Potions #4
 

She could find something here. For sure, something. Anything. Almost every other thing was used as a potions ingredient. So it wasn't exactly a very tough task, was it?

She walked towards the lake, keeping an eye out for possible ingredients. She still had 15 minutes to go and was sure she could make it on time. Just then, she spotted a patch of plants at the edge of the lake. Let's take a look.

She examined the plants. Hmm....aren't those? Yep, nettles. She clipped a bunch of that and placed it in a packet. She clapped her hands.

Success. Task accomplished. GRIN. GRIN.

She turned around and walked. C-R-U-S-H.

Yikes! CATERPILLARS! She stepped away in a jiffy and...HEY! She went down and with a disgusted look picked the squashed caterpillars. They were also some kind of ingredients weren't they? And dead at that. She put the three caterpillars in a separate packet and moved towards the class.

Potions - one post, all four ingredients. Lazy Forrest!
 

Forrest didn't have the SLIGHTEST idea about a potion ingredient, nor did he have much time to find out what was used in potions. Being the muggleborn he was, he knew muggle medicine was made of herbs, so he'd gone directly to the lake. He was panting from all the running, and there he plopped down somewhere and opened the book to maybe find something that he recognised.

Nothing... all the names were foreign to him--or so they seemed in his panic. He turned the pages quickly, eyes always on the ingredients part, but Chinese would have made more sense than those wizarding names. He closed the book in panic and looked around as if something would shine like in those video games, when you had to collect an item. He kept looking around, with a desperate expression, but nothing came alive...

The grass... the lake water... a wild daisy and--and--he found a dead stick that must have fell from a tree nearby. Those would be his ingredients. It was better than returning empty handed, yes?

Yes.

Pulling a handful of grass, he shoved it into his hands, as well as the dead stick and that daisy. He didn't have a container for the lake water, so he quickly ran to the castle and down the potions classroom to get his water bottle.

...

After getting the bottle from the classroom, he returned to the lake. He drank half of the water inside and emptied the part he couldn't drink into the lake. Then, walking a few metres forward so that the water he'd emptied there wouldn't get inside the bottle. Filling it up with the lake water, he closed the lid carefully and ran back to the castle.

Jen.. Jen hahaha
 

Falling.. wouldn't be the first time.. Can we just look back to the opening feast.. goodness that was horrid.. she blinked and sat down scratching Fluffy on the head lightly.. " hey little dude." that sounded funny with her british accent.. heh oh well. " yeah.. plus you haven't played in a term or so right? I mean im alright just distracted from playing cause my stomach's been hurting still it's weird." she said looking out onto the lake as her friend spoke. she smiled slightly " that's lovely, really." and it really was she loved when her best friend was this happy. " I've been about the same.. minus." she pointed to her stomach.. damn thing wouldn't go away

Since he had suggested the lake, Gwendolyn found herself walking in that direction. Heh. It seemed that somehow, they always tended to pick the lake. So anyway, the seventh year was STILL trying to figure out what she wanted to say.

On the one hand, she was quite proud of herself that she finally managed to at least try to speak up her mind. On the other hand, though... she was mentally facepalming herself. Why. Why couldn’t this have waited? Why now.

WHY?

Ugh. And besides- she hadn’t even thought about WHAT she was going to say. So erm. She would do her best to avoid an epic fail. Gahh. Couldn’t she have just gone to find ice cream at the Great Hall?! No, she had to suggest going for a walk.

Genius, Gwen. Genius.

Anyway- she eventually drew her attention back to the Gryffindor. ‘Zeke?’ Just making sure that he was listening.

Well. Hypothetically Tora could have already gone swimming. "Just to continue my argument, I could wear protective gloves. That eliminates the problem of sticking my wand to my skin and the problem of the grindylows biting it off." So there. She was uber tempted to smirk but kept it in. No good to get cocky now, that was how one made mistakes.

She then turned to the other girl. "Audrey is a pretty name." She said. One of her muggle friends was named Audrey, but she didn't want to mention that just in case this girl wasn't fond of Muggles. "We were just talking, before you tripped over me- about how we could swim- or not swim- in the lake in the winter time. My argument is for by the way."

An owl came swooping down near Tag and dropped him off a package. A package? But who would be sending Tag a package? He hadn't even owled someone for anything, not really. So, this was very random. Inside the package he found a letter from Colin telling Tag that he got him some money, candy and cinnamon rolls.

Immediately Tag began to look through the package of candy, scooping out the ones he liked the most and unwrapping the, well, wrapper. With a quick glance to the sky Tag looked up and waved by to the white owl.

Lex smiled over at the girl as she joined them by the lake. The name Audrey was familiar but she couldn't remember where she'd heard it from before so she'd let it die there. The girl's name was Audrey. "I'm Alexa Cambridge, you can call me Lex though." That last bit was meant for them both. Most everyone called her Lex.

"Are you a first year as well?" Ah but before she could get an answer they were talking hypothetical things again. Alright. She had this too. "Okay, you use protective glove on your hands? Fine, we'll say you do, how do you swim? It'll make it harder then you could end up drowning from swimming difficulties not to mention the grindylows could just grab you by the gloves which are attached to your wand--they could grab that instead you know, either way you'd still be going down and let's say you don't, you're wand will be permanently attached to the glove. That'll get mighty uncomfortable and make casting the more difficult spells even harder not to mention how ridiculous you'll look being the Firstie who got her wand stuck to her glove." Trust me, not a good reputation to have.

She yawned a little. "I don't see what the point of all this hypothetical stuff. What are you asking again?" It was harder to remember things when she'd lost interest. Short attention span you see.

"Thank-you," she said to Tora, referring to the compliment on her name. Swimming? That was something Audrey was not partial to at all. Glancing at the lake, she shuddered a little. Sure, she didn't mind looking at it, and of course she was interested in the things that could be found in the lake, but that didn't mean she wanted to swim in it. At all. "Oh, I'm not for swimming in the winter at all, nor in the summer."

"Nice to meet you Lex," she said with a smile. A first year as well? Audrey assumed she meant that Tora was a first year. "I'm in my fourth year, but it's my first year here at Hogwarts. I actually just transferred from Beauxbatons Academy of Magic." Her french accent laced her english words as she mentioned the school she previously attended. So far Hogwarts was very different to her old school. "What year are you in?" As Lex replied to Tora and explained what could happen if the girl went swimming in the winter she raised an eyebrow. It was certainly true what the girl was saying. First impressions were so imporant, especially at a new school.

we see some of you, but open ended RP :3
 

This is your brain.. This is your brain with Kids.. Any questions?
 

Minerva couldn't help but smile when Ariana pet Fluffy, "Best gift you could have gotten me. Thank you again for her." She was so surprised when Ari had given her fluffy two summers ago, but Fluffy had become a huge part of her life and she loved the little fluff ball.

Ari was right, she rolled her shoulder absentmindedly as they talked about quidditch. "Two terms actually, Fifth year I came to late to school, because of the ordeal with my grandparents and stuff, so I just announced and then was asked to sub for the final match. Last term, well I had a horrible tryout and didn't make the team." She frowned at that thought, what if she didn't make it again this term. She would be sad about it, really sad. "I'm nervous for the roasters to come out." She couldn't help but worry, the puffs had talent, a lot of talent.

She couldn't help but eye her friend, "Is it still bothering you? Maybe you need to get it checked out/ Concern written all over her face. She really wanted Ariana to get checked out if she was sick. She didn't want her to be in pain. Giving her a small smile though when Ari said she was happy as well, that had to mean things with Oakey were going well, right. "You and Oakey doing good then?"

Astronomy Post... Last
 

"I'll just meet you up there, then," Mo agreed, although he didn't take more than a few steps before the awful condition of Mika's shoes became apparent. And her trousers were a state. Plus... look at the back of her shirt.

Merlin, it was like this vacuum was designed for Mika-zones or something. All zones in which Mika was likely to enter, make a mess, or become a mess. They might as well just rename the spell to something Mika-oriented.

"Erm, just... Vacuvus," Mo chased Mika down, trying to vacuum the mud from her shoes and from the back of her shirt as she headed back to the castle. There... that seemed to be most of it. Should he go back and try to vacuum the ground again? Erm... probably not.

He absent-mindedly followed her to the lake, his eyes all the while looking at the ground his feet were walking on. From the concrete floor to the green grass.

Upon hearing his name, Zeke looked up and instantly shot a smile to Gwen. "Yep?" It was somehow painful to see her a few inches away, to just be with her, to be near her...and yet feel like she was far away, not within his reach. A precious gemstone he laid his eyes upon in a high class museum or exhibit that he can't take away.

No. Ice Princess was not his to keep. She wasn't even his to begin with.

......

Oh the joy.

‘I umm... just wanted to tell you that...’ Pause. The Ravenclaw just stared at her shoes for a moment. A rather long moment. Just finish that sentence..., she told herself. But for some reason, all she could think about was everything that could go wrong.

UGH.

She would just have to gather her non-existent courage. Pft. There was a reason why she wasn’t a Gryffindor. She was no good at these things... Gwen always tended to back out in the last minute... And now she was seriously considering finding some stupid excuse and just get back to finding ice cream.

Well... better finish what she wanted to say. ‘So ummm... I umm...’ TWO WORDS THERE. Making progress. And then she finally raised her eyes from the ground, not staring at her shoes anymore. Still trying to find her words and trying HARD not to change the topic in the last minute. So another moment of silence.

Until finally...

‘I love you’

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

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

Zeke just stared at her, barely blinking with the same incomprehensible expression. His mind currently could not process what Ice Princess told him. Slowly his jaw dropped open, while he was finally beginning to understand what was happening.

'SHE WHAT?!' He finally grasped the situation and his head was going bonkers. 'D-did she just- Is this some kind of- For rea- WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?' With the beat of his heart racing wildly, mouth still wide open, eyes wide as well with disbelief....everything about him simply screamed wide and wild. As some kind of reflex he shook his head in an attempt to wake himself up if this was some sort of dream he's having. Mind you, he's dreamt of this a lot of times.

His index finger and thumb on his right hand reached out to pinch his left arm....for reassurance. In case this was real life and not his normal dream where he wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly BAM, the dream's over time to get back to reality. "Ow," the seventeen year old flinched.

Okay.

ZEKE, THIS IS REAL LIFE FOR MERLIN'S LOVELY BEARDS AND GODRIC'S HUNDRED LIONS!

Okay....uhm. Don't screw up, don't screw up. Her words rang in his ears forming an echo. The kind you hear when you scream your heart out in the mountains. 'I love you....I love you...I love you....I love-'

Wait. WAIT. Hold on a second. The echoing in his ears stopped as much as he wanted it on replay forever. This was all too good to be true. Was she pulling a joke on him? Because as good as this was to Zeke, it was not a funny joke.

More silence ensued as he tried to think of a proper way to respond to this. Does he say I love you back? Ask if she was kidding him? Kiss her? Hug her? Jump around and run through Hogwarts screaming the good news?

Later on he just decided to go for it, not thinking of anything else. Right now it was just him and her, in Hogwarts, in front of their place, and this was their moment. The Gryffindor completely forgot all memories of anything at all. Just Gwen...and him. Together. Godric that sounds so wrong yet so right in so many ways.

"I-I-I l-lo-love you too, G-g-gwen."

Yeah. YEAH. He did love her. More than anyone ever. His lips curved into a smile, the most authentic smile he's ever given. She loves him and that's all that mattered now. Zeke leaned forward and gave his Ice Princess a tight hug. Squeeeeeze!

He pulled back with that same silly smile on his face, cupped her face with his hands as gently as he could manage, looked at her eyes as if they were seeing it for the first time, leaned in and kissed her.

Things were getting better? "That's good." And that usually tended to happen, thankfully. Things sometimes got bad, but they also usually got better after awhile. Even if it wasn't generally fun waiting for it to get to the "better" part. But at least it did come. Eventually. "A lot of food," Penelope said, raising her eyebrows but also smiling, sorta impressed. Always good to bring a lot of food wherever you went, just in case. You could never have too much food after all. "You don't mind sharing?"

YES. She could feel it, the fresh air gushing by and pleasantness spread all over. This was definitely the best place of the whole castle. She walked along the edge of the lake, hoping now and then, thinking about random and distant things.

The water looked calm and silent....

RIPPLE. RIPPLE. RIPPLE.

Whaawaaszaat? Initially she'd thought it was some water creature coming to the surface but then it wasn't. She knew it wasn't. How?

Well if one could spotted a professor throwing stones at the water, it shouldn't be a water demon. Huh?

And she spotted something near him. What was that? Rock-like..round..eyes...EYES?

"Uhm...hello professor" she called, as she moved towards him. "You really know there's something next to you, don't you?" she asked, because he looked very absent-minded then.

Aaaaand silence.

Gwen just looked back at Zeke, waiting for some sort of a reply. You know... this would be about the right time to say something, she wanted to say jokingly to ease the tension, but she couldn’t mutter a word. Her heart was beating way too fast right now. Gwen bit her lip as she waited for the Gryffindor to speak, completely failing to see him pinching his arm. This would have probably been the time when Gwen would have started to overthink this, hadn’t Zeke said something. Wow. Wait. Not just something.

AJGDFBCKGNGBDJJH

He just...

...he just said he loved her.

Although this was the reaction she could have only HOPED for, Gwendolyn was a bit confused. This all was... Err. What was the right word to finish that sentence?

A smile appeared on her face as Zeke hugged her. Yes, Gwen was smiling. The person who could only show a mean grin or a smirk was SMILING. And yes, obviously she hugged him back, with her heart still beating way too fast. And then...

Zeke kissed her. AJGDFMH. This was actually happening! Gwen put her right hand on his shoulder, almost out of an instinct willing to push herself away and back out. But that was NOT her intention. She eventually wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. As she looked back at Zeke, that smile appeared on her face again. This was all... This was all so amazing. That was the right way to end the sentence.

BIG SMILE.

REALLY BIG SMILE.

This was beyond words.

He had to admit, the seventeen year old was a bit surprised when she returned his kiss. Knowing Gwen, she would have pushed him back and I dunno, get mad at him for doing that? For a split second his eyes opened and stared at her incredulously. Letting out a slight chuckle, Zeke closed his eyes again and kissed her passionately. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him as well, as if they weren't even close enough already.

As his eyes opened again, 'Beautiful.' She was just too gorgeous, even more when she smiles. Ugh, he couldn't resist. He smiled back at her but then visions of Evie began to come up. His sight flashed back from Gwen to her, and her to Gwen. What on earth?

'Damn, no no no no no. Head, don't die out on me now.' Zeke's vision slightly blurred. Yay he was now having double vision. His eyebrows met in frustration. How could he ruin such a perfect moment? To hide it, he casually let one hand up to his face that was looking away while his other hand was still wrapped around IP's waist.

It was weird how she had gone from the permanent wish to never see the Gryffindor again to loving Zeke. Heh. Yes, she loved him. And it ONLY took her FOUR years to realize that. Erm. Wait---

. . .
What was going on?

Noticing his reaction, the seventh year just took a couple of steps back. Yes. Away from Zeke. Really... what was happening? ‘Zeke... are you alright?’ Clearly, he wasn’t. She just crossed her arms as she was still trying to figure out what was the matter.

His other hand felt her slipping away. What, was she avoiding hi-

Zeke's vision blurred even more as he heard Gwen's voice asking something in a muffled voice. Ohno. NO. You will not be collapsing here. Both his hands were flailing slowly in front of him in search of his IP. Did she disappear? Was this another dream? WHAAAAT was going on?

As he took some steps forward, CRASH! The Gryffindor fell on top of something....or someone. "Owww," he tried to raise himself up with his arms, failing horribly. Instead he attempted to raise his head and get a view of the scenario. Opening his eyes, they weren't blurred anymore. Well thank goodness for that one.

:whaa:

Seeing he had fallen on top of Gwen, he immediately sat back up, moving backward. That must have hurt....unless this girl could withstand his weight which was not likely....unless she was some kind of weight lifter....which was not likely too. "I'M SO SORRY." Great. You just ruined it, Zeke.

Pebbles? Pebbles? The girl eyed the little rock. It was funny looking really, with all the wide eyes and ears. "Uhm....it has a name?" Let's make things clearer first.

"And you're taking it for a...walk?" OH, it walks? Right, she was getting a bit confused here. "It looks like a...." PAUSE. "...rock?"

And rocks don't walk. Or was she missing out something important here?

First things first. "PROFESSA!" Back to being excited. "It was a wonderful first class for me!" she said, with a bright smile. Astronomy was the first class she'd attended and it was...AWESOME. Really, with the muggle thing...AH, really awesome. She'd enjoyed playing the black hole. HEH.

‘Zeke?’, she tried again, hoping that the Gryffindor would reply something. Seriously- WHAT was happening? What was this? Maybe... low blood pressure or something?, Gwen started thinking, but she immediately got distracted- Merlin’s beard- he was falling.

O_______________________o

‘OW’

The fall kind of hurt. But she was fine. Fine... fine... no broken ribs... The seventh year just tried to stand back up. Though, in the next moment, she saw a scratch on her hand. Gah. Must be from the fall. She could use a simple healing spell for that. Just as soon as she will find her wand.

‘You couldn’t have gone for a normal hug?’, she said rather sarcastically. Great, Gwen. This was SO the right time to joke. She just looked back at the Gryffindor, who was apologizing. ‘It’s fine Zeke’, she said calmly. She was fine. On the other hand... ‘Are you alright?’ Well... she was a clumsy person, but this... falling all of a sudden... you just couldn’t blame it on your clumsiness. So really Zeko- what was wrong?

His eyes wandered over to where her eyes lingered at. Crap, he's gotten her wounded. Not good. "Fudge. I'm so sorry again. I could uhm, erm," he could what? He's got no bandages on him, no healing whatnot. The Gryffindor's mind was so flustered that he's forgotten that they could use magic on it. "Sorry." He finally gave up, and tried to stand up.

"Yeah, just a minor headache," right, because you can't admit you just saw Evie in the form of IP. Urgh. He still couldn't get over her. Nonono, stop. Just stop. He shrugged it off with a smile and brushed off some grass that got on his pants.

Looking down at IP, he offered a helping hand. Not that he was much of a help, really.

And Zeke was still apologizing. ‘No, really. It’s fine’, she mumbled as she looked for her wand. The scratch didn’t hurt... that bad. Erm. Anyway. Once she had the wand in her left hand, the seventh year pointed it to the scratch. Well- a simple healing spell would do. With a non-verbal Episkey, the Ravenclaw watched as the scratch on her hand disappeared.

Minor headache? Seriously, Zeke? ‘Minor?’, Gwen just raised an eyebrow, though not to mock him, but because she actually cared. So. What was the matter?

While waiting for a reply from the Gryffindor, the seventh year noticed the extended hand. With a smirk on her face, she took his hand and stood back up.

mention of Prof Aireyyyy
 

"Yup, minor," he nodded through pursed lips while his hand helped Gwen up. He then proceeded to ruffle his hair as hie eyes wandered around. "It's nothing really."

Ahh, the lake was perfect, the sunset was perfect, the students and Professor Airey were....WAIT. Blink. Professor Airey was here. Yikes, not good news much. He decided to turn his back from him so he doesn't get seen. Zeke's heard the guy had some kind of strictness or something to Gryffindors.

He needed some getaway. Errr, what were they supposed to do before they went here? .............ICE CREAM. O_O "So Gwen, how about we get some ice cream?" The seventeen year old (soon turning eighteen) suddenly craved for some. YEAH, THAT SWEET COLD TREAT.

Before waiting for her answer, he placed his right hand around her waist and began to lead her back to the castle. "Sounds good, right? Right." He completely decided that for himself. Anyway, walking walking walkiiiiiiiiing away.

Minor headache.

Sure.

Even though that was obviously not true, the Ravenclaw decided to just drop it. As much as she wanted to help Zeke, insisting on the headache wasn’t going to do any good. So yeah. No more questions.

And besides, even though she was quite confused, she was, in the same time really HAPPY. Heh. Which was why she couldn’t stop smiling. ‘Hmm?’, she mused, hearing his suggestion about going to get some ice cream. Right. That had been the original plan. ‘Umm...sure’, the seventh year said, completely failing to see the reason why Zeke was in such a hurry to get away from the lake.

And before she knew it, they started walking rapidly back to the castle. ‘What’s up with you?’ No, really. Why was he in such a hurry?

Zeke flinched a little, he saw that question coming. He turned to face Gwen as his walking slowed down a bit. They were at a safe distance from Mr. Itchy guy. "I just really really really want ice cream right now." He did want ice cream now, so that was somehow true. ICEY CREAM. Beam.

"How about we consider this as some kind of casual date?" Yes? No?

Mila walked to the lake, and sat on a soft patch of grass. She pulled an apple from her bag and bit into it, and sighed happily.

Mila ran a porcelain hand through her glossy, raven-colored locks. She crossed her legs and gazed out at the lake, her emerald eyes taking in every detail. A smile tugged at her lips.

She looked around. Was there anyone here she knew from last year? Or was there anyone who looked friendly enough to talk to? Mila scanned the area for anyone who didn't look too busy.

‘Fine’, she said with a small smile. That had been, after all, the original plan. Gwen started walking towards the castle, but she got distracted when she heard Zeke say something. Casual date? Hehe. Why not.

It was only a moment later when Gwen realized she was supposed to be back at the Common Room. In fact, she was already running late. NONONO. She just couldn’t mess this up. No. Not now. ‘Actually... I...don’tthinkIhavethetimenow’ Yeah. That was a no.

Pause.

Wait... Gwen could make it up to him. ‘Will you meet me in Hogsmeade?’

...random pokemon references XD
 

Wait.....was that a no? Ouch.

Gwen used rejection. Gryffindor pride level is damaged. Zeke's ego lowered to Level 46.

He stopped dead in his tracks for a moment. Err, how was he supposed to react to this. She had no time. The seventeen year old wore a frown on his face though he tried his best to hide it.

Just when he was about 100% convinced that Gwen found him weird and that she regretted telling Zeke that she loved him, he heard her offer. HOGSMEADE? A smile crept up his face. So she wasn't rejecting him? YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHBOYYYY.

"Alright, see you then!" Grin.

For Laura (Harry174)
 

Christmas had every intention of heading back to her dorm but she just ended up by the lake she was so mad and upset how dare Nashville could treat her this way he had to pay

Laura was walking when she suddenly saw that Christmas was looking a bit mad and sad, she walked over to her and smiled. "Is everything okay?" Laura was a bit upset about the fact that Christmas was looking a bit down. "Want to talk about it?" Laura sat down and waited to see what she said.

Christmas looked up and saw Laura and said "No i am not okay, the guy i thought was the one for me has just broke up with me and he has broken my heart"

Laura looked at Christmas and sighed. "What happened?" Laura didn't like her friend talking about things like that, and who was actually the boyfriend that had broken her heart, he would suffer when Laura saw them, because no one hurt her friend.

Christmas shrugged and said "Well we hadn't seen each other for a while and really i don't know what made him break up with me cause he was so perfect, i am guessing that some of his friends talked him out of dating me"

Laura sighed at Christmas. "That is just plain wrong." Laura didn't think it was at all right. "I want his name and house so I can have a word with him." Laura hoped the guy knew he had messed with the wrong girl. "I'll see if I can get him around for you." Laura hoped Christmas wouldn't be too sad.

Christmas half smiled at Laura and said "His name is Nashville and he is in Hufflepuff and i don't know if you will be able to get him to come around" Christmas sighed and let out a few tears

Laura couldn't deal with tears, at the minute but she wasn't going to say anything. "I'll see what I can do." Laura said truthfully she would give it her best shot, she took out a hanky and handed it to Christmas, hopefully that would cheer her up.

Christmas half smiled and said "Thanks sorry to be all down in the dumps on you Laura but i am not taking this well"

Laura smiled at Christmas. "That's what friends are for." Laura said truthfully, she had some great friends who had helped her out when she was sad and now it was her turn, she gave her friend a quick hug. "We can do something if you want to forget." Laura said truthfully.

Christmas half smiled and said "I don't really want to forget i just want to get revenge"

Laura sighed, no that wasn't the way to go revenge never got you anywhere, just into a whole heap of trouble. "Christmas, just think your bigger than this, if you get revenge you'll be just as bad as him." Laura decided that if that didn't work out she would tell her something else.

Christmas looked up and said "I know that Laura but really i am just going to tell my fellow gryffindor teammates and one of them might do something"

Laura looked at Christmas and sighed. "You don't want to do that, your teammates will get in trouble, just be the bigger person and ignore them, they are the one's losing out on things." Laura was hoping to get Christmas to stop on the Revenge thing.

Christmas sighed and said "Look i have to do something i can't just ignore the guy who broke my heart and okay i will leave my teammates out of it but nothing is stop my heart breaking everytime i look at my ex"

Laura looked at Christmas and sighed, "How do you think I felt when my best friend was dating my ex." Laura hadn't been happy about that. "But I never told my friend because at least she was happy." Laura sighed. "And now my boyfriend is in America and I'm here, you can't go around getting revenge because it makes you as bad as them, your above this Christmas, find something else to do." Laura smiled truthfully.

Christmas sighed and sat down and said "Yeah i suppose your right Laura, i just have to try and move on but i know that it is going to be difficult"

Laura smiled at Christmas "Once you get over the first few days it will get easier I promise." Laura was glad it seemed like Christmas was listening to her, "It took me awhile to realize that DJ wasn't coming back but you have to live and get on with your life and be as happy as you can be." Laura said truthfully.

Christmas half smiled and said "Yeah i suppose your going to be right Laura, i just have to mend my broken heart" A few tears rolled down Christmas's cheek

Laura smiled at Christmas. "Yeah I know I am." Laura didn't want to see her friend get into trouble, "Just promise me you won't do anything stupid, I don't want to see you getting into trouble."

Christmas looked at Laura and said "I promise Laura i will not get myself into trouble and i will not do anything stupid"

weeeeee
 

Derry had been inside the castle for so long she'd almost forgotten what the outside looked like... sort of. Well... maybe not, but she'd been doing homework for ages and she wanted to be outside. She had pulled on her boots and her big fluffy tartan jumper, wrapped herself up in her cloak and made her way down to the lake.

December in Scotland was always a cold experience, but snow was great. So Derry smiled to herself as she moved through the flakes, her head back, tongue out, trying to catch the snow.

It seemed like only yesterday that it had summer and sunny and all of that and now .. it wasn't. Bliss kinda missed it. Summer time had been a good time, in some ways, anyway. Putting all her family worries aside, it had. West and Brighton had been brilliant, but now there wouldn't be much more West or any Brighton. She'd have to start making new memories, with other friends. Le sigh. Though, she would need to be alone to begin with.

Wrapped in several layers and her favourite scarf, she headed out of the castle and down to the lake. It was always so beautiful in the Winter, a sight that couldn't be missed. OHHHH, snow. Pretty. AND A SOMEONE. "Hey, Derry?" Bliss asked, peering over her scarf, which she'd brought up to just below her eyes to keep her nose warm. "It's nice, isn't it?" .. if you like this sort of thing. Obviously.

Derry was enjoying herself, wandering around catching snowflakes, and hadn't noticed she'd already reached the lakeside until her boots crunched on the ice at the water's edge and she glanced down. Oops, better start paying attention, Derry, or you might end up accidentally drowning yourself. She adjusted her scarf closer around her and stared out at the lake, feeling suddenly a little disappointed she wouldn't be going home for Christmas. But at least she'd be going to a friend's instead, that would be nice...

Thoughts of Christmas brought on thoughts of presents, and how on Earth she was going to be able to afford presents for the people she knew. She liked lots of people at Hogwarts enough to want to give them something, but she also didn't have any money to buy things with. Hmm... Maybe she should make stuff... She was totally lost in her own little world when she heard her name and turned around. "Oh, hello Bliss." she said with a smile, brushing some of the ginger hair out of the way that had fallen into her eyes. "I like it, snow reminds me of nice things." Like... last Christmas when she'd been riding with her dad and the snow had started falling on their way home and they'd pretended to be in Middle Earth and stuff...

Snow. Cold. Christmas. This would be so different in comparison to last year; mainly because her Dad wouldn't be part of it and also, West wouldn't. Without doubt, it would be a quiet Christmas. A lonely Christmas, even in a full house of people. Hopefully, she'd still be able to make it a good time for her friends (and family, maybe) by getting them all presents and spending time with them. If they wanted to spend time with her. She wouldn't get that many present, too much effort, especially in this now chilling world.

BRRRRRRR.

Bliss turned attention back to Derry and returning the smile, while wrapping her coat more snugly around herself. "Me too," she said, her voice quietened as memories flooded her mind. "Do you think it's snowed enough to make a snowman?" She thought it had, but then, maybe not. It took a lot of snow to make one. Ducking down into a crouch, she scrapped her hand into the perfect crispy snow to see how deep it was. Fairly deep by the looks of it. "What d'ya say? Want to make a snowman?" BEAM. If not, she'd make one on her own, no fuss. Two is always better than one, though.

Derry was kind of tempted just to flop on the floor and roll around in the snow. Or something. But she got the feeling that wasn't what normal people did around here - it wasn't what normal people did back home either but at least there it was just her parents who'd see her and they didn't mind how weird she was. Anyway, most people would probably be freezing in this weather, and Derry was used to it, so even that would look weirder. Psh, it was exhausting trying not to look like a complete freak in front of all these new people, but she was making friends and stuff which was awesome, so she wanted to keep doing that.

Of COURSE it had snowed enough to make a snowman. Even an inch of snow was enough, if you didn't mind making a really tiny snowman, but this was lots. "Definitely." Derry said, a big smile on her face. "Back home we used to use heather and grass and stuff as hair..." she said absentmindedly, bending down to start packing the snow together. "And dad always gave me a carrot to use as the nose but one time my horse ate it and trampled the snowman so... we stopped doing that." That was a nice memory actually, even though they had spent hours building the snowman, they'd been riding afterwards and Osiris had apparently been hungry...

As they headed for the Lake, Jory looked at Oliver. "He looks better now, doesn't he?'' As a matter of fact, it seemed as if he had not gotten lost at all. Oliver seemed to be back to his old self.

Oh yes. DADA. "Sure, we could start now, if you like?'' the Puffer said, enthusiastically. He wanted to duel again. it had been a while, so it would be fun. "Oliver can come too. We would be sure that we don't hit him with any of out spells. Oh ad Ronnie, you're going down!'' Jory grinned. He had never dueled her before but it should be fun as they were not really dueling to injure.

She smiled and nodded at what Jory said. "He sure does. He ate all that food really fast." she said, chuckling and kissing the top of his head. She loved her baby Oliver. Hehe.

She then rolled her eyes when he said she was going down. He was kinda cute when he got all...competitive. Heh. "Oh, please! I'm a master at dueling." she said, beaming. Yeah. That's right, Jory. YOU'RE GOING DOWN.

Bliss tried to remember her other snow related memories. Last year, lots of students had had snow ball fights, those had been fun. She glanced across at Derry .. maybe later. She'd ask first, of course, but surely the Slytherin couldn't say no to the chance of throwing snow at people without consequences. Or rather, not consequences from teachers. There may be some from her herself, but that was the way the game worked. An eye for an eye, a snowball for a snowball.

*hums* .. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snooow.

"GREAT," Bliss said enthusiastically, mirroring Derry's smile. It had snowed more than the fourth year had originally thought, so hopefully a big snowman could be made. "Oh. I've never had hair on a snowman." Heather and grass seemed like a good idea, though .. if had snowed, where did they get it from? Never mind, there was probably a logical explanation. For now, she'd just get on the snow-packing-into-balls. Bliss scooped up a small pile of snow and squashed it into something that resembled a small ball and held it up proudly, "we have a start!" Heh. She put it back down and let it rest on the other patches on snow. Time to add to it, she thought and listened to what else Derry had to say. By the end, they were both smiling. Happy memories were happy, yes? "I wish we had a carrot to put on it now," she sighed.

Though, they'd kinda need to build the snow man first :|

"We'll see about that!'' Jory said, putting on his best I'm gonna beat you at this look. But he had gotten distracted. Ronnie's smile. It was so adorable. He had began to notice that a few weeks ago after his break up with Ari. At first he had pushed everything out of his head but he kept spending more and more time with Ronnie and it became impossible to ignore.

The Puffer finally admitted to himself there and then, he had fallen for his best friend. He wanted her to know but at the same time he didn't want her to know. If she didn't feel the same way, their friendship would be ruined.

But he couldn't keep it a secret forever. "Ronnie,'' Jory began and he could feel his heart rate rising. This was gonna be so hard. "I er, gotsomethingtotellyou.''

"Breathe, Jory, just breathe,'' he thought to himself.

Ronnie shook her head, laughing. "Oh Jory. Don't be so sure." she said, giving him a wink. He then suddenly began looking at her. Just...staring at her. She looked at him curiously, cocking her head slightly as he looked at her. He seemed to...study her. And he looked deep in thought. Was he okay? What was he thinking about? She felt her cheeks grow hot.

Finally, he spoke. She nodded. "Of course, Jory. What is it?" she asked as she continued stroking Oliver, feeling her heart start to beat a little faster.

Jory noticed Ronnie's cheeks were suddenly red. Why? Then he realised! He had been staring. "Oh, no,'' he thought. "She must think I'm a weirdo or something.'' Way to mess things up even before he told her what he wanted to.

"Okay, here goes nothing.'' Jory, with his heart thudding rather loudly so he thought Ronnie must be hearing it. He wanted to look away from her, for fear of seeing rejection in her eyes. But he held his ground. "I really like you, Ronnie, as in more than friends.'' There, he said it.

Ronnie leaned forward a little, waiting to hear what he was gonna say. C'mon, Jory! Say it already!

Then he said it.

Wait...

He... liked her? Her eyes widened and her cheeks were growing more red. Her heart thumped wildly against her chest and her arms dangled to her sides, causing Oliver to jump out of them just in time. "You do?" she squeaked, her voice small. She had liked Jory for so long, yet she kept it secret since she thought he only wanted to be friends. She looked down at the ground, playing with her hands. "I actually... like you too. I have for... quite a while..." she said, slowly looking back up at him.

Jory braced himself for the worst, just in case things did not worked out. As Ronnie let go of Oliver in shock, he thought to himself. "Better get over it, Jory.'' He watched Oliver stare at Ronnie reproachfully.

But wait. She liked him too? Jory decided he had not heard correctly. Quite a while. That had to be since he was with Ari. "You do?'' She did! He was ecstatic! He took her hands in his. "Why didn't you tell me before?'' he asked.

She nodded, smiling shyly. "I do. I really do." she said, feeling her heart leap as he took her hands in his. She then shrugged. "I felt afraid. I felt like you'd only wanna be friends...I didn't think you'd feel the same way about me." she said. She then moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a tight squeeze.

"I felt the same way too,'' Jory admitted. "Imagine if nether of us said anything to each other.'' They would have gone years of maybe forever without knowing the truth.

Jory was not expecting Ronnie's hug but it felt right. He wrapped his arms around her. His girlfriend. "I love you,'' he whispered in her ear. Somewhere, around his ankles, he heard a meow. "Oliver must be confused, don't you think?''
he asked with a laugh.

Ronnie had just been thinking of that. "That would be...crazy." she said, shaking her head at the thought of it. They would go on for a long time not having a single idea they felt the same way about each other!

She closed her eyes as he wrapped his arms around her and she sighed. This was nice. No, perfect. This was just what she had been longing for for such a long time. Jory's arms wrapped around her, holding her close. Then, he whispered into her ear that he loved her. She literally felt like she melted inside when he whispered those words into her ear. She looked up at him, smiling brightly. "I love you too, Jory." she said.

Then she looked down at Oliver and laughed. "Yeah, he probably is." she said.

Jory literally felt at peace when Ronnie told him she loved him too. He had not realsied how much not telling her how he felt had been bothering him so much. From best friends to more than best friends. They couldn't be more perfect for each other.

"He'll figure it out soon.'' Who knows? Maybe Oliver had guessed this would have happened? Animals were smart. Jory still held Ronnie's hands. Now, he leaned closer to her. "I don't want to let go,'' he said with a grin. He hoped she wouldn't mind. He wanted to kiss her, let her know that he loved her very much.

She chuckled. "Yeah, he most likely will. He's a smart little guy." she said, smirking. Oliver probably had an idea right now, even.

She felt her heart beat faster as he leaned closer to her. She looked up into his eyes. "I don't either," she whispered, her eyes moving down to his lips. She looked at them, wanting to press her own against them. She held her breath. She wanted to kiss him, badly. But did he wanna kiss her? Her eyes moved back up to his, and she raised her eyebrows as if asking.

Jory kept his eyes locked onto Ronnie's. He grinned when he saw hers looking at his lips and then back at his eyes. "Yes,'' he said, answering the question she asked with her eyes.

He leaned in, his eyes closed and gently pressed his lips against hers. This set his heart racing again. But it wasn't caused by nerves. Once again, Jory felt at peace.

She smiled, feeling her nervousness fade when he said yes. This was it. It seemed like everything that next happened was in slow motion. Jory was leaning in, closer and closer. Then his lips were being pressed against hers. And it was...amazing. She melted into the kiss, her arms wrapped tightly around him.

Jory finally released Ronnie. He just smiled at her. They understood each other well so he was not worried about breaking the silence. They were too comfortable around each other to feel awkward. He still held her hand though.

"I feel very happy today. I wonder who caused that,'' he teased. Maybe he was in a dream? No, no. It was reality but it felt like a perfect dream. Jory watched Ronnie. He loved the way her hair blew in the wind.

When they stopped, she smiled back at him. "That was amazing..." she whispered. It was more than amazing. She couldn't even put it into words. She then smiled. "I do too. You're amazing, Jory. You know that?" she asked, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

She sat down on the ground and patted the spot next to him for him to sit. This was probably the best day of her life. She'd never thought Jory would like her too...but now here they were. They were boyfriend and girlfriend. Something she had daydreamed of for so long.

"It was,'' Jory agreed. "You're even more amazing,'' he added, squeezing her hand gently. This made up for the sadness he felt when he broke up with Ari. No, it more than made up for that. Everything worked out for the best.

Jory sat down next to Ronnie. He just stared out at the water, where he could see the Giant Squid. Everything seemed a million times better today.

She blushed slightly, smiling. Jory was good at that, making her smile. And making her blush too. She scooted closer to him when he sat next to her. She leaned her head onto his shoulder, staring out at the lake with him. This was nice. Peaceful. Perfect. She loved just sitting here with Jory, close to each other. It couldn't get any better.

"We need to come out here during the spring and have a picnic." she said after a little moment of silence. The thought of going on a picnic with Jory during the springtime seemed perfect to her. She sighed, putting an arm around him and giving him another little kiss on the lips. "I love you." she said again, smiling at him and looking into his eyes for a minute before leaning her head back onto his shoulder.

Jory was enjoying this. "You look pretty when you blush,'' he said. She always looks pretty. She was the most beautiful girl he ever saw. He let her lean on him.

"Sure,'' the Puffer agreed. "It would be wonderful during that time. The flowers and everything out in bloom.'' That would be wonderful. He put his arm around her as well and kissed her back. "I love you more,'' he said. When Ronnie leaned her head back against his shoulder, Jory rested his head gently against hers.

For Chris and Bluetiful!
 

Winter.

It was freezing and Ella could see her breath as she walked towards the lake, arms wrapped around herself for warmth. She'd much rather be sitting by the cozy fire but the need for fresh air far outweighed the need for heat.

Approaching the water's edge, the blonde looked out across the water and smiled. Hogwarts was even more magical in the winter time. It was quieter too. Much quieter. The sixteen year old let the silence wash over her as she let her green eyes wander.

This was nice.

Snoooooow.

Finally. Blue picked her way down to the lake, very carefully because of reasons. Reasons that involved a very yummy things. Hot chocolate with whipped cream reasons. Already it had sloshed over the edge of the mug when she'd slipped on an icy patch by the courtyard and in turn, the yummy drink had stained her mittens. But was all gooooood. Because there was still plenty of it left.

The snow crunched under her feet but 'twas completely fine because she had West's lovely and woolly socks and her new boots she'd written home looking for. She sipped the hot chocolate gingerly and smiled lightly because it was the PERFECT temperature. Not too hot and not too cold. But warmer than lukewarm. She peered around from underneath her hat that was lovely and toasty but making her forehead itch. A familiar blonde caught her eye and Blue maneuvered over, holding her mug away from her so she didn't like, accidentally throw it into her face or something.

"Ella!"

It had been a while since she'd talked to the older girl. And not about Alec and her's wedding. And she'd be very good today and not say a word about that particular subject. She didn't wanna make Ella all sad and upset and the like. Not with Christmas coming up. Thinking of which... Blue tugged on Ella's sleeve and beamed. "Hi! I actually have something for you." Something Christmas-y. That kinda thing. Like a present type thing.

Mila shifted her position on the grass and huddled into a ball to keep herself warm. She gazed out at the lake's surface, which was beginning to freeze. If only I knew how to conjure a hot chocolate, she thought, starting to shiver.

She heard the crunching but Ella's eyes were fixed on a point beyond the lake. She might have been daydreaming about a certain someone just a bit so when she heard someone call out her name, she jumped. Meep!

"Blue!"

It was really nice to see her. Actually, they hadn't talked in a while, yeah? Not about anything other than wedding plans. Oh Merlin, that wasn't why she was here was it? If so she could just casually head inside, yeah? ...Yeah.

"Hi Bluetiful!" BEAM. Ella was struck by how much older the younger girl looked. Merlin, when had she grown up? And she had something for her? That was sort of nice. She just sort of hoped it wasn't another wedding invitation. Ella already had one of those from Astrid. "What kind of something?" Cause she was curious now, y'know.

Her blush turned even deeper when he told her she was pretty when she blushed. "Aww...thanks." she said, smiling shyly at him. How sweet was he?! He knew just how to make her happy.

Yay! He wanted to do the picnic. Well...of course he did. Who could turn down a picnic with their girlfriend on a beautiful spring day?! She nodded. "It sure would be." she said. She closed her eyes as their heads rested against each other, and a smile slowly appeared on her face when he said he loved her more. "That's impossible. I love you way more." she said, reaching for his hand and locking her fingers between his.

Jory laughed as Ronnie blushed even more. "See? You're making me love you even more.'' He was glad he finally got the courage to confess his feelings. "Hey, Ronnie, what do you think of spending the summer with me and my parents. And sister?'' He tried not to think of his sister. Nothing or no one was going to ruin these moments. "I mean, if it's okay with you and your family.'' As for his parents, Jory knew they would not mind. They were always telling him to invite someone over. Plus Ronnie liked Muggle stuff so she'd fit right in. "We can have lots of picnics during that time,'' he added with a grin.

"You know, I could go all day telling you I love you more,'' Jory said. He and his sister used to banter all the time over petty things like which movie or book was better so he had lots of practice. He let Ronnie lace her fingers with his. "So,'' he began casually and gently squeezing her hand. "How long were you crushing on me?'' It was just something that popped into his head a few seconds ago.

She smiled at what he next said. D'aww, he was a pro at making her happy inside! "Awww!" she said, giving him a little kiss on the cheek. Wasn't he the sweetest?! She was lucky to have a boyfriend as sweet AND cute as him!

She brightened at the idea of going to Jory's for the summer. "I'd love to! My parents wouldn't mind." she said, shaking her head. "They're going to Paris together for the summer for their anniversary anyways, so it works out perfect!" she said. Yay! This would be so much fun, getting to know Jory's family and being around them. She couldn't wait! Ronnie made a mental note in her head to owl her parents about it later.

"Oh, really now?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "I could too. I could go on for several days." she added with a firm nod. Yup. That's right. "I love you waaay more." she said, kissing his forehead. She then chuckled at his question, blushing slightly. "Well... it was around the end of summer..." she replied. "What about you?"

Pen :3
 

Jory could feel his cheek go red after Ronnie kissed him. "You're making me go all red now,'' he playfully accused. She was adorable. She really was.

He was very happy. "That's great,'' Jory said enthusiastically. He could hardly wait! She would get along with everyone. "I'll introduce you to all my friends and everyone I know.'' Yup. Because she was his girlfriend. He would show her off. "And we can do tons of stuff. Like going on all the picnics you want.'' This summer was going to be the best!

"No ,no,'' Jory said. "I could go for years and years.'' Grin. He loved the way they were acting like kids. "I love you tons more, Ronnie.'' He stuck his tongue out at her. He smiled. "Around the same time. If I remember correctly, it was that time when we met up in Diagon Alley. When I sneaked up on you when you were having that ice cream.'' Yes. It had been then. He loved the way she would get this startled look on her face when he snuck up on her.

Definitely wasn't a good time to swim in the lake now. Considering it was December, the water was probably already started to freeze, if it hadn't frozen already considering it was already snowing. But she wasn't here to swim anyway.

Penelope wasn't really here for anything really. She'd just decided to wander around outside since she was getting a little tired of being cooped up inside already. Plus, the holidays being so near made her a little restless too. So close to being off school and not having to do any homework and yet not there yet. So she was left to wander and find ways to procrastinate on homework. Not that there was a shortage of ways to distract herself. Heh.

And look. There was a distraction now.

Was she going to be a normal person and go up to her boyfriend and say hi? Nah. She always did that. That was boring and would be a waste of perfectly good snow on the ground. So instead she bent down, gathered some snow in her hands, stood up, quickly formed it into a ball, aimed....and chucked it at the back of Ascanius' head.

Mila was getting very cold; She hadn't put on a proper cloak to keep warm in this weather. She stood up and brushed off her robes, heading towards the castle to change her clothes. She tossed her long, glossy black hair behind her back and hugged herself to block the cold, bitter air.

Arm in arm with Medea, Leo walked out from the castle licking on the top of a big ice cream cone. Decked out in a winter coat, cap and winter shoes the usually curly mop haired librarian glanced around at the snow covered grounds. "I think winter is a nice season but I wish it was warmer." Leo commented. Shivering a little he took another lick from his cone. "Do you want to go out on the lake and test the ice?"

The ice cream was very yummy.

DADA year assignment - jogging
 

It was about time that Daichi started his year long defence training log booky thingy... Mweh, he couldn't even remember what it was called but he knew it was for points and points were awesome so yeah!

Reaching the lake dressed in his school uniform since he doesn't have sport clothes (minus the robe) he began to stretch his body to warm it up a little before he started. It was cold outside as a chilly breeze of wind swept over the beautiful landscape and he shivered a little. BUT that was not stopping him from his jogging trip.

YEP, Daichi was going to jog. Not because he HAD to for that year long assignment but because he WANTED to. Big difference! Plus he could score some points now~ Done with his warming up, he smiled after taking a deep breath and began to jog.

It....it was harder than he had first expected...it didn't take long (40 seconds) for him to slow and catch his breath. MWEH he totally had zero condition... But something in his head told him to continue, to build it up slowly. So off he went again, jogging along side the lake until he had to stop again because his side began to burn.

Breathing heavily, and already sweating the Slytherin looked behind him to see how far he had run. BLEH! totally not far! It felt like he went to the other side of the earth! "Owww..." he gasped as he grabbed his side and leaned forward a little to put pressure on it. To stop it from hurting.

It was precisely at that moment that the Prefect saw something. Not the fact that the Defence Professor and Librarian were walking together while linking their arms, no. He noticed the icecream and Daichi wanted one too. Which was odd because he didn't even like icecream that much. But he had a craving for it right now OH! he could JOG to the castle and JOG inside the great hall and get some icecream~

HE WAS A GENIUS!

A bit of a smaller ice cream cone in her own hand, she smiled at the mention of the chilly weather. "Hmmm, Spring is just around the corner." The corner may have been a little ways down the road, but it was still just around it. Though she wasn't so eager for it now that Leo brought up possible ice skating upon the frozen lake.

"Test the ice? Oh, sounds so safe." she teased while chuckling, starting down towards the lake anyways. It was December. It'd be fine. Adjusting her scarf a little to cover a bare spot, she glanced towards him. "You ever been ice skating vithout skates?"

Blue beamed and took a sip of the quickly-cooling hot chocolate. "Heeere, could you hold this for me?" She held out the mug and waited for Ella to take it. Best not shove hot liquid at her friend, mm? "I promise it's not a colour card so you can choose what kinda white you want for you wedding!" Not this time anyway. Over Christmas she was going to collect a load of muggle wedding magazines while moaning about her new teeth-straightening device, though.

Her slung her bag in front of her and pulled out her Astronomy text and flipped it open to page 394 where she was keeping a couple of envelopes safe and sound. "Um... I'm really broke right now so I can't really ... afford to breathe right now so instead of buying Christmas gifts I decided to make some which probably actually cost more than actually buying stuff because of material," Okay. She was babbling because Merlin forbid, she was slightly embarrassed by the hug coupons. Maybe even a little shy. She held out a green envelope and shuffled.

"Merry Christmas Ella."

Hot chocolate made Ella think of Alec and she smiled a little to herself as she took the chocolaty liquid from the younger girl. "No problem, Bluetiful." Grin. BLINK! Merlin's beard! She just had to mention something wedding related, didn't she? Even if it was just reassuring Ella that the hot chocolate wasn't wedding related. It still made Ella all inner squirmy and awkward. The blonde was totally blushing but she hoped she could blame the cold if asked about her burning cheeks. "Yeah that's...good to hear." Cause she wasn't even sure if marriage was in the cards for her, okay?

...Speaking of cards.

N'awww, Blue!

Ella accepted the green envelope and she smiled warmly, eyes flickering from it to the Ravenclaw. "You know you didn't have to get me anything, right?" But it was really sweet that she had. "Should I open it now?" Beam! "Yours will have to be owled, okay? It's nothing big just...something that reminded me of you."

She giggled as he got red in the face too. Well, it was nice to know she wasn't the only one blushing here. She knew there HAD to be a way to make Jory blush, and now she had found one. Mwahahahaha! "You're pretty adorable when you blush too, y'know." she said, winking.

She smiled. "I'm really excited to! I can't wait!" she said, an excited look in her eyes. Ronnie then gasped at his picnic idea. "Yay! That'll be perfect!" she exclaimed, nodding eagerly. This would be the best summer yet! She was actually going somewhere other than her boring house! AND she was gonna be with Jory the whole time!

"I could go on FOREVER." she said, smirking at him. Yeah, that's right. She wasn't going to give up on this, never! "I love you mostest, Jory!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him too. "Is mostest even a word?" she thought to herself in her head. Eh. Probably not. But it was now! Her eyes then widened a little. So they had liked each other all this time, but hadn't told each other...? That was crazy! She had no idea he had liked her the same time she had. "Wow, I never knew..." she mumbled, shaking her head. She laughed softly at the memory of him always sneaking up on her. He was good at that.

"You look like the cat that ate the canary,'' Jory joked. He could practically see her brain at work, pleased that she had made him blush. "But manly adorable, right?'' he asked, feigning a worried look. He just loved teasing Ronnie.

Jory grinned. "It'll be fun! Best summer I would say,'' he said. "Maybe you should tell your parents you're moving out permanently,'' he said with a wink. But he was holding back something but he had to tell her. But there was still time to do that. Why spoil this perfect time? Still...he didn't want to put it off. He frowned. What should he do?

"I can go on forever too,'' Jory said. He laughed when she said mostest. "You're such a child,'' he told her. An adorable child. "But I love you the mostest.'' He paused. "Quadruple that double.'' Now that sounded weird. Jory shook his head. "Neither did I,'' he told Ronnie. "We had a pretty good friendship so I didn't want to tell you anything. But in the end, I'm glad I did.'' He squeezed her hand gently.

Jory cracked Ronnie up. It felt like there was never a time where they hung out and he didn't make her burst out laughing. She chuckled when he questioned being 'manly adorable, and nodded. "Yes, of course. A very manly adorable." she said, winking at him.

She nodded in agreement. "I agree!" she said. Of course she agreed. Jory knew she'd agree, since he knows about her staying home pretty much every summer... so no surprise there. She then laughed. "Oh maybe!" she said, smiling. But then he looked...confused. Or more like...deep in thought. Ronnie cocked her head to the side, studying him. "You okay, Jory?" she asked, wondering what was up.

She grinned when Jory said she was such a child. Heh. Yeah, she kinda was.... "Yes, I am. And I'm proud of it." she said, putting on her proud-face and giving a firm nod. Laughing, she shook her head. "Nuh uh! I love you moooore than you! More than ANYTHING!" she said, giggling and flinging her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. As she held him, she listened to what he said. She nodded. "I'm glad you did too." she said, kissing his cheek.

Jory grinned and tried to put on the most grow up and mature look he could muster. "Good. That's how it should be.'' He winked.

Oh no. Ronnie had noticed him being distracted. He looked at her. "I should warn you. My mom and Dad will be very nice to you. But my sister, Grace will not be.'' Jory looked away. Talking about his sister made him sad and he didn't want to make a big deal of it and ruin their moment. "She's... well, jealous of me... being a wizard and all. We actually used to be very close and then things just started changing before I came back for fifth year.'' He sighed. "Sorry for bringing this up but I wanted to let you know.''

Awww she was so cute. But he suddenly pulled on a serious look. "I don't know if I love you more than anything,'' he said but putting his arms around he just as well. He was teasing her even more.

A frown slowly appeared on her face as Jory explained about his sister. "Oh, Jory. I had no idea. I'm so sorry." she said softly, gently putting an arm around him to comfort him. Poor thing, that must be...awful. "Don't be sorry for bringing it up, sweetheart. It's totally fine." she said. "And I'm always here for you, y'know. You can tell me anything. Don't forget that." she said, giving him a serious look.


She tilted her head slightly when he had a serious look. She smiled a little, and leaned her forehead against his so that their noses were touching. "Perhaps," she said quietly, looking into his eyes. "We love each other equally? Like the same amount?" she asked, smiling still.

Ascanius was still thinking about hidden swimming pools and hours he had spent up in the castle while he sat on the edge of the lake. It was kind of peaceful here and he was going LEGIT stir crazy up in dat houzz. Essex pride, man. NO, but really, he was going nuts. So it was nice to be out and about.

In fact, he was so at peace and relaxed that he didn't even notice someone creeping up on him. Until... SPAZZ ATTACK. COLD. COLD. THAT WAS COLD.

Very awkwardly and unmanly like, he shrieked and fumbled up to his feet where he started to do a dance to get the snow that was starting to travel down his back that had gotten into his jacket and down his shirt OUT. He was making a million uncomfortable noises, some of which were Chewbacca sounding in nature, and spazzing.

Finally when he got it out, he looked around wildly and ANNOYED for the person who had done that to him. He was about to go ESSEX on them and once he turned it on, there was no going back. Pfft. Ascanius Stark was a man, mmk?

.............Pen? Oh no way.

And that was when he ran at her.

When Penelope decided to chuck a snowball at her boyfriend's head, she figured it was gonna be pretty funny. He'd get hit, turn around, smirk at her, throw a snowball back at her, and they'd have a fun little snowball fight.

But that didn't happen.

No, it got better.

Apparently - and unintentionally - the snow went down the back of his shirt or something, and Ascanius started shrieking like a banshee and jumping around and sounding like Chewbacca from Star Wars. Oh Merlin. This was brilliant. She should throw snowballs at his head more often.

Penelope didn't even try to stifle her laughter as she watched his antics, doubling over from laughing so hard. She had to rest her hands on her knees to keep herself from falling in the snow, she was laughing that hard.

Not hard enough to not hear when the shrieking and other noises stopped though. She looked up then - just in time to see him running right at her. Oh, welp, time to go.

She quickly started running away from him, though still grinning and laughing a little.