The Pathways
 

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Image by Destiny

A set of paths link the courtyard to various areas of the grounds. It's nice to walk along either on your own or with a friend. The trees on either side of the path help to create a light atmosphere. So go on, take your time and soak up the fresh air, heaven knows students need it.

After the past couple days of craziness which included the start of term feast, Patrick had found himself on the pathways which lead to the rest of the grounds; he hadn't been entirely sure where he wanted to go but that hadn't mattered since all this time alone was very useful when he had really wanted to figure out what was going on in his head. Are you sure thinking about it really is a good idea when you're just going to confuse yourself further? The social commentary really wasn't helping, it was just making him just the slightest bit irritated although that wasn't entirely a bad thing when he was by himself. Continuing to walk along the path, he took a chocolate bar from his pocket and began to eat it; chocolate usually made him able to think properly when other things were occupying his mind which they were this time between the confusing thoughts of why he had reacted the way he had at the carriages when he thought something bad had happened to Kendall on the train and the story he was working on.

Abby was annoyed. So far, she'd been having the worst time of her life at her new school. The train ride had been less than enjoyable, Lex still annoyed the heck out of her and her head was still throbbing, she honestly felt like someone was pounding a hammer on her head every second. Like Chace said, she should go to the Healer soon.. probably tomorrow. Right now, she needed fresh air.

She stalked down the pathways for a while when she suddenly had to slow down her pace because someone ahead of her was walking slowly. At a snail's pace. Seriously? She stepped around him and walked a couple of steps before turning slightly to face him for a moment. "Could anyone walk any slower?" SMIRK. With that, she turned around and continued to walk briskly.

The chocolate had already begun to work it's magic as he walked along, taking in the scenery; Patrick went back into thought since a matter of most importance still needed to be figured, sure this was important even if there had been other things happening not only at the school but just in general considering his birthday had been quickly arriving. Honestly though, why would I be so worried about someone when I'm supposed to be their friend? Sure friends do worry at times but never like I did but.. I just don't even know, how can this be so confusing? That was the million galleon question, friends never worried about friends like that. Somehow though he hadn't understood what it meant since it really was like a mystery that didn't have an obvious answer to it.

Before he had the chance to continue thinking, an older girl had passed him with some sense of superiority about her and he only confirmed that as she spoke with a smirk; there wasn't time for thought now. No, now was time to show people he couldn't be pushed around. "I'm allowed to go as fast or as slow as I want. No one tells me what I can and can't do unless they have a badge or are staff. So maybe you should think about your suggestions." he called after her, following behind her and easily catching up to her; making sure that the girl actually decided to answer him.

Abby knew that the pathways lead to te grounds but she had no idea where she wanted to go. Hmm.. maybe she should just turn around and head back to the castle. She'd had enough fresh air and she could do with a nap right now. The headache was making her feel extremely tired.

She turned around and almost bumped into the slow coach, the guy who'd been walking really slow and blocking the way for people to walk. She raised an eyebrow when he started talk about how she didn't have the right to say what he could or couldn't do.

"Look, Mister. I have better things to do than argue with you." Abby ran a hand through her hair before she continued, "But, you were blocking my way. So." Abby folded her arms and dared him to argue with her, Abby Hastings.

Was she trying to be scary? Did she seriously think she would get him to crumble and apologize for just walking however fast he wanted? If that was all the case, Patrick was definitely about to inform her otherwise; superheroes stood up not only for those that needed to be protected but also themselves and that was what he was going to right now without anyone else's help. "Well you could have politely asked me to move, not just make some unnecessary comment and walk off like you think you own the place." he replied in a rather calm tone that could have been considered quite scary to those who knew him, he didn't yell much but he had certainly hoped this wouldn't be one of the times that he had to either. Raising an eyebrow slightly at her folded arms, he stood there and just looked at her with a blank expression; if she thought that she'd get the upper hand here then she was wrong.

"Also, maybe you should consider treating younger kids with respect; not just walking past them when they're trying to figure things out." Match point to him.

Politely asked him to move? POLITELY? Abby stared at the guy for a moment, wondering why she had to be polite to a guy she didn't know at all. That was just ridiculous. Maybe, she intimidated him.. Yeah. That was a possibility. She initimidated a lot of people. She was THAT awesome. Heh.

"You could have just come back with an equally snappy comment instead of pointing out that I have no manners at all." If he'd done that, she would have been impressed. Instead he was just one more person who annoyed her. How tragic.

Respect? You've GOT to be kidding me. "Right. Why don't you preach all that to someone who wants to listen? I'm so not interested in what you're saying so don't waste your time, kid." Understood? If not, she wasn't going to repeat that.

This was infuriating. He hadn't dealt with a person that annoyed him THIS much before and it had taken less than five seconds for it to happen, a new record. As she decided to go on with her annoying words, he had tried not to roll his eyes since this was practically an old record that he had heard before and it was beginning to just get on his last nerve. "I don't bother with coming up with comments that only aggravate the situation and I'm only pointing out the obvious because clearly you have no manners otherwise you would have apologized for being rude and disrespectful but apparently you don't understand that." Patrick wasn't going to allow the older girl to just treat him like some little kid while she was up on her little pedestal, looking down on everyone; he was making it a personal goal to tell people that were like that what he had thought since they had needed to understand they couldn't get away with just treating other people like nothing.

This had to be some kind of joke right? This was all some big practical joke that this girl decided to be rather foolish and not want to listen to what he was saying. "Interested or not, you're going to stand here and listen until you understand because I do not want to have to repeat myself." There was a newly lit fire shining in his eyes and he definitely wasn't about to simply walk away now, no that would have meant that she won and the only one that was taking the game point would be him.

"My comments are definitely not aggravating the situation." Or.. were they? Whatever. She didn't care either way. She definitely was NOT going out of her way to impress a guy she barely knew for like ten seconds. And, her eyebrows shot up at his next few words. Wow. He had no idea who he was dealing with, was he? Poor boy. "If I had any manners, I wouldn't have been rude in the first place." Yeah.. wasn't that obvious? "Besides, why on earth should I apologize? You don't like me.. so, leave. Don't waste my time by trying to make me apologize." 'Cause that wasn't going to happen.

"I don't listen to anyone, just so we're clear." Abby smirked and tilted her head to the side. Heh. She was amused. It seemed like he liked arguing with people for no reason at all. That was sad. He probably didn't have friends so he just walked up to people and argued with them just for the heck of it. Yeah, she kind of felt bad for him.

The more the girl spoke, the more that he just wanted to put on headphones that was able to tune out the sound so he wouldn't need to be frustrated anymore by someone who was clearly ignorant to the obvious matter of what had happened earlier which lead them to this situation. "That's what you seem to think, but you just don't see what's really going on." Clearly, she was off in some other little world when she thought that she was the queen of the world and had the excuse to speak to him that he was lower than she was; age wise he might have been but that hadn't meant a thing when it came to maturity. He was as mature as a lot of the older kids, even if he was a superhero which really was beside the point now. Taking another bite from the chocolate bar that was still in his hand, he felt himself relax which was good cause he hadn't been looking to fly off the handle for no reason.

"Why should I leave? It's a free castle! Didn't you not hear what I said earlier when I specifically said that I cannot be pushed around by inconsiderate people who only care about themselves. And I think you should apologize because it's the right thing to do, it's also what people do when they're clearly rude as you were and still are." Instead of leaving, he scuffed his shoes into the cobblestone path; almost sticking them there and making the point that he was here to stay.

"Clearly. I'm surprised you haven't already had a trip to the dungeons." That's where the detention hall was and bad people went there, he wasn't going to visit that area because he hadn't needed to; he was a good kid even if not many people had seen it that way.

For Liam/Lauraaaaa! :3
 

There was a large and long cobbled path that Bliss had walked along a couple of minutes ago to her right and now she was sat at the edge of the grass surrounding the path and was looking up at the sky in awe. It was a lovely and perfect shade of light blue right now and the sun was shining brightly. Bliss was so at peace right now, just soaking up the rays. She was just so happy to be back at Hogwarts, her Second Year was beginning just as well as she'd hoped. She honestly couldn't imagine that it could get much better right now.

Laura was still not fully herself but she had decided to go for a walk, if only she wasn't fighting with Sophie, she could be in the dorm talking to Ella and Sophie, but Laura was staying away from the Dorm except when she had to be in it the less time she spent there the less she would be upset, she was walking along the pathway when suddenly she saw her cousin Bliss.

"BLISS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!" Laura screamed, she didn't care if anyone looked at her weird, she hadn't seen her cousin since on the train and so she didn't know if Bliss was hurt, she hugged her and then she checked her over, nope nothing seemed broken not that Laura could see.

Bliss had been so caught up in her own thoughts, that she almost didn't notice Laura, her cousin, walking towards her. Then Laura called her name, loudly. Nope, no way she could have missed, maybe not even if she were dead. GIGGLE. Bliss hopped up as Laura raced towards her and hugged her tightly, too tightly. She caught her wrist in the wrong way and she cried out in pain, it had been recently healed and the bruising was going down, yet it was still tender and sensitive. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her hand and wrist, she looked back up at Laura. "I've missed you, Laura," she said honestly and gave her a big grin. "How have you been?" She asked carefully.

Laura looked at her cousin and smiled. "I've been good." Laura was glad her cousin seemed to be alright, though there was something different with her wrist but Laura couldn't figure out what it was. "I've missed you loads cousin." Laura bounced up and down, not really paying attention, until she slipped on something and twisted her ankle badly.

"OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!" Laura really felt like crying but she decided against it. "My foot hurts." Laura sighed, now what was she going to do. "Bliss how are you today?" Laura was going to ignore the pain in her foot for now.

Bliss shut her eyes for a moment, grimacing at the pain in her wrist, before opening them again and smiling back at Laura. "That's good," Bliss said and nodded, hoping that Laura was telling the truth, because she seemed to be the type to hide away her true emotions in order to not appear weak. Bliss looked at Laura curiously when she looked suddenly puzzled, as if she was trying to figure something out. Ohhh well. "So have I!" Bliss grinned. "I mean, I've missed you, not I've missed me," she confirmed, in case Laura got in any way confused. Bliss was about to start bouncing along with her cousin, when Laura slipped and her leg buckled beneath her.

"Laura!" She cried, reaching out to steady her cousin, a worried expression was etched on Bliss' face. "Oh my gosh!" Bliss cried out as Laura shouted out in pain. What was wrong? Had she twisted her ankle or something? For a moment all the pain in her own wrist left and worry filled her thoughts, mind and body. Nothing mattered but Laura. Bliss frowned at her cousin's question, "I hardly think now's the time," Bliss contradicted. "Where does it hurt?" Bliss asked in a concerned voice.

Laura looked at her cousin and notice something. "Have you hurt your wrist?" Laura had just realised that Bliss wrist seem to look a bit different and Laura was sad that she had missed that earlier. "What have you done to your wrist and when did you do it?" Laura really wanted too know. "And why haven't you told me about it before?" Laura sighed she really was confused.

Laura looked at Bliss and sighed trying not to cry from the pain in her foot. "Now tell me how are you?" Laura really didn't want too talk about her foot, she really didn't like this, she was in pain but she wasn't going anywhere near the healer, she wouldn't do anything for her. "So what have you been doing today?" Laura asked whilst deciding to sit down to rest her foot.

invading :P : Amanda amd Mansa
 

The term had officially started, which meant exploration. It meant classes too, but exploration was more important to Kendall. Of course, the first thing she'd wanted to make sure of was that the sanctuary was still there. She was fairly sure that Professor Williamson had taken Roro with him, but there were all the other animals to help take care of. Besides, she still wanted to get permission to ride a flying horse eventually, and that meant the sanctuary needed to still be there. Otherwise all she'd have were the thestrals, and those still creeped her out. She'd rather get to ride one of the other flying horses. But first, wandering, and she'd started by the lake and then cut through the pathways on the way toward where the sanctuary was. At least they were still pretty, and still here. It kept her hopes up that other things wouldn't have changed too much, even though she knew the grounds themselves changed a lot. That didn't mean the CoMC part had to.

Either way, her random act of convincing herself that she'd still have the sanctuary to hang around was distracted as she'd heard familiar voices ahead. Patrick and Abby the semi-rude girl from Diagon Alley, so she sped up slightly until she could get closer. At least then she could hear what they were saying, and a grin crept onto her face as she had a thought. Popping out from behind patrick, she walked closer and sent Abby a grin. "Did somebody else block you from getting where you wanted to go?," she asked the girl, before turning back to Patrick.

"Abby doesn't like people blocking her," she explained, reaching forward to break off a piece of the chocolate bar in his hand. It was there, and she didn't have any with her right now. Everything he'd given her at the feast was tucked into her trunk way back in her dormitory. "At least you don't have wet hair though." Abby couldn't get mad at him for that. "D'you want people to go down to the dungeons?," she then asked, popping the piece of chocolate into her mouth. "I could visit you down there if you're lonely." The dungeons didn't scare her. Not as much as thestrals did, even though they were dark and sometimes slimy. There were all sorts of interesting hidden places down in the dungeons, and that meant exploration. As long as he didn't end up with a concussion again and yell at her.

you two Puffs *points above*
 

Laura looked up when she heard the Professor. "Hello Professor." Laura smiled as she got up and put some pressure on her injured foot, which wiped the smile off her face and made her grimace in pain but she wasn't going to let the Professor know that she was hurt, because surely she would sent her to evil healer, who wouldn't heal her at all. "Professor how was your summer?" Laura was going to changed the subject and hope that the Professor wouldn't ask any questions.

Glancing down to the Hufflepuff's leg, her smile faded just a little. That grimace did not go unnoticed, though Medea spoke nothing of it just yet. There was no obvious emergency for immediate attention. "Long." she replied, deciding that the single word was enough to wrap up her entire summer.

"And yourselves?" She glanced between the two girls. "Staying out of trouble I hope?"

Aurora wandered down to the pathways slowly. She didn't really want to be outside... though to be honest inside wasn't much better. She was moody right now. And Kennedy wanted to talk to her about something. Pah. He better not be about to have a go at her for threatening a first year... he was annoying when he got all Head-Boy-ish and bossy.

She fiddled with the tassels on her scarf as she walked and tugged her robes a little closer against the crisp Autumn air... seriously, it got so cold in Scotland... About halfway down one of the paths she stopped, leaned against a tree, and waited. This had better be good because it was cold and she hadn't slept properly and she was tired.

Kennedy made his way down the pathways and pulled the sleeves of his hoody up to his elbows. He was warm even in the cold weather. As he walked down the path, he glanced at his surroundings to make sure there was no one near. He needed to talk to Aurora and preferred that this didn't get out in the open.

Kennedy slowed his pace once he saw her leaning against a tree and came to a complete stop a few feet away from her. "Hey, 'Rora" he said, tucking his hands inside his pockets. "How's it going so far?" And was she still being called 'Rora, hehe.

Aurora had been staring at her fingernails whilst she waited - she'd started painting them recently... and she couldn't decide whether she preferred the red or the silver colour she'd used... probably red... it went with her hair. She thrust her hands into her pockets against the cold and looked up as she heard a familiar voice.

How's it going..? "Honestly? I want to go home." she said, shifting from one foot to the other. "You?" 'Cause they'd both had a rough summer... but surely the head boy would be enjoying school now, right? Right.

Someone wasn't in a good mood. "Me too," he said, kicking a pebble on the ground. Although, he didn't know where home was anymore. He wasn't going back to his father's...maybe...if he asked him? He didn't know. He frowned at the ground and shrugged when he looked back up at Aurora. "It's cool." Mainly because of Sierra and...well, so far that was about it.

School was just school now. It didn't hold the same value it did when he first started. Now, he actually thought of what he wanted to do in the future and that was mainly because Lafay and Mr. Greingoth had planted that thought in his head.

He kicked the pebble a bit too forcefully and watched as it rolled off. "Anyway, have you talked to her, you mother, I mean?" he asked.

Oh... so she wasn't the only one who had become rather disenchanted with the whole Hogwarts thing... "Though... I d'know if I'd go back to Krys' or to my dad's now she's not there or what..." Aurora shrugged, frowning slightly. She suspected Kennedy was having similar issues... "Austria maybe... if they'd let me..." They'd hardly involved her in that conversation... and actually, nobody seemed to have realised that she had wanted to go and she might be a bit upset about this.

Talked to her..? Oh... Aurora shook her head slightly, "No..." she said, sighing ever so slightly. "Krys wrote though... she's moved out of my parent's house... or something..." The words caught a little in her throat and she cleared it. She didn't want to be sad about this... she wanted to resent and hate her mother for what she'd done but... she couldn't.

She missed her. Quite a lot actually... and then the thought of her daddy all alone in the house made her frown a little more. She just wanted to see him... Maybe he could come to Hogsmeade the next Hogsmeade weekend or something. She just wanted her parents...

So, she still wanted to go to Austria. "Hey, at least you've got places you belong, you shouldn't worry about that," he said, forcing his voice to sound carefree...in which he sort of succeeded. It was tense subjects that he wasn't good with now.

Her mother moved out? Eeek. Suddenly, the idea of his mother having a boyfriend didn't sound as bad... Okay. It was bad. Like really bad that he could hex his mother's boyfriend. Anyway, this wasn't the time nor place to think that.

Kennedy noticed that frown pf hers and took a small step forward and patted her shoulder. It was when she got like this that he didn't feel like teasing her. "Hey..." what? Dang you brain for not giving him the proper words for situations like these. "Everything's going to be fine. It's just a matter of time for things to settle down, you'll see," he said, grinning a little.

Places to belong... right... was she being insensitive? She didn't really know... She nodded slightly and looked up, trying to search Kennedy's face for... something. Was he really okay..? Probably not. She knew she wasn't... she still had nightmares about the attack every night... and sometimes it was so bad that she just didn't want to go to sleep at all...

He was patting her shoulder, and Aurora was chewing her lip, not letting herself think about crying. Because if she thought about it then she'd want to cry and... that just wasn't going to happen. "Settle down..." she repeated quietly, looking down at her shoes and shuffling them slightly. "I don't know, Kennedy... what if... what if she doesn't come back..?" And she wasn't even trying to hide how much she missed her mother right now - yes, she was still angry - but her mum was just gone... "Or if dad doesn't want her to..."

Kennedy looked up the tree Aurora was leaning on. He knew she was searching his face. He knew her too well to not know that. Hmmm.

He frowned once more. Kennedy was used to people coming and going in his life...actually, he wasn't used to it, but at least, he didn't feel that devastating feeling a much anymore. He squeeze her shoulder slightly for comfort. "She's your mom. Mothers...they don't leave their children behind, trust me." He knew that from experience. "Nah, your father is kind. He'll take her back just like my godfather will take my aunt back," he said. Merlin, were all the head couples of their family's messed up?

It seem so.

And he was avoiding looking at her... "You're not okay either, are you?" she said, looking away again and rubbing her forehead slightly. Stupid headache had been here all day.

No she was not going to cry she was not going to cry she was not going to cry... she was telling herself this over and over as she tried to think what to say, because part of her wondered if that was true. "But..." But what? She had nothing to end that sentence with so it trailed off... she really didn't know if her mother intended to come back at all.

Hang on... will take his aunt back..? Aurora looked up from her shoes again, "They... they aren't..?" Split up? Honestly, how did the adults expect them to hold it together if they couldn't?

But she really wanted to get to the point... "Um... what did you want to talk to me about..?" she asked, pushing a bit of hair from her face and hooking it behind her ear.

And she noticed. Kennedy sighed and shook his head no. Why lie? It was stupid and useless. "Would you be okay if your father sent wizards to attack your closest friend and..." and then told you that he cared when you thought he didn't? Kennedy lowered his hand from her shoulder and instead ran it through his curly hair.

But what? Kennedy expected Aurora to continue, but he got no response. Well, it was a tough subject, so he let it go.

Oh, she probably didn't know about his godfather and aunt. "Um, I don't know. Peyton Owled me...and she says she's afraid...um, that they'll split up," he said, attempting to keep his voice without feeling. "But I know they won't," he said. Nope. His godfather loved his wife too much to leave her, same with his aunt. Besides, he really hoped they didn't or that'd be another thing added to his already heavy conscience.

Right.

To the point. "I'd very much prefer if you didn't tell anyone about what happened during the summer," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and looking at Aurora with a serious look. "...please."

"I..." she started, but then it sank in... closest friend... To be honest, Aurora could count her friends on one hand right now... and... she wasn't sure Kennedy actually cared and now... She just closed her mouth and pressed her lips together to stop herself from crying. Because really it's all she'd wanted to do all day...

Oh... so they hadn't..? "I hope not..." she said quietly, sniffling a little and pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes to prevent them from stinging. Then she looked back up at him, her brain still trying to process everything. And there was one thing she did know: if anyone else was hurt because of this she wouldn't be able to take it.

Oh, not tell anyone. Aurora nodded, she'd already told Theodore... sort of... and she'd told him not to tell anyone about it anyway. And he knew she wouldn't be happy if he did so that was okay, right? "I wont... it's not like I've really got anyone to tell anyway..." After all, usually it would have been Delilah... or Kimalia... and Delilah wasn't exactly on that list anymore, and Kimalia seemed to have vanished off the face of the Earth. And she no longer held out much hope for seeing Mordred often... and Bradley was all the way in Florida. And Jonathan... well she didn't want to talk to him about this, whether he'd care or not... So Kennedy didn't have to worry about that.

He said something wrong, hadn't he?

"Sorry," he said. "I...shouldn't have said that. It's just...hard, you know?" If anyone would understand him or come close to understanding him was Aurora. She was there the day of the attack...she's been there since his father reappeared in his life.

Sometimes, Kennedy wished could confide in Sierra about all this, but he didn't want to burden her. She already had enough on her plate as it was. Then John...well, he was Merlin knows where, he hasn't even received a letter in weeks. So...that left Aurora to confide in.

He nodded and looked up at her. "You're not going to cry, are you?" Because he had not brought any tissues and...he STILL wasn't good with crying people, though, he should be.

"Thanks," he said with a nod and a tiny grin, as he played with the ring on his right ring finger, the Wayne family crest on it. "Really." It was a horrible feeling to be ashamed of his father even if he still cared for him. Then again, Aurora would understand that as well.

Aurora sort of just stood there silently as he spoke... he shouldn't have said that... "Oh Kennedy you have no idea..." she said, almost whispering. And then she hugged him. Because she needed to. Well, it was that or run away and find somewhere quiet where she could be on her own... and right now she figured at least being with someone who understood - the only person who understood - was a good thing. She let go and stood back after a couple of seconds... she wasn't sure if she was even allowed to hug him now they were back at school - would he be worried about people thinking things? Urgh, she hated drama at Hogwarts and somehow she managed to cause a whole lot of it.

Cry..? Aurora shook her head and rubbed her eyes slightly, forcing herself to send the tears away. "No... not this time." Joke... sort of... not really. But it was accompanied by a little twitch at the corner of her mouth.

Thanks..? "Yeah I... yeah." she took a deep breath. "I understand I guess." Though he had that ring on... and Aurora had nothing from her mother... not even her name anymore. "I... miss my mum..." she said, biting her bottom lip to stop it from wobbling. "Is that bad..?"

Kennedy sort of froze when Aurora hugged him. The first thing running through his mind was; what would people say? And, of course, Sierra. But...his friend needed him as well and he wasn't a jerk to just push her away and deny her comfort. So, Kennedy hugged her back and squished her a bit before she let go.

What were friends for, eh?

Plus, he was confident of his feelings for Sierra and nothing nor anyone would change that. It'd be hopeless if they tried and would most likely get on his bad list.

Not this time? "M'hm, good..." he said, the corner of his lips turning upward a bit. "...because I didn't bring any tissues with me." And you needed those when you cried. Not that Kennedy would know. He never cried. Like ever.

His lips fell into a straight line at what Aurora said next. "No," he said, shaking his head. "It's perfectly normal. She's your mom after all and...you're allowed to miss her, 'Rora. You should miss her and not worry if it's bad, okay?" He gave her a firm stare. He meant it.

Oh, he'd hugged her back... thank goodness for that. She needed that... And it would have been super awkward if he'd just stood there. It was then that she remembered the last few times they'd been here together... and they'd actually been together... it was a weird thought really - she couldn't think of him in that way any more... she just couldn't. But she was glad he was around.

Aurora managed a weak smile as he spoke, see? Even though he had the ability to seriously tick her off, he was pretty good at cheering her up as well. And that was definitely a friend to hold on to... because Aurora wasn't easy to cheer up. She smiled a little more and said, "Are you a wizard or not? I would've thought you'd learned how to conjure something like that by now..." After all, she was pretty sure she could do it... and he was far better at charms and things than she was.

Right... good. She was allowed to miss her... But should she write? Would her mother write to her..? Merlin, would she even be at the wedding..? "I... think I might go for a walk... you can come with me if you're quiet. I just want to move or something..." she said, trying to push the sight of her mother looking livid at the platform from her mind.

-___-

Was she attacking his wizard-hood? She was, wasn't she?

"I'm an extraordinary wizard," he said, waggling his eyebrows. "I'm just not good with the whole...you know, tears and sniffling and...stuff." She should know that. He was getting good at the comforting part, but stiiiiiill. Crying made him squirm.

A walk? Okay.

Kennedy nodded and waited for her to move. "I get it, you're shutting me up, aren't you?" he said, changing the subject and faking hurt.

"Extraordinary... right..." Aurora laughed softly, "I'd have to agree with that I guess..." Well, after the summer... And then she shrugged, "You're going to have to get used to it some day, probably..." Maybe... right? Maybe not.

Aurora adjusted her pinafore slightly and pulled her robes a little closer against the cold. Shutting him up? "I wouldn't dream of it." she said with a smirk. "You're welcome to carry on talking but you'd have to stay here... I just want quiet right now." Because it was peaceful... and that's what she needed. So she shoved her hands in the pockets of her robes and started walking, well? Was he following?

Get used to crying?

O___o

"Do you know something I don't know that I should know?" he said with a straight face, thought his eyes shone with amusement. He's lived surrounded by females, one would guess he was used to it. Though...when Sierra cried last term all he wanted to do was comfort her...so maybe he was getting used to at some level.

Uh huh.

Like he'd believe that. Kennedy returned her smirk and walked along side of her, putting his hands inside his pockets once more. "You want quiet, so you're really shutting me up. Okay. I get it. Not like it hurts my feelings or anything." He blinked, continuing his fake hurt charade. He side glanced at Aurora and bumped her with his shoulder, slightly. "I like that we can talk now," he said. Actually, he's been meaning to say that for quite some time now.

"Yes probably." Aurora answered simply. "Most women will know things you should know but don't, and we don't just share easily." MHMMM! And that was definitely something he'd have to learn to live with, because it wasn't going to change very soon.

Aurora just rolled her eyes at his fake-hurt and smiled slightly, "You know I can tell when you're lying." she said, kicking a little pebble to the side of the path as they walked. "Yeah... me too." she grinned up at him. Yep, still miles taller than her as well... "But now you really have to be quiet." Because she wanted him too... and if he didn't shut up then... umm... well, then she'd have to find someone quieter to walk with.

"Riiiiiight," Kennedy said, a confident smile on his lips. That's where Kryspin's notebook came in handy. He doubted Aurora knew about it and he wasn't about to mention it. So he just gave her a cocky grin.

He knew something she didn't. Ha!

"You were supposed to," he said with a slight chuckle. His fake-hurt was too fake to trick anyone who knew him well enough. Quiet, right. "Yes, ma'm." Kennedy did as if he zipped his lips together and just walked beside her.

It was actually sort of nice. He hasn't had peaceful silence since...he couldn't remember...

...Kennedy wasn't a quiet guy, so it wasn't going to last long, hehe.

Hmm... there was something about that grin that she didn't trust and she wasn't sure what... She narrowed her eyes slightly as she looked at him. But she was getting nothing, so she gave up.

"Good, I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten how to be sly." she teased, knowing full well that Kennedy was as Slytherin as you got... most of the time. Hehehe. But then he was being quiet, and it was nice. And if he spoke she'd hex him... maybe. Hehehe.

Riiight. Abby was really starting to lose patience with this horrible boy. She really didn't want to get into a huge fight. The girl didn't want to be thrown out the day she arrived at Hogwarts. Although, come to think of it, it wouldn't be that bad an idea considering the fact that her experience at this school so far had been quite terrible.

The sixteen year old smirked at his next few words. "Not bad. You have me all figured out and we just met." Heh. She really didn't care for other people. Why should she? Especially care about a guy who was really starting to get on her nerves. The only person she ever cared about was herself and it was going to stay that way. "Yeah, well. People just have to deal with my rude behaviour. I'm definitely not going to apologize for the way I am."

Dungeons? The place where detentions were held? Evil smirk. "Oh. Don't worry. I think I'm going to be heading there soon enough." 'Cause she was sure she was going to get in trouble sometime.



Abby raised an eyebrow when someone else joined her and the weird boy.. and that someone else turned out to be the girl she'd bumped into in Diagon Alley. Great. Anyway, she definitely was NOT going to stick around and have a conversation with her. But before she could turn around and leave, when the girl grinned at her. Didn't people understand that Abby didn't like talking to them!?

"Yeah. I suppose you two have something in common, eh?" She smirked at them both for a moment. She looked at Kendall before she added, "And.. you could also teach your friend some manners. He's being incredibly rude and I think he owes me an apology." That's right, Mister. You just gotta apologize.

Abby and Kendall
 

Before he had the opportunity to even clear his thoughts from the irritation of the older girl, a familiar Irish accent was heard coming from behind him and Patrick merely grinned as it seemed like Kendall had appeared out of nowhere; not that he minded since this was the perfect opportunity to show his friend exactly how far he had come with how he acted. "Well she got in my way to begin with, I was only walking along when she decided to be rude but hey it's all good." he replied before noticing her take a piece of the chocolate bar that was still in his hand, not that he cared exactly since he had more hidden away and this was only distracting him from the current conversation. Once she had mentioned the dungeons, he looked at her and then took a bite of the chocolate bar himself as he considered the idea of another round of dungeon exploration since it was impossible to know if there was everything discovered at one point or another. "After I'm finished here, actually I heard about a few passageways that haven't really been seen before by anyone." Would have definitely been cool to discover that, especially with one who had been always interested in finding out mysteries like he did.



Unfortunately after he spoke to his friend, he had to return to speak with one of the most inconsiderate people that crossed his path and was really about to learn why it was that you didn't want to annoy him even if usually he had been pretty harmless. Once she had started to speak, the urge to roll his eyes had started and he simply resisted before just trying to figure out what to say that wasn't entirely rude and uncalled for but that really was a challenge. "Huh, usually takes me longer but I only call what I see and it's pretty obvious for you cause it's written all over your face." This sudden change in attitude was far from what he was like but there was absolutely no way that he'd back down, if that was expected then people were going to be in for a big shock. Speaking of things that were a big shock, the way this girl had continued to act towards him was just going to send him off the handle and he simply took a deep breath to allow himself to calm down. "People shouldn't have to deal with those who are ignorant and have a sense of undeserved entitlement." Yeah he basically called her sorta a royal but as an insult since she didn't have a right to treat him like he was below her, he wasn't. Not at all.

It seemed like the calm before the storm had arrived and he simply observed the conversation between the rude girl and his friend before the mention that he had to learn manners came up. Wait. Rewind for a second. She said that he had to learn manners? That just made him blink for a second as he felt something tick inside of him almost like lightning and knew that the time for politeness was over. "You say that I need to learn manners?! How dare you! YOU'RE the only one here that needs to learn manners, you have absolutely no reason to tell my friend that you think I should apologize when all of this is your fault! You are the one that instigated any problems, if you had politely asked me to move earlier then we wouldn't have that problem but no.. you had to intentionally be rude to me and treat me like a kid that knows nothing. But let me tell you this, if you ever think that I will allow you to disrespect me in such a way again; you've got another thing coming." The little rant that he had gone through seemed to take away most of the irritation that built up from the length of this conversation but there was still plenty more that could have been said.

Laura looked at the Professor. "My summer was really long too Professor." Laura sighed, her foot was still hurting her, she looked at the Professor. "I have been staying out of trouble Professor." Laura blushed. "I think I had enough trouble this summer to last me a like time." Laura hoped that the Professor would ask her to stand up because her foot was hurting her badly.

Awww, and we thought we'd gotten somewhere with Abby... :P
 

Kendall really wasn't intending on getting in the middle of the argument that Patrick had obviously gotten into with Abby. In fact, once she'd had her say, she'd gone on to just munch on the chocolate she'd stolen, quietly. For once. She was honestly curious if Patrick was as good at arguing as she was, since she remembered her own conversation with the older brunette girl over the summer. But then, she'd treated that as a game, and Patrick really looked like he was getting angry. "Obviously it's not," she replied calmly, breaking off a small piece from the chocolate in her hand as she looked at him. It wasn't okay if he was actually getting angry, and she really didn't think trying to distract him was working. She gave him a tentative smile as he'd agreed to go exploring with her, though. Hopefully that wouldn't get too ruined by whatever he wanted to finish. She'd even try not to give him a concussion this time around. As long as they got away from this without too much damage.

She'd twisted her head around as far as she could to eye Abby as she'd responded to her, though. That wasn't going to help, but she knew telling the other girl that would only continue the awkwardness. "Thank you," she said randomly. She'd rather have something in common with her friend than she would her, at least, and she finally turned the rest of her body so she was sort of able to look at both of them. At least then she wouldn't have to have her neck all twisted around anymore, and she'd be prepared if something bad happened. Because by now she had a feeling something would, an d she'd rather not end up dizzy if she had to spin around to run and get help. If she really felt like getting help. She kind of had a feeling it would be interesting seeing Abby get what was coming, even if she had to do it. "Ever think about looking in the mirror? 'Cause you're being awfully rude too, even if he was blocking you. Besides, where were you going anyway? S'not like there's the ice cream shop here that you're in a rush to get to, " she began.

And then Patrick had gone off again, and Kendall had trailed off in surprise. Well, at least he's talking, she thought, hazel eyes wide as she just watched him. He wasn't really saying anything that she hadn't already been saying, but once again he seemed meaner than she was. She'd just been logical, and either way there was no reason for her to keep talking. For once. She was half tempted to give him the chocolate back if it would make him calm down, but then she had a feeling it wouldn't. Plus, she needed it to stay calm herself, just in case she had to step in somehow. She really didn't want to though because maybe yelling would make Abby listen. Or maybe yelling would help him realize that maybe he really didn't have to just take his family's abuse, which she'd been trying to get him to realize since last term. Even if it didn't, she was kind of awestruck that Abby's annoyingness had triggered this much, and she was kind of curious if there was more.

Nigel was in the mood for a walk and decided to go to the pathways. He was think about Quidditch and finally owning his own broom. He could not wait for tryouts and trying to make the team this semester. It would take a lot of effort to repeat as Quidditch champions.

What he did not expect to find was Taylor in all black with streaked blonde hair walking by him. Nigel did a double take and run to catch up with her.

He slows down, once he reaches her and says. "Hi, Taylor. How was your summer?"

Taylor glanced up at Nigel, recongizing him as part of the quidditch team, "Hey, Nigel." She smiled and nodded, "Yeah did a lot of traveling, though the good times stopped at the start-of-term feast." Tay frowned and looked away, thinking about how she was single now. Taylor sighed then glanced up at Nigel, "Are you trying out this year as well?" Tay gave her a facepalm, "Oh and before I forget how was your summer?"

Nigel took a another peak at her hair as she was talking to him. Once she finished talking he just could not stay quite about it.

"Your hair is awesome!!"

"And oh, Yeah I'm going to try out for chaser. I just got a new broom from my uncle. That i want to try out. Since i can have my own broom now that i am a second year. Are You trying out?"

Nigel then started to think about his summer.

"My summer It was pretty boring . But i did go on vacation to the United States" That basically was the highlight of his summer.

Taylor blushed and smiled at him, "Thanks, Nigel." She twisted one of her curls. "You are really sweet, ya know?" Tay laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I am thinking of chaser or beater... I dont know which but I hope that we both will get on the team as well as Lily and Harvey." Taylor grinned. "Sorry to hear that you had a boring summer... where in the United States though? I went camping at Norris Lake for a few days but I mainly just travelled in Europe this summer." Tay laughed.

"Yeah, I too hope Harvey and Lily can make the team and hopefully we can win the championship again"

Nigel said excitedly thinking about the start of the season.

"Oh, I was in New York. My Uncle has a penthouse in the city somewhere. I forgot. But I did get to go to Times Square".

His Uncle was really rich and Nigel had no idea what his Uncle's job was.

Tay smiled, "It will be amazing if you and Lily will be the chasers and Harvey and I the beaters again." She giggled. "We will so win again!" Taylor fist bumped the air, laughing. "Oh nice, my stepbrother forced me to go there over the summer before we were sibs." Back when we were dating... Taylor laughed and smiled.

Abby couldn't help but smirk at how easily this boy got annoyed. Yeah, she was mad at him for wasting fifteen minutes of her life over something so trivial. All he had to do was apologize so that she could leave but he just seemed to go on and on about how she had no manners at all. Yeah, that was true. If manners meant being polite and kind and sweet to someone she didn't know at all.

"First of all, you don't allow me anything. I'll behave and talk the way I like and you just have to deal with it. Second of all, you can't do anything. I mean, grow up. So someone was being rude to you.. you could have just snapped at me in return and we both could have just moved on with our lives. Instead, here you are, literally wasting my time. I do have more important things to do than stay here arguing with you." Actually, she didn't really have anything better to do but she did want to leave. She was getting a little bored too.. Anyway, she was almost done with this stupid conversation.

Abby gave the girl an evil smirk and shrugged. "So what if I was being rude? He didn't have to make a deal of it." Her gaze shifted toward the boy and raised an eyebrow, "I'm still waiting for that apology, you know? I can't wait around all day."

It was true that they would have a really good team this year. But they did have to worry about Slytherin. West and Theo were two really good chasers.

"Yeah and Milton will be our seeker. Where did you go when you were in the States?"

Nigel had only been to New York so far and wanted to see what else was in America that he could possibly see in the future.

Taylor nodded, "Yeah, Milton as our seeker." She grinned, "We have an amazing team if we all get on that is." Tay laughed. "Oh I went to Norris Lake... I think it is in Tenessee or something like that... I have been there twice in my life and I went to New York at Christmas last year."

The storm was quickly raging in his head and Patrick peered out of the corner to notice Kendall's reaction to his earlier rant, he hadn't expected her to be that surprised but at the rate that this conversation was going; she definitely was going to be having to stop him. Blinking again as the rude girl had seemed to shake off his little moment like it was nothing, he simply felt the surge of electricity course through him and he was far from done with what he wanted to say.

"I'm wasting YOUR time? You think if that was true that you would have left already, but no here you are; giving me an excuse to be angry when I'd rather not be. And did you not hear a word that I said? Clearly you didn't because you formally haven't taken the time to consider the fact that you should THINK before you speak. Evidently that concept would go over your head because you don't think, no you just go around making everyone's lives more difficult because you have to be rude for absolutely no reason. People like you think they can walk around and treat everyone else disrespectfully and you don't care otherwise because you have some altered perception of the world that's pretty much upside down from the truth. AND if you really have more important things to do there miss princess, then away you go; but if that was true you would have left already and not continued to argue with a fourteen year old that clearly understands a lot more than you do."

That all was unlike anything he'd said before but it felt good to get out, especially on someone who didn't have any respect for anyone but themselves which were the people that drove him half way to Sunday most times. "Also if you think that I'll apologize for anything that I've said, you've got another thing coming. You owe me an apology but I know damn well that I won't get it." He felt his fingers twitch slightly as he had reached towards his pocket to take out his wand, violence wasn't the answer usually but now he was considering making an exception.

For once, Kendall actually felt like there was no point in her being around. Abby was just smirking at her, not really listening as she just kept getting her friend more and more angry, and Patrick had gone off on his rant after agreeing to them exploring later. He'd even apparently forgotten that she'd stolen half his chocolate bar, which really was almost making her more surprised than she was just because of his tirade. She didn't really want to leave either, since that would likely convince the evil Puff that she'd won. "Obviously you don't have anything better to do," she managed to say, during the short pause in the flood of irritation coming from Patrick. "You could have just walked away. You got your 'snapping back'," she pointed out. The argument in Diagon Alley had been fun. This was just scary and mean and she wanted to get everyone out of it before somebody got hurt. This wasn't fun anymore, even with chocolate, and after she'd had her say, she went back to munching on it. She apparently couldn't do anything else, anyway, and she really did want to go exploring after they got out of this.

It was really weird that she'd kept saying the same things Patrick had, though, even if her way was way less calm. In fact, she took a moment from her chocolate to glance at a few strands of her hair that had falen across one eye and saw the faintest trace of the dark blue in the auburn that indicated she was confused, although it looked more purplish because of the pink that somehow also was still in her hair. She shook that resignation off as she heard the tirade continue, getting almost even more violently angry. She'd shoved what was left of her stolen chocolate into her bag as he'd paused again, preparing to try and convince him that Abby still wasn't going to listen, but then he'd just taken a breath and continued. Please be over soon, she thought, until she noticed his hand move. Okay, not that way. He isn't reaching for chocolate. She really didn't want any professors showing up if he resorted to hexing the older student. Actually, she really didn't want him to hex Abby at all, because that wasn't the answer. "No," she said quietly, reaching forward to physically try to drag his hand away from his pocket. or to drag him away from the evil Hufflepuff entirely, she didn't know which. "She's not worth it. She wants you to do that 'cause it'll prove she's better." She just hoped he'd listen.

Spike leant casually back against a tree not too far from the entrance door, his hands thrust in his jeans pockets and his foot tapping lightly. He'd grown over the summer; his features becoming slightly more chiseled, his build more athletic. However, his unruly mass of curls remained, and atop them perched Spike's favourite pet, Matilda - as requested by the person he was waiting for. Not that it needed to be requested; Matilda was usually found on Spike's person outside of lessons (unless he was playing Quidditch, of course).

He turned his glance to the entrance way to see if she'd arrived yet. His stomach knotted up slightly, as if he was nervous. He wasn't sure why. Maybe because they last encounter on the grounds hadn't gone well? But that was when he was stressed about OWLs. They were over and done with now, and he was looking forward to catching up with her again. It felt like too long since he'd last seen her...

Pulling her vest together, the short-haired brunette skidded down the moving staircases and out the Castle towards the Hogwarts Grounds. It's been a whole five days since she, along with her fellows of course, managed to arrive safely at the school. And she hasn't been able to roam the new features of the Grounds yet. Thankfully, Spike Hutchinson offered that they do the strolling together.

The fourth year then started searching for her companion. Actually, they haven't seen each other yet since last term. During the summer, she was stuck with her Grandmother which meant she never got to spend time with her friends, the same when she went to Diagon Alley, then came the somewhat chaotic train ride. She never saw him at the Feast too or even after, he was probably busy considering he was a Prefect. She sighed. They used to spend more time together when he wasn't Prefect. But oh well..what could she do? Responsibility awaits.

Beezus turned her head left and right, but she still couldn't find him. Has he decided to ditch her?

Ah, there she was. Looking as lovely as ever.

Spike pushed himself off from the tree, and took a step forward. He hesitated a moment as his stomach fluttered once more. Why? He rubbed it lightly, and gave it a warning frown. Whatever was causing it - nerves about finally seeing her after missing her on the train and at the feast, worry about the new quidditch season approaching or even something he ate - it wasn't going to ruin this stroll of the grounds.

A smile spread across his face as he watched look back and forth, and he stepped up behind her.

"Looking for someone in particular?" he asked quietly over her shoulder.

Oh, that curly head shouldn't have forgotten they were to rendezvous or else she was really going to hex him. Waiting wasn't something she was fond of.

Beezus heaved another sigh when she heard a voice behind her. It was familiar but there was something else, like it became deeper. With a frown, she turned to the owner of the voice and for seconds she just stared at him, a slightly confused yet amused look depicted on her face. "Ssssssspike?" Was it really him? Beezus couldn't believe her eyes. She knew Spike was taller than her, but right now he was WAY taller. And did he just look broader?

Trying to suppress a chuckle, she moved her hands to cover her mouth. "Holy snitch! What happened? What did you do to Spike?" His physical changes were too apparent. Not that she minded, it was normal. She was just amused by the turn-out. She liked that his hair was still curly though. That was more like the Spike she knew.

Why was she staring at him? Spike wrinkled his nose, crossing his eyes as he looked along it see if there was any smudges of dirt there. Or worse, a bogey. He didn't think they was though, as he'd had a quick wash before coming downstairs. He bit his lip, feeling a little awkward under her gaze.

At her question, his lips twitched into a crooked grin. "Well, er, let me see..." He tapped his hand in his chin, as if he was trying to remember the process. "Firstly, I was abducted by aliens through my bedroom window. And then I was put in a giant test tube, and they did all sort of tests...but apparently I wasn't suitable." He shrugged. "So they fed my to a giant monster, who spat me out cos I tasted funny. And then when I finally hitch-hiked my way home, I looked like this..."

He chuckled as he watched her expression. "Least the hair survived the trip though, eh?"

Except, he quickly realised that miiight be a touchy subject. Given the hers hadn't survived the summer - though it suited her. He liked it, a lot. He rubbed his lips together. "Yours looks lovely, by the way."

Crossing her arms, she listened to him as he told her how his appearance had altered over the summer, raising her eyebrows, giving him disbelieving looks at certain points. Yet all the way, she was smiling. How could she not? That story was worth a laugh. Seriously? This was one of the few things she liked about him, he can always make her smile at his simplest jokes.

Massaging her stomach, because it was starting to ache from excessive laughing, she finally stopped. "Oh really? Good thing your limbs are still intact huh?" Because it THAT really did happen, Beezus doubted he could stroll with her. At his question about his hair, the brunette nodded, "Yes. Thank goodness! I miss that hair of yours." She grinned then stood on tiptoe, placed one hand on his shoulder and pushed herself up to ruffle his hair.

Oh, Matildaaaaaaa...then she let go and heeled back on the ground.

Hmm? Her hair? Meh. She didn't know if she liked it, but it was easier to move around with it. No more extra weight on the head and all. She rubbed her nape and snorted, "You think so?" Lovely, eh? "Thanks Spike. I still miss my long hair though." But surely, it would still grow. She only needed to wait.

He grinned at her, and gave a little wink. Seeing her smile made him relax. Taking a stroll with Beezus round the grounds was a perfect way to spend the afternoon off.

His limbs? "Good job indeed," Spike said with a nod. "Otherwise playing Quidditch might be an issue." And there was a certain Slytherin Captain that he definitely wanted to meet on the pitch and show him who was boss. A Slytherin who might have had a couple of black eyes if Spike wasn't a Prefect...

"And I wouldn't be able to hold my arm out like this, and ask if I can escort you around the grounds..." With that, he held out his arm, inviting Beezus to hook hers through his. "Care to join me?"

Was she ruffling his hair? Heh. Not many would do that. Not with Matilda in there. Another reason why he liked Beezus - she actually understood his relationship with his tarantula. And didn't find it weird. Though it amused him how she'd had to use tippy-toes and his shoulder for balance to reach. Had he grown that much? He hadn't really thought about it, except that he was a chunk taller than Indy again...he didn't like his sister catching up heightwise. It wasn't right.

Matilda, sensing Beezus' presence, reached out a leg to touch the girl's hand in way of a greeting. Maybe she'd get extra petting from Daddy's friend later, yes?

"I do," Spike replied. "It brings attention to your -" He paused. The fluttering feeling he had returned, and he rubbed his stomach lightly. " - to your eyes." He bit his lip, and a flush of colour came to his cheeks. "I liked your old style too though."

Yes, Quidditch. They won the Cup last term and they had to hold on to it this year. She had some doubts about their new Captain's leadership skills though. Milton wasn't exactly authoritative but who knows, that might change when they were actually at the Pitch, plus he was an extraordinary flyer.

Speaking of which, "Have you signed up for the tryouts?" She herself had been one of those who signed up first. In fact, she was second on the list next to..."And do you happen to know an Aidan?" Aidan Stone, that was his name, a first year. "Is he related to our Ellie?" Stone and Stone, makes sense right?

Beezus giggled. "Why yes, Prefect Hutchinson. I'd love to." she responded to his invite while looping her arm with his, and grasping unto it afterwards. It seemed a bit awkward but she felt comfortable nevertheless.

Oh, hello Matilda!

Beezus smiled as she felt the tarantula's leg. Hmm. She missed the little creature but she appeared to be busy with something on her habitat so the brunette let her be for the mean time. Upon the sight of the spider, she remembered something. "Oh, by the way Spike..can I ask you...something?"

It what? It brought attention to her eyes? Her dark brown eyes? Beezus blinked questionably at him. As far as her knowledge went, there wasn't anything special with her eyes. They were just like everybody else's. "Thank you..again?" Chuckle. Was it just her or were people noticing her? Not that she wanted to be noticed, no. It was just, there were at least five people who complimented her that week. Dylan still called her beautiful, Rich said she was pretty, so did Alec and Blue, now Spike saying her hair was lovely. She found it hard to believe. Meh. The old style, the long one. "Me too." Beezus shrugged. "It'll grow eventually though." Maybe after two years or so?

Then she pulled the Prefect's arm. Walk, walk, walk now, yes?

There wasn't a need to wait until the rude girl had gotten in her next point that was just a waste to listen to, Patrick was already ready to show her exactly why you didn't start pushing him too far and the fact that he was about to take his wand from his pocket to hex the older girl into next week was proof enough. He was about to do it until he noticed Kendall stop him from going ahead, the notice of the different colours in his friend's hair had given him the idea that it wasn't worth it go any further than he had; her actions might have made stop but it seemed like her words had done even more. "You're right, I'm not going to hex her. Let's go, we can explore the dungeons like you had mentioned earlier." he replied, pocketing his hands as he slowly backed away from the situation; hopefully he wouldn't have to deal with that girl again since it wasn't going to be likely that the next time he wouldn't hex her. You're supposed to be a superhero, they don't let the villains get to them this much; nor would they consider easy vengeance. No, they would defeat the evil and move on. That was all true, it was unfortunate that he had let the girl get to him and when he had relied on his sidekick to stop him from acting stupid; it was rather disappointing. At least there was chocolate for later on.

"Of course I have," Spike said with a grin. "We're reigning Champions. Definitely want to be there when we do the double." And beat Dylan to the cup for the second time. Indy might have gotten over the boy, but he still riled Spike, as if there was an unwritten rivalry between them. "What do you think about Milton as the choice for Captain?"

"An Aidan?" Spike gave her a curious look. What did that have to do with signing up for Quidditch Tryouts? "I've met one in Diagon Alley. Wouldn't say I knew him as such...pretty cool kid though." And as obsessed about weird ingredients as Spike was. A smile spread across his face as he remembered their conversation, and the shop owner coming to talk to them as an overexcited Aidan tried to open the eyeball jar. Our Ellie? Spike's smile faltered a little bit. He'd miss their former Captain. A lot. "Well, the one I met was...so assuming we mean the same one, then yes. Max seemed to know him pretty well."

His eyes widened as she took his arm, and his cheeks became warmer. In some ways he hadn't expected her to take it. He'd never offered his arm to a girl before - unless you counted when Indy made him play silly dress up games when they were younger. And he'd only done that for fear of being grounded for making her upset otherwise. Had Beezus only taken it because he was Prefect? He didn't know. But it felt pretty good to have her there all the same.

Matilda moving made Spike's hair tickle, and he shook lightly. "Of course you can," Spike said with a warm smile. As a friend and Prefect, that was what he was here for. And if he didn't have the solution, he'd try to find someone who did. "What's on your mind?"

Spike just gave a little nod. He didn't know what to say, having never felt the want or need to say things like that to a girl before. It did bring out her eyes...to him, anyway. "Yes, it will... Quicker than you expect, I'm sure." He looked at it once more, trying discretely not to stare. He didn't have time to be accused of staring, however, as soon she was pulling him forward. He grinned.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. He'd invited her out for a walk, not to stand outside the entrance. "Which direction did you fancy?"

He had signed up. Good. Hearing him confidently say they were getting a double snatch at the Cup made her smirk. Heck, yeah. They had to win! And carry on Ellie's legacy. Milton, hmm? "Honestly, I thought it was going to be either you or Max. But Milton's a superb Quidditch player too." The only thing was. "Although..I'm a bit concerned on how he'd handle the team. His authorial abilities seems to waver a bit."

And without proper direction, they might lose their chance.

So he knew the Aidan boy. And yes? He was related to Ellie? "I see. Is he her brother or something?" It would totally make sense if he was considering Spike said the young Ravenclaw was close with Max and Max was Ellie's best friend. Subconsciously, she hoped he was. It would be a plus factor, the former Captain's brother on the team.

Beezus continued on tugging the Prefect forward, leaving the question she was supposed to ask him on the air for the time being. Actually, she didn't know if it was a good thing to ask him that but she promised that she'd try. "Oh, uhmm..I think I'll ask you a bit later." In some way, she was sure it could dampen his mood. That's why she decided against it.

Smiling a bit more, she allowed her hold on his arm slip and it ended on his wrist, then she turned and faced him, somewhat walking backwards. "Oh. let's just not talk about my hair." She gave him a pleading look. "I'm still quite distraught about it. Please?" Spike would surely understand, no? Instead, she pulled him more. "I don't know." was her reply when he asked where she wanted to go first. "How about the Hot Spring? I heard there's one." Beezus grinned. Yes, yes?

Bliss/Nat! :3
 

Theo had found a baby frog. Yes, it was a frog and not a toad. He thought it may have been Blue's toad that she had lost, but someone HAD confirmed to him that it was just a wild frog. Maybe her cat DID eat her toad after all. He'd have to get his bestie hat on and be a shoulder to cry on, maybe? Eh.

With the frog cupped in his hands, Theo looked suspiciously around every corner just in case someone would be there to catch him.

Not that he was doing anything wrong... Just holding a frog. But a part of him DID think that the frog's mumma would come and get him. Heck, frogs in the wizarding world could grow to be BEASTS. Theo still didn't know the vital information about being a wizard.

"S'okay, mister froggie. I'll be your mumma now."

He whispered that. Obviously.

Bliss skipped merrily down the path, today was such a nice day and she wanted to see if she could find one of her friends. Blue, Terry or Theo. That would good. Uh-huh. They were her bestest-besties, that's for sure. She'd seen both Blue and Terry not long a go and maybe this time she run into someone else, Theo or Alec or Elise. Maaaaybe.

Skip. Skip. Skippedy-Skip. Bliss mind wandered for a while, until something caught her attention.

There was a boy, crouching down and holding something in his hands. Was that..THEO? o__O He looked like he was concentrating hard on something, so as to not scare him, she quietly came up beside him.

"Hey Theodore, what chuu got there?" She asked him quietly.

Every now and then, the frog made a loud RIBBIT, and it made the poor boy jump every time. But you must know, this was a giant step for Theodore. He would never usually just gold a slimy animal like this. Good job he had his hand gel tucked away in his bag. Yep, he was smart, see?

Oh.

OHHHHHHh, WHO WAS THAT?

That usually wouldn't have made him jump, cos he had gotten better with that sorta stuff, but because he was being all shifty, Theo almost fell to the ground when someone came up to him. "BLISS! Bliss... shhhh......" Cos you might scare mister froggie, or worse, you might wake up his real mommy.

"I gotta frog."

Scandal.

As Bliss approached Theo, she heard something, something that she didn't think was coming from him. RIBBIT? Nope, definitely not him. Unless he'd swallowed a frog or toad. o___O. Hmmmm, maybe that was what was in his hands, she thought and crouched beside himm trying not to scare him.

Except she failed.

Theo had almost fallen backwards when she'd crouched next to him. "Sorry, Theo," she whispered, a little panicked. Wait. A frog? What was he doing with a frog.."Oh," she managed to say. "Where is it's mummy?" She asked, looking down at the ickle froggie. It looked tiny, surely there was a mummy frog looking for it.

Maybe that was why he was scared..?

"It's okay." Even though he was sure that he'd warned Bliss about sneaking up on him before. It was no use. Girls never listened, did they? But he wouldn't dwell on it because the frog was much more important. "He doesn't have one. I don't think he does anyway, I just found him by the entrance door." Cos it was obviously trying to get inside the castle for something to eat. And Theo saved it.

He really was a hero. Only, he wasn't sure what frogs ate so he was kinda stuck.

"I think I might take him back to the common room. Or... do you think I should give it to Blue cos she lost her toad?" Because of her evil cat gobbled it all up! Barnabus wouldn't get to this one cos Theo was it's protector.

All's he needed was a name. NAME, NAME, NAAAAAAAME....

"Good," she replied and smile kindly at Theo. To be honest, she had been trying not to sneak on Theo, but it hadn't worked and she was yet to find out if it was possible to not sneak up on him. "Oh dear," Bliss said, her eyes going sad. "Well then, you saved it!" She congratulated Theo. Though she was sure that he was already dwelling on that fact.

Theo the Hero. That was his..nickname...riiiiiiiiiight?

Bliss puzzled over this for a moment. "I think Blue would love it," Bliss said and nodded. "You could always, you know, visit it," she told him. Any way, Blue probably knew how to look after it better than Theo did. Noooo offence Theo. And Blue would probably looooove it. It. Hmmm. "Does it have name?" Bliss asked curiously.

Everything needed a name after alllllllllllll.

Ronnie walked along the pathways, her hands in her pockets. The weather was already getting a little chilly...well, to her anyway. She was almost always cold. Probably because she was so skinny! She shivered a little and crossed her arms across her chest, her teeth chattering a little bit.

She then saw Damon walking down the pathways as well. She ran after him and smiled at him once she caught up to him. "Hey, Damon!" she said with a smile. That smile faded as she saw he didn't look to good. "You alright?" she asked, concern on her face.

Damon looked up hearing someone call his name, expecting to find it to be Minerva or Ariana... but no it was Ronnie. Not that he minded seeing her, he still felt pretty bad for nearly flinging her into a bookcase at the beginning of summer. He gave a halfhearted smile and a small wave.

Then she asked if he was alright... there's a loaded question, there was no right way to answer it at the moment, "Yes and no... Bright side of life, my best friend who was supposidly never coming back showed up and she's back for good, He grimaced, "Bad side... Taylor and I broke up and... let's just say it didn't end on the best terms."

Ever since Ariadne had given her that diary written in code, the Ravenclaw had been doing her best to decipher at least a few pages of it. As much as she tried to figure what meaning those random numbers had, she didn’t manage to come up with any solution until recently. Yes, not long ago, Gwendolyn had finally managed to crack the code. Finally. With a small grin on her face, the fifth year made her way out of the Common Room.

She needed a break.

With no plan in mind, the fifth year found herself walking along one of the pathways. Where to go?, the Ravenclaw asked herself, eventually thinking about going to the lake. After all, that was one of her favourite places at Hogwarts.

Ronnie frowned. "I'm sorry about that, Damon." she said, giving her friend a comforting hug, hoping she could cheer him up. Poor guy. Breaking up was always hard to deal with...she frowned as she pulled away. "If you wanna talk about it, I'm here for ya, okay?" she asked, giving him a reassuring smile.

Damon shook his head, "It's not the breakup I have a huge problem with... I mean, yes, it's sucks because I love her but... It's how she treated me afterwards." He sighed, "Like I was some play thing that's only here for her amusement and for her to play with my emotions." He looked at her, "But that you for the offer Ronnie... By the way... Still really sorry about the whole nearly flipping you into a bookcase..."

Ronnie frowned. "That's terrible. I'm so sorry, Damon." she said, giving him another hug, squeezing him tightly. That really was terrible....gah! What a rotten thing to do! How could someone do that?! That was just dumb. She just couldn't believe it...

She laughed at what he said. "You're fine, really. Don't worry about it." she said with a small shrug.

Damon sighed and shrugged, "I'll get over it, I'm sure." He didn't mention that there actually was someone else he kinda liked, but he knew Ronnie and Ariana didn't get along, so he didn't want to bring it up.

"Still feel bad... blame my past for it," He said plainly, knowing t-shirt he had on did show the top of one of his numerous scars.

Oakey was on one of his typical walks around the Grounds this time his destination unknown. He had his head down and was looking at his feet.
He had no idea that Gwendolyn was walking in his direction and accidently bumped into her knocking a book right out of her hands.

"S-sorry Gwendolyn!" Oakey said slightly startled from the bump. He reached down to grab the book from the ground and peaked quickly into it. He would be dead if this was some kind of secret diary no doubt, but the page he looked at was written in numbers?
"Was that Arithmancy work?" He asked puzzled with the book he had handed back to her.

With the thought that she had actually managed to do something about the diary written in code which Ariadne found, the girl couldn’t help smirking while going for a walk along the pathways. Well… there was still a lot to do, but the important thing was… she managed to find the method which should be used to crack the code. Guess I could start with the first pages?, the fifth year asked herself, but her thoughts were soon interrupted, as someone bumped into her.

. . .

She had expected the person to be a hyperactive firstie, so the Ravenclaw was really surprised to see Oakey in front of her. ‘It’s alright’, she said simply, wandering if it wasn’t actually her fault. After taking the book from the Hufflepuff, Gwen heard him ask something. Errr. Arithmancy work? ‘Sort of’, she said, a bit confused. It actually had to do more with Arithmancy than she even expected at the beginning. After all, from what she had worked on so far, there was a number for each letter, just like in Arithmancy. Pretty much the same. Just without adding and reducing.

‘What are you up to?’, she said, willing to continue her walk. Well… as long as he wouldn’t ask anything about the diary, then it was fine.

He agreed with her and headed out of the door and down to the closest pathway. "So, how're you finding Hogwarts so far?" His bright eyes looked at her, still showing his exceptionally good mood.

Sutton walked along next to him and considered his question for a moment before answering. With a shrug, she said, "I don't know... it's different. Sometimes I miss Muggle school... I had a lot of really good friends there..." Trailing off, she met his gaze with her pretty, light green eyes. Suddenly smiling, for some unknown reason, she looked away quickly. "How about you?" Sutton asked, thinking that he probably already had a lot of friends at Hogwarts. Who wouldn't want to be his friend?

She missed it? Wow. But he could understand missing her friends. "I understand. I miss my old friends too, but I keep in touch constantly." He supposed it was easier for him with his friends being wizards and not freaked out by an owl dropping off a letter. "So was there where you were for the last two years?" He asked, curiosity showing clearly in his expression.

He grinned at her smiling, it was great to see his friends smile. "Well, I've met a few people already. They're all good fun, little bit crazy. You know?" He loved this place! "The castle is HUGE, and full of surprises. I really do enjoy being here." He turned and walked backwards for a few steps as he looked up at the castle.

Sutton shook her head as he asked her about her school before. "No... once my parents found out I was a witch, they paid for a private tutor to come in and homeschool me. I didn't really learn much, though, which is why I'm so behind in magic stuff. Mostly I just learned how to control it so I don't like burn down their house or something," she explained a little sadly. "But at least I was still close to my friends there. I could still see them. Now they think I'm at some super snobby boarding school. My parents said if my friends gave them letters, they'd send them to me, but I haven't heard anything from anyone since I got here, so they probably just threw them away..."

It was weird talking about all of this... she hadn't really told it to anyone. She didn't want anyone's pity because of her parents not liking that she was a witch. It was just how it was. She still loved her parents, and they still loved her, this was just a part of who she was that they'd never understand, that they couldn't deal with.

"Anyway..." she continued, her smile returning right to where it should be. "I'm glad you really like it here! Maybe I will learn to love it, too!" Sutton said brightly as she watched him walking backwards. "Where did you go to school before?"

Ouch. That had to smart. "But that sucks. Surely you would have learnt all that here and more." Honestly, her parents had let her get so far behind that she only knew how to control herself? He nodded understandingly at her next words though. "Yeah, I'm sure it kinda took the sting out of it, being able to see your friends." Then a frown crossed his face. "That's not nice of them." It wasn't fair that either her friends had tried to write and her parents hadn't sent the letters, or her friends just hadn't bothered. His mood changed dramatically at hearing this.

Looking up at her, he just had to smile once more. "I hope you will. I've wanted to come here for so long." A satisfied sigh escaped him before he turned back around. "I was at Durmstrang for six years." Now he was waiting for the most basic 'but you don't sound like you're from there. I thought you were English' comment.

Sutton kept silent about his reaction to her parents for a few seconds before responding apathetically. "They just think life would be easier for me if I was normal... whatever that means. I never felt normal my whole life until I came here, but they didn't realize how it would be, I guess. I finally convinced them to let me go to a magic school, and here I am. They said that they thought this would be the best school for me, but I think they just wanted to send me somewhere that no one they knew would see me..." she finished with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. Her parents were... something.

As he explained that he'd been at Durmstrang, she nodded. It seemed silly that his parents had sent him all the way to Durmstrang when they could have sent him to a school right in Britain, but then again... Sutton was here instead of at Salem. "Why'd they send you all the way to Durmstrang?" she asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

"But you are normal. To me and everyone else in this place, at least." Her parents had made her miss out on two years that could have been some of the happiest of her life. Oh, they wanted people to not see her? "Why? Where do your parents live?" Most magical schools were hidden and were boarding schools, so why the secrecy?

He was surprised when she didn't ask the common question, but answered her other question nonetheless. "Well, dad got a job over there, so I had to move with him, even though I desperately wanted to be at Hogwarts." Even the name was cool. A hog that had warts.

Sutton gave him a small smile for thinking she was normal. She supposed that a lot of girls spent their lives wanting boys to think they were extraordinary or beautiful or incredible, but honestly, Sutton was just fine with boys thinking she was normal for once. Just normal sounded good.

"Well, right now, they live in the U.S. ... in Ohio. Not a very exciting place. They're like business people, though, and they travel a lot, so they know people all over the U.S.," she explained in a matter-of-fact tone. Sutton tried not to think about her parents much because she was never sure if she missed them or not. Had they sent her away to school two years ago, she'd probably be so homesick for them, but now... Well, they were her parents, and she loved them, and they loved her... yes... that is what she always told herself.

Sutton nodded some more in understanding as he explained about having to move to stay with his parents. "Well, I'm really glad that you got to come here this year," she said in a quiet voice, looking up at him with a warm expression in her green eyes.

The U.S.? Ed stared at her in amazement and put his hands into his pockets. "Wow, that's... wow." What could he say to that? He was surprised at their jobs and that they'd sent her from America! "Would I be right in assuming they're muggles?"

He looked at her once more with a content smile. "Thanks. Me too. I've already met some awesome people, like yourself, for instance." It was everything he'd hoped it would be. And a little bit more.

She couldn't help but giggle a little at his amazement. It didn't seem that odd or anything to her, but maybe that was because she'd already met other Hogwarts students from America. "Mhmm... I'm a Muggle-born," she confirmed, nodding her head. She blushed a bit, now, saying that she was awesome. Sutton thought that he was pretty awesome, too, buuut she wasn't gonna say that out loud.

There was something, though, that was nagging at her mind. "It's not a big deal, really, the Muggle-born thing, is it?" she asked shyly, her eyes now pointedly not making contact with his. It had been something she'd wanted to ask everyone she'd met so far, especially since she hadn't met any other Muggle-borns that she knew of.

Oh, she was a muggle-born! He wondered what it'd be like growing up in the muggle world. He'd had a taste of it, but had always seen magic used at home. In a way, this kind of explained her parents responses to her magic. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't even notice her blush. Her shy question made him smile. "No, not at all. Can't see why it would be. I find it fascinating. It must have been so strange coming from one world into another."

"Of course. Everything will be okay." she said, smiling again. Ronnie then frowned. "I was fine, you shouldn't feel bad, Damon. I wasn't hurt at all, just a bit surprised at first. That's all." she said.

She felt that she needed to change the subject, she wanted to get Damon feeling happy...not sad. And talking about all that they were talking about probably wasn't really helping. "So, that train ride...pretty crazy, huh?" she said with a laugh. Man, she had really hurt her head from the train stopping so fast...and that stupid Portkey had made her puke at the station! NOT FUN!

"Not the most fun..." He sighed, there was no denying that he was actually depressed, losing Taylor and not to mention this whole new confusing thing with Ariana and it being close to the second anniversary of his mother's death, he had decent reason to be.

"Trying to carry three animals and keeping hold of the stupid thing was difficult." Damon shook his head, "My cat, puff, and owl... Not much fun."

Today was an excellent day. Wisteria had her infamous camera at hand. She had collected so may pictures throughout the years, she started a scrap book. She pulled out her camera and started snapping pictures of the foliage. The nice thing about these pictures as opposed to the muggle ones are that if the wind blows the trees, my camera takes it's actions. It makes for a pretty picture because when you watch it, it feels like you're almost there.

The only down side to taking pictures, at least when it comes to Witsy, is that she finds herself alone all the time. Sometimes she wonders if she'll ever bump into William, but she knows now that that is long gone. William is never coming back and each year it gets a little better and better, but there's still that residual-ness and she cant quite let go yet. She stops focusing her camera and stares blankly towards the horizon.

Van Came running towards her sister.What-ca Doing she asked curious.Are you alright she asked in a sincere voice.I have a gift for you she took out of her pocket.she handed to her.