow. No one really got to choose their House, so they might as well learn to like it. "It's alright, I suppose," he added with a shrug, assuming his first response had probably been too cynical. "We're supposedly brave, so that can't be bad. But honestly I can't really tell how brave I am here. The school's too safe, nothing ever happens." How was he supposed to be all Gryffindor-ish if there was nothing around to scare him and prove his bravery? "And it gets a little annoying when all the boys in the common room are giving each other stupid bets to see who's bravest." Honestly that wasn't bravery, in Edric's opinion, it was teenage boy stupidity and egotism.

The Gryffindor boy was now absentmindedly digging through his pockets in search of his wand. Instead, he stumbled upon a bag of… gummy bears! The discovery sent a slight grin on his face - a genuine one - as he immediately opened the bag. Peanuts all forgotten.

"What about you? Must be fun to have your common room right next to the kitchens." Edric certainly did envy the Hufflepuffs' luck there. They could sneak out and get midnight snacks without going through the whole trip he had to go through, sneaking past the portraits and down the moving stairs every night.

A smile was visible on the small girls face as Anya said she wasn't mean. YAY! " Yay! Thats good!" mean people werent good, mean people were mean. Hence the naming them of mean people.

Brooke loved this girl. MELLOW. They were like quite a lot alike tbh, they both liked Alec, they both liked cloud spotting and they both liked Unicorns! "I love unicorns. I WANNA SEE A UNICORN CLOUD!" Her new friend was right, this WOULD be exciting!

Seeing a unicorn cloud would be super exciting, omg. They were probably like super rare!

Brooke giggled as Anya clapped her hands. "It isss! And he is!" Well, okay he was joint best with Dar or maybe even a close second. Anya had now been moved up there somewhere high too. "MYYY Best friend is AWE-TOTHE-SOME! His name is Dar- I mean Damon." she corrected herself remembering Dar didn't like people knowing his name was Darwin anymore. "You should meet him!" Like soon!

"I know," Paulie answered, when she told him that her motive was not to make him unhappy, and he gave her a smile. "I was just kidding." Sorta. And since Louisa had no guidance to offer him about his troubles, he listened to her answer his own question.

And, unfortunately, it was pretty similar to what Paulie had suspected. She didn't really feel anything romantic for Adam. A frown pulled at his lips a little, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he waited for her to go on. So, it sounded like she was waiting for these... new feelings for Adam to surface when they kissed or something. Like, from a fairy tale kiss. "Still hasn't kissed ya," Paulie murmured, shaking his head. If Paulie were Adam, he would have kissed the girl AGES ago! Hadn't the boy ever heard that 'Kiss The Girl' song from that mermaid movie?! And things would probably be different, too. Then again, maybe Adam had some method to his madness. Maybe he was waiting for a perfect date and a perfect time, or something. Although, perfection was hard to come by. Paulie released a sigh. "Man, I don't even know what to tell you guys." And that was saying something because Paulie had an opinion on everything. "I mean, I guess you can't change the way you feel, but at the same time, it's kinda not fair to Adam when you're dating him, but don't actually have romantic feelings for him yet." Like, what if she never developed them? And then Adam would just be getting strung along, all for nothing. He glanced over at her bandage that she was toying with.

"I think so," he answered, in regards to her new question. "And yeah.. I trust her, even if she's so far. But she's real pretty, ya know, so I can't say I trust the meathead Frenchies who are probably hittin' on her left and right." Lucky that Tori was so strong-willed, heh. Paulie thought a little, then rested his chin on his fist. If anyone, he was more worried about trusting himself than Tori.

"Next question for you." And it still related to the Trojan War. "Do you still have feelings for Joao?" Yeeeaaah, that was a big one.

Honestly, Ellie wasn't at all paying attention to her surroundings. What didn't include topiary, that is. Because she really had no intention of meeting anyone or even seeing someone she knew, it was a big school after all, and her very top priority at the moment was Bunny. And finding Bunny a bush!bunny companion.

But that 'hey' was way to close to her to ignore, even if it wasn't intended for her. The Ravenclaw redheaded Captain lifted her head to the voice. The boy who spoke came as quite the surprise to her. Didn't she...intimidate him? Just as she did everyone else for some odd reason she'd never understand? Or just the fact that he's always seen her in her worst mood, immediately after losing a match? To him, no less?

He seemed very friendly, though, and soon Ellie was wearing a small smile. His question took her a moment to figure out. For whatever reason, she kept thinking people were concerned about whether or not she was 'okay' or 'alright' because...of Treyen...because she really didn't feel very 'okay' or 'alright' lately because of Treyen. Or rather, lack of Treyen. But....no. This was the little star first year Seeker. Even if that was what he meant by that question, Ellie wasn't about to go telling him that she wasn't. That her birthday just passed and that made everything worse.

So he'd meant 'you look hurt' to her. Physically. But she wasn't. And she had that smile on her face to show him so. "I'm fine," she nodded, "Have you seen a bunny shaped topiary, by the way?" she asked, stroking Bunny's head with her finger tips.

Did Alec see Bunny? There was a reason she was looking for this particular topiary. She wasn't too weird, you know.

O___________O WHAAAA? D:

Louisa's face was red because that murmur didn't go unheard, SHE was sitting right next to him! Yet she didn't let her red face prevent her from scowling at him, "Hey!" It wasn't that she craved Adam to kiss her... it was just... well... she.. might've, could've, possibly wondered what it'd be like. If he kissed her. Often. Like Joao used to. Anyways, this was NOT Paulie's business. HMPH.

Not fair for Adam? Louisa's face didn't cool down but she gained her ability to argue pretty fast, "What do you mean it's not fair for Adam?" It somewhat bugged her, "I'm doing what he wanted me to do two years ago. And I only did it when he said it won't affect our friendship no matter what." So.. yeah... this was Louisa's logic.

By the time he answered her question, she had her pale skin back. "She's lucky, you know." Her mouth twitching at the corners, "For having someone who's as committed to her as you." Because commitment was Louisa's sacred virtue that nobody close to her really had in them.

Joao popped up quite early in Paulie's questions and even if Louisa expected this, she couldn't help but drop her gaze and wear a stern look. "I don't want to answer this." Because she'd just seen Joao the other day and his lips were still a fresh memory. "But just to fulfill my promise of answering truthfully, I can tell you that I've seen him a couple of times over the summer and here." Her face was still passive and not looking at Paulie's. "Every time I did... I got... nervous." And her heart leapt once or twice before Joao was a jerk again and everything died away.

"Your turn..." she shifted in her place to face him, "How many girls have you kissed besides Tori?" SMIRK.

Bahahah! Paulie didn't realize that Louisa would get so... offended about his kiss comment! "Oh, don't have a baby, Miss Wildfire Blush." He concealed a little smirk, though, still amused.

Oh, lordy, THIS GIRL!! Paulie hit his palm against his forehead and shook his head. "He doesn't want you to date him just for the sake of making him happy! He wants you to be happy dating him. Otherwise that just defeats the purpose." Silly, silly Louisa. In instances like this, Paulie was WAY smarter than his Ravenclaw friend.

Paulie smiled a bit. It was nice to hear that someone might be 'lucky' to have him. Of course his mum had told him this plenty of times, but she didn't COUNT! But, because he knew that it was he who was really the lucky one, he just gave a subtle shrug and smiled slightly.

She didn't want to answer this?! PFFFFT. Well, there were a LOT of things that Paulie didn't want to do, but that didn't mean he could just blow them off! And if Louisa blew off this game already, then Paulie would have been quite peeved at her, especially considering that he hadn't been too keen on answering her questions. But, fortunately, she stayed true to the rules and answered him. "I see," he answered slowly. So, she had no lovey-dovey feelings for Adam and she was dating him, but she did still have some butterflies in her stomach for Joao, yet she wasn't with him. This wasn't completely horrible, though. In fact, it was kinda expected; considering that she and Joao were exes, it wasn't surprising that there may have been a biiiit of unresolved emotions between them. So, yes, Paulie could justify this: "Well, those feelings are expected after a break-up. The good thing is that you're movin' on."

Gahhhhhhhhh. WHY couldn't they have some sort of loophole in this game? Couldn't Paulie just give ONE smart-alec reply? 'Cause he would use it right now. Mhmmm, he could say that he kissed TWENTY girls, two of whom were super-famous celebrities or something. But, knowing that he had to tell the complete truth, the boy laughed and dragged all ten of his fingers back through his hair. Which probably made him look absolutely lovely. Finally, behind another laugh, he admitted, "None!"

Ei ei eiiii. Okay, moving on! "'Kay, anyway..... what was your first impression of yours truly?" He grinned. And he could probably guess her answer pretty accurately. She was gonna say how she thought he was cray crayyyyyyyyy.

And things haven't changed all that much. ;P

Ignoring her zillionth nickname, Louisa pouted at the boy as he explained. A bit exasperatedly, too. She wasn't stupid... she just.. "I am happy for being with him." she concluded. Adam was nice, supportive, sweet and she felt very good when he was around and even better when he was happy for being with her. Why was it necessary that she swooned around him? Hffff.

None? Louisa laughed, too, and raised one eyebrow at him. He obviously wasn't lying because he'd be coming up with crazy names or whatever. Huh. He wasn't the kind of boy she expected him to be. And she didn't know whether that was good or bad... maybe neither. "Wasn't expecting that, I must say." She didn't elaborate on the answer and just waited for his question.

Oooooooooh. She grinned at him and started nodding her head, "Turning the game to a touchy field, huh?" Only it wasn't really that touchy. Louisa had no problem throwing her pure ideas at the boy even if they were about him. And not so shiny. "Let me recall that jinxed day..." she made a huge deal of crossing her legs and staring up at the sky with a dramatic thoughtful look on her face, "I remember JB being with me and spotting you in the gazebo and then attacking you." It was actually a funny encounter and she found herself chuckling as she continued, "I thought you were too goofy, too playful, reckless, irresponsible and a bit full of yourself.." Pause..

"Then when I knew you a bit more.." Her smile just faltered to a forced one. Not entirely forced but.. "I knew that you only wanted to hang out with me because of Adam." Not that it was shocking, someone like Paulie wouldn't enjoy the company of someone like Louisa. She didn't really care that much anyway, only a little or maybe more than a little.
Widening her smile instantly to prevent any awkward moments, she added "It's not really a big deal, anyways." AHEM.

"My turn.." And she didn't want to risk asking the same question he did. Her reactions usually were very obvious to hide from him and she didn't want another nickname to her collection. "What do you dream of doing after graduation?" That was an important thing to know, right? She wanted to know his 'dreams'. Real ones that didn't include eating the biggest pizza or getting on the cover of a magazine.

Alec didn't know what to think. This was a girl who, no doubt, hated him and he had so casually walked up to her and said 'hey'? What was he thinking?! He could have easily hid away somewhere... anywhere! Somewhere that wasn't near the redheaded Captain. Then maybe he wouldn't have had to face the weirdness of this conversation.

What was weirder was the fact that the thirteen year old immediately got the mental image of the older girl crying at the end of the previous year. Wasn't crying something you do in private? Or around your bestest of friends? Alec had never cried in front of anyone ever before. Only in his sleep... once! But Ellie? She had cried in front of people! Even if one of them was her... boyfriend! EWWW!

... Alec kind of missed Treyen now.

But look! She was smiling! This was a start! Maybe this meant that she wasn't mad at him at all! Alec could feel himself getting slightly happier at this thought. People who were mad... didn't smile. Unless they were really really mad and they were being mean and wanted to smile in an evil way. But... Ellie wasn't evil. No! She wasn't even mean! She was just... Ellie. And he didn't know her very well.

What kind of surprised the young Hufflepuff was the fact that the girl... Ellie... was actually talking to him! ... Something had definitely happened to the girl this year. Her question was just that little bit weird. "That's good!" he said, smiling, "Erm... no? Am I meant to find it?" Was there a PRIZE? ... ICE CREAM?!

"I like your bunny!" ... Would Treyen be proud?

"You know what I mean. Like, romantic and sappy and all that." 'Cause Adam felt THAT way for her, and that's how he would like her to feel about him. But if she didn't feel that way, then it was perfectly okay..... as long as she wasn't misleading Adam. She seemed to be pretty straightforward about it, though, oddly enough.

After his bout of chuckles finally subsided, he was still left smiling. "Yep, sad, but true. I fawned over the same girl at Beauxbatons, only to have her spurn me again and again. Looking back, it was actually pretty comical." hehe. Now if Louisa counted attempted kisses, that was another story.

Oh, ohh! Louisa was getting all thoughtful about her response! Or, Paulie at least appreciated her dramatic body language. Paulie liked exaggeration; needless to say, he was prone to it. Goofy, playful, reckless, irresponsible, and full of himself. "Well, well! I'd say you're pretty darn good at first impressions, 'cause all those seem to be extremely accurate."

He was curious, though, as to why her face suddenly fell a little. And so he waited. Her next words sent a pang of hurt to his heart! "Louisaaaa," he drawled, now pouting himself. "You're one of my closest friends, and I'd hang out with you even if I weren't best mates with Adam. Even if you didn't wanna spend time with me, I would still force you to." Now, Adam's interest in Louisa was his initial reason behind first striking up a conversation with her, yes, but he would never apologize for that because, had it not been for Adam's droning on and on about her, then Paulie may never have met her at all! And THAT would have been a great tragedy.

Right, now the question was back at him. And it was a simple one, too. "Fighter pilot," he answered, without missing a beat. "Dunno if that's actually gonna happen, but who knows."

Nowwwww, what else to ask Louisa? Something GOOD, 'cause this game forced her to give totally honest answers. As he pondered, he glanced back at her injured arm. "Your wrist doin' okay?" And NO, that did not count as his question for her.

Hmmmmmmmm. Aah. Cue the brain lightbulb. "'Kay, so these are all easy, easy questions, so that's why you have to answer all three," he warned her. Ahem. "What's your favorite food, color, and flower?"

.... wait WHAT? Louisa frowned thoughtfully at him, "You were in Beauxbatons?!! before Hogwarts?" Whaaaaaaat? And, "You fawned over the same girl? Like... you tried to be with her back then and she rejected you but then she fell for you when you were transferred to Hogwarts?" Louisa liked to re-explain things. It made more sense coming from her mouth, heh.

All of those were accurate? "No, they're not." She raised her eyebrows, "You're not irresponsible for starters, which's why you have this big badge on you." With her good arm she pointed at it, "And then you're not full of yourself more than I am.." GASP "Aaaaand we're forgetting I've just said that immediately." She tried to remove the grin from her face. Yes, Louisa knew that she was a bit arrogant when it came to one thing or other.

Whao again. Louisa's mouth formed a crooked smile as Paulie drawled her name out and said the nicest thing he'd ever uttered in their two year friendship. "Oh darn, I was crossing my fingers for a confirmation." But her face was just... glowing. In a not creepy way. "Just so you know, I've never jumped off a pole for someone before." With the same crooked smirk on her face.

Fighter pilot?!?!?!?!?!

Louisa's humor quickly subsided, "What?! Are you serious? Why?" She didn't get it why would anyone, especially a seventeen years old wizard with a not-so-bad face, choose such a dangerous career? Why?

The Ravenclaw looked down at her bandaged wrist, she hadn't moved the hand a lot throughout this game. It did throb and hurt a little but her mind was already occupied so, no worries. "It's fine." His three light questions were amusing though. She chuckled at them before counting on her fingers, "My favorite food is mashed potatoes, my favorite color is green, and my favorite flower is a daisy. I don't really care about flowers, though, I just like those little white petals." And she already asked him a question, "Why do you want to be a fighter pilot?" HECOULDDIE! D:

Ella watched Edric's reaction to her year and smiled. The second year nodded, indicating that yup, she was indeed a youngin. "It's kind of cool this year because I'm not as nervous about everything like I was last term." Yup, that was definitely one of the perks of returning to Hogwarts this year.

Edric was right, he didn't really have a choice about what house he was in. Perhaps that had been a dumb question. Ella would have frowned but he continued to answer it anyway which stopped the frown from forming. Her eyebrows raised when he told her that the school was too safe. Huh? She had had some scary experiences in her time and she was only a second year. "You should have been around on the pathways last term then. A blast-ended skrewt shot itself at my friends and I! It was so scary. I really don't like those creatures. Who farts fire? Dumb skrewt..." She'd show that creature if it ever showed up again, though. She had learned how to deal with it in CoMC. Ella couldn't help but laugh at the thought of the boys in Gryffindor daring each other to prove their bravery. Seemed kind of barbaric or something. "They really do that? Boys are so weird." She looked up at Edric sheepishly, realizing that he was in fact a boy. "N-not that you're weird." Nope, he seemed pretty normal. "Besides, bravery doesn't have to be just facing dangerous stuff. People are brave when they do things that scare them despite the fact that they're scared...like public speaking." Shudder. Ella hated public speaking.

She watched curiously as Edric dug in his pockets, wondering what he was searching for. Her eyes grew wide when she saw that he had gummy bears. GUMMY BEARS! She smiled at him expectantly, eyebrows raised. He wanted to share with her, yeah?

Ella nodded enthusiastically when he inquired about her liking having a common room near the kitchens. "It's awesome! To have ice cream that close to me at all times is kind of a dream come true." No lie. "Plus the elves are quite cute and really nice. They let you cook down there, you know? And they don't even mind sharing their supplies." Not that Ella was a good cook or that Hogwarts hadn't provided all the pots and pans for use. "I think Hufflepuff is a pretty great house." She said sincerely, and it wasn't even because of the proximity to the kitchens.

"I bet," murmured Edric as Ella expressed relief. He hadn't started coming to Hogwarts until his fifth year, but it was still a scary experience. So, he was kind of in the same boat as Ella there. They were both sorta new but more used to it all now.

And then.
And then Ella was going on about… a blast-ended skrewt? Shooting itself? The event sounded mildly amusing - but her reaction to it all, the way she went on about explaining the incident… Well, Edric had no choice but to burst out laughing. Which trust me, is a very weird thing to see this boy do. Who knew? He was actually capable of laughter.

Eventually Edric's laughter faded away, a bit abruptly, as his expression turned shocked. Had he just laughed?! No time to freak out, Ella was already going on about something else.

"Oh, it's fine. I agree. I used to go to an all-boys' school before coming to Hogwarts," said the fifteen-soon-to-be-sixteen year old as Ella said boys were weird. Pshh. She had that right. Girls were weirder though, but that's only because Edric has no social skills.

Edric popped a handful of gummy bears into his mouth absentmindedly, staring off at the topiary as Ella talked about having ice cream close all the time. Lucky girl. When he turned to her, he could see that candy had caught her attention, though. Edric smirked slightly. "I wonder if the topiary would like gummy bears too…" he wondered aloud. "Or maybe I should just share them with someone more human instead?"

Ella raised her eyebrows when Edric burst into laughter, not expecting it. So the boy could laugh! That was good sign! It meant that he wasn't secretly a robot or something. Which would have been quite scary! She joined in his laughter, feeling more at ease now.

The speed at which Edric's laughter died out wasn't lost on Ella but she was too caught up in her own thoughts at the moment to comment on it. She was quite relieved that he agreed about boys being weird. She couldn't imagine a school full of them. There was probably a lot of bravery dares and chest bumping going on, no? "Why are they so weird?" She asked, not really expecting Edric to have an answer. It would be nice to hear what he thought about the subject though.

The second year was focused on the gummy bears so when Edric suggested the topiary might like some she looked up at him, red faced. BUSTED. She giggled when he then opted to maybe share with a human. She was a human! Pick me, gummy bear king! "I choose door number two!" She said a little too excitedly, holding out her hands. "I'm sorry but I just LOVE gummys."

"Must be something in the DNA," muttered Edric with a shrug as Ella asked why boys were so weird. In all honesty, he had no idea, even though he was a boy himself. "But, based on my experience… it has come to my attention that boys are usually at their weirdest when there are girls around," he added, brows furrowed thoughtfully as he looked back on his years at Ashworth's All-Boys Academy. Since it was an all-boys school, the guys went kind of 'cuckoo' when there was a - gasp! - female around. It was like a holiday.

As Ella decided she wanted the gummy bears shared with herself and not the topiary, the Gryffindor couldn't help but smile with amusement.

Honestly.
Who would've thought it would've been a little twelve-year-old who would've gotten Mr. Scrooge to show amusement?

"Well sit down," he said, gesturing toward the empty space beside him at the bench. Once Ella had joined him, he handed her the bag of gummy bears. "Take as many as you want. The bag refills itself three times before it officially runs out," he explained with excitement. Clearly he was a bit of a gummy bear lover himself, though he tried to seem as cool and uninterested about it as possible.

Ahh yes, DNA. Why hadn't Ella thought of that? Probably because she knew nothing about the subject as it was way too complicated and boring to understand. "DNA..well that might be it." And then he was it was probably because of girls. That actually seemed pretty possible considering girls tended to do the same around boys. "You're right, it probably is girls. We do the same thing around boys too. How strange!" Seriously, boys and girls should quit being weird around each other and be awesome instead.

When Edric told Ella to sit down, she didn't question him. The guy had gummy bears after all! Plopping down on the bench, she took the bag with a smile and reached in, searching for some green ones. "Oh you might not want to tell me that, I have a tendency to eat a lot and-" Wait what? The bag refilled itself? O___O How cool was that! "It does? Wow! That's the best thing ever." She was bouncing with excitement now, having found another thing to love about magic. "Witches and wizards think of everything. I mean a bag that refills itself with sweets...just brilliant." She handed the bag back to Edric as she continued to marvel at the brillance and after a moment, turned to him. "Thanks for sharing."

"Really?" Edric seemed a bit surprised when Ella confessed that girls were just as weird as boys. You'd think the fifteen-year-old would know SOMETHING - anything - about girls at this point, but nope. This was brand new information to him. Yet again, the second year was teaching him something new. Except this time it made him feel kind of pathetic. ………. OH WELL. HE HAD GUMMY BEARS SO WHATEVER.

When Ella warned him about her addiction to gummy bears, Edric chuckled. And then SHE was the one learning something new, apparently fascinated by the way the bag of candy worked. Edric was curious by her fascination with magic. "Are there any other witches or wizards in your family?" Basically, he wanted to know her bloodtype.

"Oh, no problem at all," replied the Gryffindor to Ella's gratefulness. With a smile he took the bag of gummy bears and brought it up to his face, turning it over and allowing the gummy bears to cascade into his mouth. Once he couldn't fit anymore in, he closed his mouth and surrendered the bag to the girl beside him.
Needless to say, he looked like a hamster. His cheeks couldn't handle the load of gummy bears.

Ella nodded, a little surprised by his surprise. It felt kind of nice to know something that an older student didn't know. It made her feel a little less...young.

The second year shook her head when asked if there were any other witches or wizards in her family. "Nope, I'm the first! Well as far as we know. You see my dad didn't know his dad so I've always wondered about him." But that was a subject she couldn't talk about with her father. At the slightest mention of her grandfather, her father got all grumpy and weird...you'd think a girl had walked into the room or something! That's how weird he got. "Do you have other witches and wizards in yours?" You know, since they were on the subject and all.

Ella giggled, her eyes wide, as she watched Edric pour an obscene amount of gummy bears in his mouth. She took the bag from him, still laughing, truly impressed by how many he could fit. "Talk about bravery..." She said, popping a few green gummy bears into her mouth. "That is a lotof gummy bears! But please don't choke or anything!" Cause she did not know what she'd do if this boy lost his lunch to a topiary elephant and choked on the same day...both while in her company!

Anya giggled and lay back down on the grass. A unicorn. She wanted to see a unicorn too! "Nope. Nothing. Still seeing elephants."

And clouds that looked like big fluffy clouds.

The sky was being boring today.

"Oooh! Damon! That's a fun name." And she was kinda curious where the "Dar" nickname came from. She called Alec "Blakey", but that was because his middle name was Blake.

Alec. Blake. Summers.

He pretty much had the coolest most summer-timey name of all.

"I really, really want to! Does he go here? What year is he in? And house?"