Nigel need some fresh air after all the insanity in the Room of Requirements. So what better place to go then the lake. Plus he could get a start on reading Peter Pan again. It was something he wanted to do since the term was coming to an end.

But he was not in the mood to read at this moment. Nigel sat down and took out his wand. He was not necessarily bored. He just wanted to start drawing shapes in the air with his wand.

While doing nothing. He started thinking about the fireworks he, Lex, Mika had made here. Last time he was at the lake.

They were pretty amazing.

Ronnie bit her lip. So he had noticed her not feeling too great. He was good at this, Jory was... "I erm...well...ever since I had ice cream at the toppings party yesterday, I've felt real down. And I have no idea why." she said with a sigh. "Plus, yesterday, there were dementors in the common room. And I chased after them into the room of requirement and helped fight them with some other people, and that caused me to have like no sleep last night. So I'm real tired." she explained, frowning and yawning. She had probably about three hours of sleep at the most.

Then Jory had ice cream for her. She looked at it for a second and didn't feel quite in the mood for ice cream, but didn't have the heart to tell Jory and disappoint him. He was only trying to help, so why not? She took it and smiled. "Thanks, Jory. You're real sweet, you know that?" she said, then leaned in to give him a kiss.

Laura looked around she was a bit upset at the minute but she would just forget about that, now it was time for a bit of fresh air, she had been really worried about different things and Minnie wasn't acting right at the minute and she wished she could help her but she knew she couldn't, so she just decided to forget it.

Laura decided that she would try and forget about things, she looked at the lake and then saw Nigel, she gave a small smile and then went over to him. "Hi Nigel, how have you been?" Laura wondered if he had done anything fun lately.

Jory listened to Ronnie as she explained what was bothering her. When she was done he gave her a hug. Pesky dementors were bothering everyone. "Well don't you worry about them,'' he said, hoping to make her feel maybe even a little bit better. As for the part with the ice cream and the toppings he had no idea what was going on there so he avoided the topic. She was feeling as tired as he was but he could always catch a nap later. Poor Ronnie. All he wanted was for her to go back being her cheerful and fun self.

Jory grinned. He took Ronnie's hand and pulled her onto the rock next to him. "Not more than you are,'' he told her and at the same time wondering what her happiest memory and Patronus were.

Ronnie smiled and leaned into Jory as he gave her a hug. This was just what she needed on a dumb day like this one. Her amazing boyfriend...and ice cream too. He was so good at brightening her day and making her all better. She planted a kiss upon his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder. "Y'know, you're the only person who can make me feel 100% better." she told him as she grabbed his hand in hers and entwined their fingers together. Smiling, she looked at him and shook her head. "No way, baby. You're so much sweeter!" she exclaimed.

Minerva felt so many emotions she was happy and sad, but that was nothing new for the term this term. She smiled as he seemed so taken by everything, but her smile didn’t last and a frown became apparent. “Ethan.. I’m sorry.. I won’t bug you anymore. I have distracted you way to much this term.” She knew he had his mind towards her way to much and she appreciated everything he had done, but she needed to be there to support him more. She felt like she was failing as a girlfriend not helping him study more or pushing him to study more.

Minerva felt herself blush as he talked about the nerves. She felt so stupid for as much as she blushed and how nervous she was, but he was so cute that night and it was so perfect. She never could figure out why he made her so nervous, no other guy had made her that flustered. “Well that made one of us. I hated it.” She chuckled a bit to his reaction to her divination comment, “I don’t think. I know. This has been a wonderful two years even with some of the stuff that has went on.” They didn’t have perfect, but close enough for her. She thought of some of the issues that had come up, she knew that all of them were from her being dumb, but he always stuck by her.

She wiped the tears as he said not to.. Sorry love to late. She had just too many emotions going through her with all of this. Watching his face with the letter she couldn’t help but shed a few more tears knowing what it said and knowing what all this meant. She didn’t mean to cry, but the realization that he wouldn’t be here next term was way too strong in her head. “I.. I wanted to do it Ethan. You deserve much more, but I hope you like it. One of the items I need to explain.” She felt a bit nervous, scared even that he might think it was silly. She watched as he pulled things out, “Well the herbology gloves I think don’t need explaining, nor the frame, or the Ravenclaw panting, or the eagle stuffed animal.” she smiled at the last item knowing it was something silly, but she had liked it when she saw it over Christmas. Watching him pull out the pocket watch she smiled a sentimental smile. “That is going to need some explanation.. It.. It’s part of me.. Something so important to me that I want it to be with someone that is so important to me. It… It’s my dad’s.” She bit her lip trying to control her voice.

She watched his face was he going to think it was stupid… maybe.. it was pretty silly wasn’t it, but she wanted to show him just how important he was to her. How special he was.. “It is from the military..See the symbols.” Of course he saw the symbols, he wasn’t blind.

''So you're feeling better, right?'' Jory asked anxiously not at all liking this upset Ronnie. And he was glad he could help. Smiling, he added, '' Actually no. I didn't know that.'' But she always made him feel loads better too. She had no idea how great it was seeing her after a little panic attack he had when he could not remember the wand movement nor incantation for the spell to create a photo frame. NEWT time was hovering. Let the nerves commence.

Here they went again! Jory lightly squished Ronnie's hand. "You're more!'' He stuck his tongue out at her. It was fun acting like a kid sometimes. And by the looks of it, Ronnie was not thinking of Dementors.

"A bit better, thanks to you." she replied, smiling. Oh, then she remembered something she wanted to tell him about the dementors. "I should tell you that for the happy memory I used to use my patronus was our first kiss." she told him quietly, smiling shyly. She remembered it all so clearly...standing with all of those students. And immidiately, that was the first happy thought that had come to her mind. And it had filled her with a feeling of such power, such confidence! She'd use that memory forever whenever she did the patronus charm.

Giggling, she stuck her tongue back out at him. "Nuh uh! YOU are!" she shot back at him, grinning. This was always such fun, they were such kids!

Flamsteed yo!~ XD
 

Why did time pass by so slowly when you wanted something? Because eventhough it felt like he had waited forever , it had only been three days. For some strange reasons, the Prefect had had some very depressing thoughts and he had no idea where they had come from so it was good that he finally had something that he could look out for.

Not wearing his school uniform because he had two free periods right now, the Slytherin was dressed in a bright orange t-shirt (his favorite). The rubber duck tie that the Professor had given him when he won the bet about Slytherin winning the Quidditch Cup and black shorts that came to his knees. As he arrived at the Lake he looked around at first, eyes hidden behind black sunglasses searching for the Professor. Hmm...was he too early?

Or was the man just LATE?!

He decided to sit down on the grass and relax in the sun first before he had to work.

Awesome! Jory was really glad to hear that! At least he had helped. Then he heard what she said about the dementors. Wasn't Ronnie just the most adorable girl around? Their first kiss. It had been right at the Lake. But he couldn't agree more. "That would have been the memory I would use too,'' he told her and once again giving her had a squeeze. Jory doubted he ever felt that happy before that kiss. "What form does your Patronus take, anyway?'' he asked curiously.

"You're such a kid!'' the Puffer teased. As if he weren't acting like one. "You are! Loooooads more!''

Nigel was daydreaming for a little while. Until he heard his name mentioned. He turned his head and saw it was Laura. He has not talked to her since the hair incident.

"Hey Laura. How are you and how is the hair?"

As long as her hair was fine. Then it was okay. Hair was pretty important after all. Especially if you have awesome hair.

The Slytherin had been glad the Professor had suggested going to the Hogwarts Grounds because now he didn't had to climb up the stairs to the Astronomy tower. Did the Professors know how many steps there are from the Slytherin Common Room till the towers?!

Letting out a heavy breath, Daichi decided to lean back on his arms and looked at the sky for a moment. The sunlight hitting his white face that he knew was going to tan soon. Maybe he should get out more, the only thing he had been doing this year was eat ice cream.

Ugh, even the thought made him depressive. Ever since he had eaten the syrup his happiness had vanished. Well, the exaggerating happiness had vanished.

Out of the corner of his sunglassed eyes, The seventh year spotted the Professor craw...why was he crawling? Did he want to scare him or something? Well not today old man who according to himself wasn't old. Not today.

Oh? turned out he was not trying to scare him...good. "You know sir, we have legs so we can walk up right" His way of talking had changed as well, it wasn't the bubbly and hyper voice he had done all year because of the ice cream. His voice was more relaxed now and sounded more mature. Maybe not the pitch of his voice but his way of talking.

Hoping he wasn't going to give a lecture about cavemen and whatnot, he stood up from the grass. Daichi dusted off the sand off of his pants and held his hand out to help the OLD! man up. "Yush! let's begin!" eeeek he was going to learn how to make a cloud he could sit ooon :3

Charms Homework 3- Post 2
 

While teasing Ronnie, Jory's eyes wandered towards an odd scene. Exactly why was Professor Flamsteed crawling? He looked funny and Jory could not resist laughing a bit. But Daichi seemed to have everything under control as he held out a hand to help the man up.

The Puffer didn't know why but he was in the mood to go jogging or something. You know, move about, get his feet moving. He jumped up from the rock he had been sitting on and began to do some stretches. While doing this he suddenly had a vision of himself doing a jig. Whhhhaaat? Jory wasn't a good dancer. Nope. he wasn't yet here he was not only thinking of the jig now but actually wanting to do it. Here. At the Lake. For all to see.

And for once he did not mind. "Maybe I'll provide entertainment for those around,'' he mused, shifting his weight to his left foot and putting his right one in front of him and pointing the toes. It was an Irish jig he was attempting if he remembered correctly. Hopping on the left foot, Jory swung his right foot back and forth. He grinned. Hey! This was actually fun!

Now, the Puffer shifted his weight to the right foot and repeated the process all over again. "Should have done this a long time ago!'' He didn't care right now if anyone was watching him. He knew that with the jig he was supposed to keep his arms as still as possible but he wasn't going to do that. Nope! Jory raised his arms above his head and began waving them all around. "I must look like an idiot!'' he muttered but who cares? This was crazy awesome!

A tie? She wanted to go and do a tie after ALL this time that they had both put in? This was the longest snow fight he had even been a part of and now she just wanted to go and give it all up without so much of anything at all? Hmm. Yeah, okay. He could live with that. After all, it meant that he didn't lose and since he wanted to go back inside at this point he would take her saying it was a TIE as her giving up and so he WON. 'Course, he would never say that out loud or else they'd be back in their fight once more.

So he nodded at her and sat up to help her off of the grass since they had melted through the snow. Sitting up on his knees, he put out his hand and smirked, "Alright. Fine, a tie then." Which meant that he won. How was THAT shiver lady?

Speaking of which, was she okay? Ascanius was worried sick about her getting ill and stuff.

Take the hand, Pen.

Oh hey, he DID agree to calling it a tie. Good. He must have finally realized that he had lost and that he also wanted to go inside and get warm, but he was too stubborn to admit he'd lost. She understood though, yep. Losing wasn't fun, so clearly she was being nice by suggesting a tie even though she'd clearly won. Such a good girlfriend, wasn't she? Heh. He got a grin from her.

But now that that was settled, Penelope didn't have much else now to allow her to ignore the cold, and the shivering felt even worse now. Her hand shook as she grabbed his and quickly tried to pull herself up. Her other arm wrapped instinctively around her body, as if that would help warm her up.

"M-M-Merlin, i-it's c-c-c-cold..." And the castle seemed so far away suddenly. Ugh, walking would be so much effort.

Its end. Are you happy, emily? Lol
 

He got a smirk from her, which was encouraging. It was nice to see that his girlfriend KNEW she was wrong and that she had lost 'cause he was the clear winner in this battle. Yeah, nobody else could contest a victory like his. She had given up and ASKED for a tie-- or as he would later recall it as BEGGING-- so he had won fair and square. It was encouraging to say the least.

Ascanius was a tad surprised with JUST how could she was when she stood up and automatically wrapped her arms around him. He could feel the shiver racking her body and it made him feel sort of badly. So he kissed the top of her head and said, "I know. C'mon. Let's get you up to the castle."

And he would get her blankets and warm stuff to speed up the process.

Almost disappointed Firth didn't get to break it up and throw them in the lake XD
 

Psh, Penelope Greenwells did not beg ever. That is all.

But they did get REALLY cold. The bad thing about being kinda small and stuff? It kinda made it easier for the cold to spread through her whole body and make her feel even colder. And with how long she'd been practically buried in the snow, that made it even worse than that. So. Cold. Ugh.

She leaned against him when he put his arms around her. It didn't help a whole lot since he was kinda cold too, but he did make it a little bit better. Kept the wind off her more and stuff. And the kiss helped too. "Ok-k-k-kay..." Shivering violently, she continued leaning against him as she stood and tried to turn towards the castle.

Ethan furrowed his brow and shook his head a bit as he saw Minerva's frown and heard her words. "No.. you don't need to apologize. And it's not like you're bugging me. I genuinely want to spend time with you. It's not that.. it's just.." He trailed off a bit, searching for the proper words, not really finding them. "There was a lot going on this term.." Well, that about summed it up, didn't it? And even though he only had a few weeks left to study, he wasn't doing it without seeing her. He would be fine. "Maybe you could help me study some. And I mean really study.. without our usual distractions," he said with a chuckle. Not that he normally minded, but he did need to get actual work done and perhaps he could still spend time with her.

His smile grew as she recounted her nerves on their first date. "Aww, come on.. I know you didn't hate it. Wasn't it kind of exciting to get that butterfly in your stomach feeling and your heart racing?" He knew he had similar yet different feelings around her when they first started dating and he had enjoyed that initial excitement. "I agree," he grinned. "It's been a great two years.. and you gotta take the good with the bad," he added with a good-natured shrug. And as difficult some of that had been to deal with, he wouldn't have changed anything as long as he got to be with her. She was worth all that to him.

His eyes kept scanning the letter, going over the words again. He still didn't really have the words to express how very touched he was with all of this. Ethan looked up at Minerva's voice and could see the tears falling.. and he could feel himself getting choked up with emotion. "I do like it.. I like everything. It's just really so much." He smiled at her, then looked down at the bag, pulling the things out. He wasn't sure he deserved so much from her, but he really appreciated all that she had done. Herbology gloves.. Ethan grinned at those as he took them out of the bag and set them aside. A picture of the two of them.. House-themed gifts.. these all got grins as well.

Then he pulled out a pocket watch and he looked up at her curiously as she spoke. Something important to her.. for someone important.. He listened to her explanation and just grew speechless over how incredibly poignant and significant this was. He looked at her, then looked back down at the watch, running his fingers over the raised symbols. "This belonged to your father..? And you want me to have it.. I don't even know what to say, Min." He looked back up at her. "I know how special this has to be for you.. and that makes it even more so for me. I'll cherish it always." Smiling a little bit bigger, he leaned over and kissed her. "Thanks for this.. for all of this. I really do love you."

AR Project - Post 5
 

Minerva knew he would say that he always said that, but she still felt bad. She knew she was more than just a little pest this term. He was right saying about the term, but she was most of his stress this term and deep down she knew that. She gave him a small smile, “Sure how ever I can help I will. We can even go to the library to study.” See no distractions at the library, just books… which could be a distraction really..

She felt herself blush at his words, “Of course I didn’t hate it, it was fun, but I think I enjoy being able to have a conversation with you without freaking out in my head better. Plus I still get nervous with you, just a little bit different. The jumpy butterfly feeling still comes.” She smiled and kissed his cheek. She was telling the truth seeing him at times made her heart still stop she hoped that would never go away. A frown hit her face with the good and bad comment. Most.. no all that bad was because of her. She hated that she brought so much drama into his life. She just hoped she could make it up to him some how.

Minerva really hoped he liked his gifts. She knew most were lame, but she thought he might like them at least, but her eyes scanned his face to see what he was thinking towards the pocket watch. She hoped he knew what type of commitment she was proving by doing this. She knew she had said she hoped and wanted to be with him for a long time, but maybe this would fully explain her feelings. He truly had been the reason for so much of her progress and she hoped he knew how special he was to her. She smiled at his words knowing he did understand and wiped away tears that yet again were falling. “I’m glad you like it. He cherished it, I was really surprised he didn’t have it with him on the plane.. I found in one of his bags they had given me.” She looked down thinking about it for a moment then tried to push it from her mind. Not here.. not now.

Kissing him back she smiled, “I love you too” Picking up his plate she handed it to him again, “Sorry I guess we got a little side tracked for a moment. Eat before it gets to cold. I have apple pie and Forest cake for after dinner.” Yes she even remembered the two treats he had for the date. She really did hope he liked everything.

Oh? instructions from the ground? Alright then...

Daichi lowered his arm when the man refused his help and sighed. Why was it that each time he tried to be helpful , people refused the help? Looking around for a moment while the Professor was busy not looking in the sunlight and spotted Jory looking at them. He waved at his friend before looking back down again.

MEEEP! instructions! "SIR, YES SIR!" the Slytherin saluted and then flicked his wrist, the phoenix feather core wand fell in his hand. He looked at the LAZY tutor as he told the next instruction from the ground and followed the zigzagging motion from his finger.

As he followed the finger, his head went up, down and then up again. Well, that was easy! "It's THAT easy?! why did i have to wait till i was a seventh year?" he asked and added a "Professor" behind it quickly to not sound too rude.

While he waited for an answer, the Slytherin began to practise zig-zagging the wand.

Zigzag zigzag stop...zigzag zigzag stop...zigzag zigzag stop... How long was he supposed to do this?

DADA Post 16
 

With Quidditch season being over, Alice's arms needed to do things that kept them from hanging limp all day, also known as exercise. Mo seemed like the best overall choice for partnering up to do plant work, because he was named after a plant. It made sense, getting a Cactus to help her with gathering things around the ground and moving them to the Student Garden. Bentley would definitely appreciate the variety of plants there, wouldn't she?

If she didn't, they could just deny that was their work. She had it all planned out.

Lugging along a bucket full of gardening equipment, she accompanied Mo to the Lake. They'd find different kind of flowery stuff in the grass, right? Or at the bases of trees? "I call dibs on this half of the area," Alice announced, once she'd evaluated which side of the space would probably have more plants.

She tugged a hand trowel out of her bucket and located a patch of flowers before starting. No harming the itty bitty blossoms, right? Her Herbology professor sure wouldn't approve of that.

DADA - Gardening 1
 

"You can't call dibs," Mo protested, but it was a weak sort of protest. Obviously Alices could do as they pleased, and this particular Alice was a dibs-caller. He'd have to remember that if they did a project together again next term. Mo picked up his supplies and moved away from Alice, toward the area she'd indicated.

It didn't seem very active, this digging up business. Just bending and digging and putting stuff right and then standing up and then walking a few feet to do it all again. But it wasn't proper exercise, like the running Mo did most days or playing Quidditch.

"Are you sure this is properly active?" he stooped and began to pull out handfuls of weeds from around a tiny shrubbery that had branched off a bigger shrub. If he could clear it out, Mo would replant the shrubbery by that bench he liked in the student garden.

ACTIVITY CHALLENGE Post 3
 

Daichi was sneaky and really, really fast at dribbling the mock quaffle! Ella wasn't exactly prepared for that but she really liked the competition. It only made her work that much harder as she made her way towards the lake, being mindful of how much time they had. Seven minutes. They had seven minutes to do this.

Dribble. Dribble. Dribble. Breatheeeee.

"Merlin, this is tough." She said to herself as she continued on, the lake in her sights. At least she was getting close.

...Was Daichi still close by or had she passed him yet? She was afraid to break her concentration and look.

Dribbleeeeee.

DADA Post 17
 

"'Course I can. I just did, didn't you hear me?" Alices obviously did do as they pleased. She continued digging around the flowers to get under them, being careful to avoid their roots. Bentley wouldn't be too happy if they ended up harming plants in the process of this activity, would she? The fifth year didn't think so, which is why she was being extra careful with this. At least she was using a hand trowel and not plucking plants out of the ground with her fingers.

Fortunately, the hand trowel had been the only gardening tool she'd brought along, so her bucket was empty now. "We dig out plants, put them in buckets, and carry them all the way to garden. Carry, not levitate, see? And then we have to replant them. And digging is effort. It counts."

If it didn't, that was super unfair, and she'd be at Romanos' door whining in the morning.

extra activity DADA post 3
 

Daichi had passed Ella as he dribbled the quaffle out of the Quidditch Pitch and towards the lake that slowly came to view. He lifted his eyes up as he checked his path and upon seeing the students ahead he took a deep breath.

It was a good thing the Slytherin had been an ex-chaser or else he would have failed this assignment so badly! He dribbled the mock quaffle on the grounds as he speed walked faster.

He wondered where Ella was so his curiousity caused his head to look around and realized that she had just past him. Oh no Captain, this isn't a dribbling match, this is war!

He quickened his pace, quickly catching up thanks to his long legs until....he missed the quaffle with his hand and the thing rolled away from him.

"Noooo! Quaffle come back~!" he shouted as he ran after the quaffle that was rolling further away from him.

DADA - Gardening 2
 

"I'm not sure like I feel like I'm doing any good if I'm not sweating out my eyeballs," Mo complained lightly in the way that Mo's complained, which was to say... without any real teeth to it and meant to be ignored. He tossed the last of the weeds to one side and began to dig around the shrub with his trowel.

He wasn't sweating, Alice. He wasn't.

"I suppose you're right. She put it on the list, but maybe it was meant for people who don't like actual physical effort. Or maybe by gardening she meant underwater gardening, in which case you're actually swimming at the same time." The shrub was free... and took up the entire bucket. What a rubbish idea he'd had in taking something so big.

Sigh. Mo pounced on stump sticking out of the ground, only a few inches across but still deeply rooted enough to put up a fight when Mo grabbed it with both hands.

ACTIVITY CHALLENGE Post 4
 

Ella heard fast paced footsteps and knew right away that she'd passed Daichi but that he was quickly making a comeback. The blonde smiled a little and said, "Ohhh no you don't!" She wasn't going to lose this race, NOPE.

The blonde quickened her pace as fast as she dared, continuing to pay careful attention to dribbling the quaffle. She didn't want to lose control of it because that'd definitely take up precious time and they needed to beat the seven minute mark, yeah? Yeah.

O__o

And then Daichi lost his quaffle causing Ella to lose concentration. Her own quaffle didn't bounce as well as it had previously and she had to bend low to keep the thing from rolling away as her opponent's had. "Quick, Daichi! We don't have much timeeee!" Sure they were racing each other but she wanted them both to do well! They really did need to get back to the pitch!

DADA Post 18
 

"Can eyeballs sweat?" Alice considered cornea perspiration very seriously as she continued digging around the roots of flowers. "I like actual physical effort, but I did that last week and the week before and the week before. We need a break, don't you think?" Underwater gardening wasn't an option for strictly land dwellers like her, but maybe Mo could try that if he wanted.

".. why'd you get a shrub?" she asked him skeptically, eyeing the plant he'd just dumped in her bucket. HER bucket. Where were her flowers going to go now? Alice promptly dumped his shrub out and cast a duplicating charm on the bucket, handing him the extra. "You can use that one for your shrubbery."

She began transferring her dug up flowers into the bucket next, filling it to the brim with dirt and plants. "I'm done. Want to go plant them now? Are you done with.. is that a stump?" Cactus has really weird plant choices, that was for sure.

extra activity DADA post 4
 

Time...right, there was time involved! The seven minute mark...meeep he had nearly forgotten about that! He ran after the mock quaffle as he rolled over the grass and bounced a little when it hit a rock. And when he reached it he quickly stopped it with his foot and picked the item up.

"GOT IT!" He shouted and waved the quaffle in the air. It looked like Ella had stopped to wait for him though...how very...hufflepuff of her.

Not wasting any moment, the Slytherin began to dribble the quaffle again. "I'll dribble from here!" he shouted again because he didn't want to get back and start over again.

The lake was getting in sight and as Daichi dribbled the ball he wondered how many minutes had passed. Probably not a lot but it felt like he had been dribbling since this morning. This exercise might seem simple but it was not. It requiered a good hand-eye coordination and physical health to be able to keep dribbling and running at the same time.

Well, at least he was loosing the ice cream weight now.

DADA HW continued from the Pathway. ONWARD TO FIRTH!
 

Sprint Sprint Sprint Sprint Sprint pantpantpantpantpant.

Oakey needed to catch his breathe now, he he sprinted about half the Pathways and finally made it to the Lake drenched in sweat, Merlin! The Captain was working them hard for this despite it just being Homework. Speaking of which, where had the Captain and the rest of the team gone? Were they still not behind him after he moved to the Pathways from the Willow? He took a deep swig of his Veggie Drink and capped the lid.

He looked behind him once more...


Nope, still no sign of his Quidditch Team. Maybe he'll head back that way...after he doubled around Firths Hut. Good Plan Oakey!

DADA - Gardening 3
 

"Because it's a really nice shrub," Mo insisted. He was sweating properly now as he fought with the tree stump. Twisting and pulling and ripping his poor ungloved hands to shreds, Mo was really working up a lather as finally resorted to digging around the base of the dead tree to unearth the roots. "Why'd you pick flowers like some average girl instead of picking something amazing like an Alice? I dunno... don't ask questions with no answers."

He stuck his tongue out at her before going back to digging in the dirt like a demented dog. He was a demented dog. Gardening with Alice had made his brain snap, obviously. When he finally loosened the stump enough to pull it loose from the dirt, Mo jumped to his feet and brandished the thing over his head like a victory trophy, leaving dirt from the root ball to rain down on Alices and shrubs and buckets.

"Now I'm done with the stump." He tossed it to the side and picked up the shrub-in-a-bucket. "This is fun, innit?"

Post #4; DADA assignment thingy
 

Post 4
 

Penguin Kace....hmmmm he LIKED it!! "I love that nickname. I mean it is my favorite animal and then to use my name with it. I couldn't be happier." he smiled to Alec.

Kace was glad they were almost there! He could see it in his peripheral vision. He wondered how long this was taking...as long as it wasn't seven minutes. Kace was looking around for Alec and he saw him....

O____O

Uh oh....his quaffle was rolling down towards the lake. "Alec!" Kace yelled after him. He ran with him and reached to him. "Good thing you stopped the Quaffle from going into the water..." he said breathlessly. "Maybe i can help you keep the ball in your hands?" he suggested. He was joking with him and chuckled a little bit.

"Shouldn't we get back now to the Quidditch Pitch?" Kace asked his fellow puff. "By the way i will need to think of a new nickname for you." Kace said to him still smiling.

"Come on let's go to the Quidditch Pitch!" Kace beckoned Alec while dribbling his quaffle. He didn't wanna show off to him while he was dribbling.

DADA Post 19
 

"Because flowers are what go in gardens, along with really nice shrubs. If I could plant a fanged geranium, you can be sure I would. Why are you trying to wrestle with a tree stump?" That was more unusual than Alice digging up flowers, she decided. "I think it won." Once Cactus had finished with his odd choice of bucket fillers, she attempted to lift her own one, which was drowning with buds and blossoms of various sizes.

"We can go plant no- oompf." This thing was heavy, did he know? She tugged and tugged, but lifting just wasn't happening. "I think that I'm more interested in carrying a stump. It looks cooler, you know?" Totally did. That was why, not because she needed help carrying or anything. Obviously. She was a toughie and stuff.

Alice gave Mo earnest looks as she took his shrub-in-a-bucket from him and nudged her flowers toward him with her foot. And then she RAN to the student garden, just in case he was going to try to take his shrub back.

The red head smiled at what he said, happy to know he would use that memory. They were so alike in so many different ways, which helped them be so close with each other. She was lucky to have a guy like her that she could get along with so well and have understand her so perfectly. Then he was asking what her patronus was. "It's a fox!" she told him. "What about yours?" she asked. Huh. She had never asked him that before, and that question was normally what she asked most people. Ronnie loved patronuses, they were so cool and it was fun seeing what other people's were.

She grinned wide, giggling at what he said. "Oh and YOU'RE not?" she teased, playfully (and lightly!) pushing him and laughing. Jory was so fun and goofy! Then she shook her head, her red hair flying as she did so. "YOU are!" she said, poking his chest.

Jory was not kidding. He would definitely use that memory to fight off the evil, annoying dementors. Such a happy memory. One of his best. That memory would make the dementors run away in no time. Hehe. "How cool!'' he said. He liked foxes. "Mine is a tiger.'' Jory happened to really liked tigers. They were so beautiful and graceful.

''Nuh uh! I'm not!'' Big grin. And then she pushed him and even though it wasn't hard, Jory pretended it was, stumbling back a few steps before putting on an indignant look. ''Hey! That hurt!'' But he was grinning; Ronnie had to figure he was kidding. "And you are more!''

Post #5
 

He liked the nickname? Alec grinned as he started dribbling down towards the lake, his eyes on the Quaffle but his ears listening out for Kace's words. "Yeah? Well... it looks like it's going to be your new nickname then," There. Now he didn't need to feel bad for not having a nickname for the little dude.

Boy, could the first year yell! Alec let out a small chuckle as he dribbled round a bend and faced the way the direction the two had come from. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually," he said, finally looking up, "You seem to be doing better at the dribbling!" LOTS better!

"Nickname... not much can be said from the name Alec," That's why most of his nicknames were linked with things he liked or... things he liked to do. Apart from Tag's nicknames for him which were just random.

Shaking his head, he looked back at Kace who was... dribbling off? Look at the dude go! "Wait for me!" he called, following the younger Puff's lead. ... Dribble... dribble... dribble...

Bag of candy? Check. Kneazle? Check. Optimism? It was waning but still a check! Lex marched down to the lake, kneazle in tow, candy bag flung over her shoulder and eyes darting everywhere. It seemed like no matter how many times she walked down here she could never run into that one bloody Giant Squid. Seriously. She tried throwing rocks in the water, blowing stuff up nearby, yelling at it, sending bottled messages down there--but he probably didn't have a bottle opener so she wouldn't blame him for ignoring that one--jumping off the dock--MERLIN! What hadn't she tried?

One day she'd see him, like legit, she would then she'd tackle him and ask for a ride across the lake be happy for the longest while.

The term would be ending soon. Lex felt like she'd spent so much time searching but that didn't mean she wouldn't continue. NOPE. She was determined.

Lex stopped by the edge of the lake and cleared her throat then cast the sonoros charm.

"Mr. Giant Squid??? You down there???? I brought cookies we can share--no milk though!!!" Giant Squids probably didn't like milk anyway. "Hellooooooo????" And now to wait. She cast a finite on her throat then plopped down.

"Don't gimme that look." She said to Felix who'd flopped next to her. "He'll come one day, we'll just have to keep looking til then. Cookie?" She asked, extending one to the creature who in turn turned up his nose. "Fine, more for me and the squid."

Um... PRE-toppings party? *cough*
 

Merlin. What on earth..?

Alistaire was down by the lake pulling some weeds when a magically magnified voice seemed to bludgeon his ear drums. Who...?

Oh.

He should have known.

He made his way over to her. "I couldn' help bu' overhear that yeh want ter see Mr. Henry." That was certainly one way of putting it. "But yeh're goin' about it all wrong. Bartholomew Henry doesn' eat cookies. Whenever I want ter speak with him, I have ter call him, see." He looked down at the spot beside her. "Budge on up, now," he said to the feline before plunking himself down next to the Gryffindor.

"Outta curiosity, why did yeh want ter see our resident giant squid?"

Waiting wasn't her thing. See, if she'd met the squid before she could have told him that then she wouldn't find herself in this current situation. Lex munched on a cookie and stared out at the lake for any signs of movement in the water. If no squid showed up then at the very least she wanted to see a Monster rise up, thrashing about and possibly endangering her life. This trip couldn't be a waste, it just couldn't.

Lex jumped at the new voice to join her before twisting to see the Grounds Keeper. Lottie told her she should stay away from him, just in case and she would have been QUICK to take this advice and simply come back another day to see the squid but 'cept...he was giving advice on how to do just that.

He'd seen the squid. He knew how to call him. She'd wait a while before making a run for it.

Felix, looking a bit disgruntled at having to move, crawled into her lap instead. "No cookies? He doesn't even like the chocolate chip ones?" That seemed strange but that wasn't the part she was interested in. "You call him? What'd you mean? Like a special call? Special whistle?? Something I've been missing?" And then there was a question for her. She shrugged, trying not to give off signals that could trigger instant point loss.

"I've heard stuff about him, he seems interesting." A safe answer right there. "And in my first year there was a new Grounds Keeper, he said we'd go looking for the squid together. He left and I've never run into the squid...like ever." It just didn't seem fair.

Post #17; AR assignment
 

Well technically he IS still alive... :P
 

A bit jumpy are we, young Gryffindor? Smirk. He recognized that posture. He'd seen it many times over his seven years in the House.

"Nope. No cookies," he said, shaking his head. Was she about to go into shock? He watched her for a few seconds to make sure, then continued. "I know i's hard ter believe, but cookies aren't really all tha' good fer creatures, generally speakin'. Jus' humans... though too many cookies aren' good fer us, either." A small wink graced his left eye. Yes, the whole castle knew about your thing for chocolate and sweets, Alexa Cambridge.

"I call him. As in... whip out my wand, send 'im a message, an' wait fer him ter come a' his convenience. Sometimes it takes awhile if he's at th' other side of the Lake a' the time." But that was alright. He had the patience of a Hufflepuff.

Hmmm. What kinds of things does one hear about a giant squid? He was sure legends must have sprung up amongst the students. Gross misrepresentations and exaggerations, most likely. But... a broken promise? Firth didn't like that. "Well tha's just not right. It may be a little bit late, bu' I'll help yeh find him." He had the chivalry of a Gryffindor.

He took out his wand, focused for a moment, and then cast his charm. "Expecto Patronum!" The stag burst forth from his wand and immediately disappeared into the watery depths.

Post #18; AR assignment
 

*rejects this completely*
 

Okay, so she was still planning to make a run for it...there was no other way...but first, she would sit and listen because he was saying things she wanted to hear--minus the cookies being bad for you bit. That was blasphemy!!!

"Not all cookies are bad. I mean...double chocolate chip cookies...er...promote brain health and...er...good digestion--yeah! Mhm! It's been proven." By her, but shhhh.

Enough about cookies though!! hsdbfkgkfg!! Seriously???? How unfair was THAT??? She would have never thought of that!! She can't even DO a patronus. Nope. No no no. Mr. Giant Squid needed to have a easier system of communication. One that was Alexa Cambridge friendly, jeeeeez. "A patronus? For real? Is that the only way because I can't do one of those." Which sucked, especially now with dementors popping up every where.

Wait.

...

Not Shiny Ground's Keeper say what???? Her eyes grew wide with excitement. "You will?!?!?! NEAT!!" GRIN. It took every ounce of control to not start bouncing around.

"Look Felix!! The patronus is gonna go get the squid!!!!!!"

Post #19; AR assignment
 

He eyed her. He wasn't going to attempt to correct her on the cookie thing. Mostly because he wanted some cookies himself and didn't want to feel badly about eating them.

"Fer real. An' i's the only polite way, yes. Bu' he only answers fer the staff, so sorry." Otherwise he'd be seriously annoyed all the time. "But hey, i' doesn' matter tha' yeh can't do one now, a' least." Silver lining?"An' I don' normally share tha' infermation with studen's, so I'm trustin' yeh with it, alright?" It was a sign of good faith between him and Alexa. He felt like they had just gotten off on the wrong foot from day one.

He nodded. "I will an' I did!" he said once he'd sent off the messenger. "Now all tha's left ter do is wait. But I warn yeh, it might be awhile." And speaking of which... He checked his watch. Yes, they were done. "So I reckon we're going ter be needin' some o' the shortbread cookies tha' I have cooling back at my hut." Taking out his wand, he summoned a few. "The cookies are from last night, but I jus' dipped 'em in chocolate this mornin' and sprinkled the nuts on top." He offered her one. "No better way ter pass the time."

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Hearing his confirmation actually didn't make her feel any worse because the partonus had disappeared and she was prepared to sit her for days waiting. This was the closest she'd ever come to seeing the squid, she wasn't about to blow it. Classes could wait, she probably wouldn't pass her exams either way. It wasn't every day you met the Giant Squid.

Oh? She tilted her head and gave him a curious look. "How come? Doesn't he like students too?" only answering staff seemed kinda mean. She wasn't staff but that didn't mean she wanted to see him any less. Double!Oh, a secret? She was particularly good at keeping those....kinda, but in this case, definitely. Lex grinned up at him. "You won't have to worry about me saying anything Sir." It was actually a nice thought knowing he trusted her with something, especially given ALL their previous encounters. No one would know.

Mooooore waiting. After hearing that Felix curled up in her lap and gave a big yawn. He'd be sleeping soon and she'd still be waiting. Bliiink. Did he just offer her cookies??? Was this the same Grounds Keeper????

...

"Those look delicious!" And meant she could save hers for later. Lex took one and bit into it. "Taste good too. I didn't figure you for someone who bakes." She didn't mean it in a bad way. It was a pleasant surprize. "Can we," throw stuff at the lake "skip rocks while we wait?"

Oh the head tilt. He'd noticed that the girl did it alot. "No no no, he DOES like students. I's just..." A buzz could be heard inside his pocket, a timer going off. "Blimey I have ter go! But he'll be around, don' worry."

And with that, he rushed off unceremoniously.

Well. He had been enjoying lounging in the sun just on the other side of the small peninsula that blocked the students from view. But alas, it appeared that Alistaire Firth had someone for Bartholomew Henry to meet.

So it was that, tentacles flicking lazily, Bartholomew Henry appeared above the water near the dock. He spotted Firth's back retreating... That was most peculiar. But there was only one student in sight, so this must be who he was supposed to meet.

"Hello there, child. I'm Bartholomew Henry, resident Giant Squid of the Black Lake. How do you do? Are you enjoying this fine summer day?"

It's just...? It's just what? He couldn't leave without explaining!! What if the squid had an allergy to children?!?!?! She didn't wanna be the reason why he dropped dead!! She just wanted to meet him and tackle him and ask him for a ride across the lake. Ahem. What? She watched him go, feeling lonely all over again. How much longer would she have to--

...

.....

Things were happening in the water. Water moving....tentacles...Squid--

dsfvksdgfskygs!!

Mr. Giant Squid!!! He was...he was RIGHT THERE!!! Breath Lex! He was TALKING to HER. Not passing by or or or hunting but theeeeeeereeeeee. She hopped up so fast that her kneazle hit the floor with a thud. If the squid weren't FLOATING RIGHT THERE she might have cared more.

She walked to the waters edge, trying to speak but no words would come out. He was FINALLY THERE! She'd waited so long, she couldn't just NOT speak. Even breathing Lex, focus on breathing. Okay, she was ready to speak. Ahem. "EEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppppppppppp ppp!!!!!"

Post #20; AR assignment
 

It was such a NICE DAY and Tobias still had a GAZILLION pieces of homework to do. So he figured... why not do some homework outside? Afterwards he could even jump in the lake as a celebration, how awesome would THAT be?

One of the things he had to do was that History of Magic thing about where the house elves were. The professor man had said his theory was good or... well... something. It wasn't impossible, and Tobias was ready to TOTALLY think this theory through and write it all out and see what Vinteren thought of it. This was going to be one of the BEST pieces of homework EVER.

Maybe.

Except it probably wasn't because Tobias legit HATED assignments which were all about writing. So he'd really have to focus.

So... why did he come out here?

Not the wisest move, but TOO LATE NOW. Toby prepared the parchment and leant on a book and used his self-inking quill to start to plan what he was going to write. Aw yis.

Post #21; AR assignment
 

Jory wandered towards the Lake with his hands in his pockets, whistling and trying not to have depressing thoughts about his graduation which would be happening soon. Sure, he was looking forward to getting to work and all but he would miss Hogwarts. After all, he spent seven years here.

Looking around, he spotted Alec who seemed to be chanting something. "Ancient Runes,'' Jory guessed. He wished he could start that project again. it had been fun.

Post #22; AR assignment
 

AR Post # 18 - Intaglio/Carving
 

Kat decided on paying a visit to Mr. Bartholomew Henry, the great King of the Hogwarts Lake. That squid, really. Kat has never seen him before but she wished he would show up once in a while to save her if she tried drowning herself. But no, she wasn't going to attempt on DROWNING herself. She still had life... and a Runes project to finish off. Ahem. Yeah.

She was still going to carve more runes onto her Gandr. So don't mind her while she was doing that over here. She was going to start now... so yeah. Uhm.

"Kenaz kenaz kenaz ku ka ki ke ko kun kan kin ken kon ok ek ik ak uk kaunnnnnnnnn..." Focus on Kenaz. "Intaglio Kenaz Kenaz Kenaz Kenaz..." WOOT. The rune was carved on her Gandr too. Amazing... so now, it was Gebo's turn.

Ahem. "Gebo gebo gebo gu ga gi ge go gub gab gib geb gob og eg ig au ur g a a a f f f f f..." Concentrate on Gebo. ONLY GEBO. "Intaglio Gebo Gebo Gebo Gebo Gebo Gebo..." Done.

Next was Wunjo. "Wunjo wunjo wunjo wu wa wi we wo wun wan win wen won wo we wi wa wu w w w u u u n n n..." Kat kept her mind set on only Wunjo, the rune Wunjo. "Intaglio Wunjo Wunjo Wunjo Wunjo Wunjo..." Wunjo joined its family of runes now. Yay.

"Hagalaz hagalaz hagalaz h h h h h h h h h hu ha hi he ho hug hag hig heg hog (hul hal hil hel hol) oh eh ih ah uh h h h h h h h h h..." With Hagalaz in mind, Kat proceeded to carving. "Intaglio Hagalaz Hagalaz Hagalaz Hagalaz..." And the rune Hagalaz joins too.

"Naudhiz naudhiz naudhiz n n n n n n n n n nu na nu ne no nudh nadh hudh nedh niodh (nut nat nit net not) un an in en on n n n n n n n n n..." Here we go. "Intaglio Nauthiz Nauthiz Nauthiz Nauthiz..." TADA! Done. Okay... she needed a break now.

Excuse her while she goes to grab a bite or two.

Ar #10
 

Okay, so she'd forgotten to strip the Gandr of its bark before she actually composed the song so she'd just do it right there. Okay. Pulling her wand out, she spread a thin sheet of cloth out on the grass and helf her wand gingerly on top of it.

"Diffindo," she muttered, stripping the bark off in clean, neat strokes of her wand. She continued in that manner until the whole thing was pretty smooth and non-barky. Then, she drew the edges of the cloth close to each other and tied it with a string. Now it was a pouch.

BEAM.

*squeals* Tigers are my favorite animal. x)
 

"A tiger? That's awesome!" she said. Tigers were pretty epic, she loved them. They were definitely on her list of favorite animals! Dragons being her first. Heh heh. That'd be pretty cool if she had a dragon patronus... she'd fight dementors all the time if she had one as her patronus. Wouldn't it be awesome to see a misty wicked looking dragon attacking a dementor?!?! She thought so.

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head. "Psh. You SO are!" she said, laughing. Then she laughed some more at how he reacted to her push. "Aww, poor Jory!" she said, wrapping him in a hug and pulling him close to her. She giggled. "Where are you hurt? Do you need me to kiss your boo boo?" she asked, smirking and squeezing him tight.

AR assignment post 17
 

So she was meant to summon divine energy.. how was she meant to do that? Sarah thought the lake would be best, as that was beautiful so maybe that counted as divine or something. Sarah carried her now dried wand out to the lake and sat down on the grass.
She had to make herself comfortable as there was a lot of runes to carve on this silly thing. Which was great in the end, as not harm done and the whatnot. So the first one was Fehu "fay-who" sounded like Say who? As in “say who thought this subject was useful?”. But now she was stuck with it. Also, wealth would not be bad so.. “fehu fehu fehu f f f f f f f f f fu fa fi fe fo of ef if af uf f f f f f f f f “ Sarah said. This whole chants was like a tongue twister. Sarah pointed to place on her gandr, a random spot, as the only energy she was feeling was jest, “Intaglio Fehu... Fehu... Fehu... Fehu...” she said as she watched the rune being carved. One down.. many more to go.
Uruz. Sarah liked the creativity part yet taming a woman. Not her cup of tea, Sarah did not ever want to be tamed or domesticated in anyway. So if this Uruz worked, it had to be selective of its powers. Maybe she could tell it that or something. “uruz uruz uruz u u u u u u u u u u u u u u u r r r r r r u u u u u u u u u” All of them seemed to be tongue twisted. Just more complex then ‘Unique New York, Unique New York...”. She chose the spot where she felt a desire and said “Intaglio Uruz... Uruz... Uruz... Uruz...” The new rune joined its friend. They could relax now before they got to work.
The next rune sounded like dinasours, well that is if you stretch it a bit. It was thoor-ee-saws. It was for protection, so maybe it would have helped dinasours and Sarah thought she needed to it too. One could never be too safe in Hogwarts “thurisaz thurisaz thurisaz th th th th th th th th th thur thar thur ther thor thu tha thu the tho th th th th th th th th th” Another point of her wand and then “Intaglio Thurisaz... Thurisaz... Thurisaz... Thurisaz...” Great going.
Ansuz sounded like snoozing, which Sarah felt like doing right then and there. But it was also needed to pass exam. Sarah never had a problem with passing exams,well her passing level was higher then others. Also, she was lacking the divine power with this rune carving so if it this thing worked, then maybe she would have the ‘divine power’ to work on the others.”ansuz ansuz ansuzaw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw s s s s s s aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw aw” Another point and “Intaglio Ansuz... Ansuz.... Ansuz... Ansuz...”

AR Project - Post 6
 

Mine too! One more thing in common, Syd!
 

"It would be cool if it were a falcon or eagle too,'' Jory said. He liked those two birds. They were so fast and true predators and they really fascinated him. So, changing the subject from Patronuses. "Hey, Rons, you do realise that in a few weeks you'll be staying with us, right?'' Yup, because this term would be ending soon. Trying not to think of that, the Puffer continued. "I bet mom and dad can't wait to meet you.'' He grinned. "Mom will definitely drag you off clothes shopping and stuff and dad will bore you with his cop stories.'' As for his sister... she'll probably give Ronnie a hard time. The thought made Jory sad but he tried not to think of that either.

"I feel like I'm being strangled by a boa constrictor,'' Jory said, and feigned gasping desperately for breath. He wish he could feign turning red or something. That would have made it better! Boo boo! "I don't get boo boos,'' he said, laughing. "I get injuries.''

AR Project - Post 7
 

zigzag zigzag stop....zigzag zigzag stop...

Hearing the Professors really tired voice, Daichi stopped practising to look back down. As he listened to the instructions the man was giving , he tried to store everything in his brain so that he wouldn't make a mistake later and then nodded very slowly.

"Okay....Nubcio..Nubcio...does it mean anything Si---

HAD HE JUST FALLEN ASLEEP?! :whaa:

"YAH! WAKE UP!" he shouted as he held his hands on his hips before moving them to fold his arms over each other in front of his chest and his lower lip began to tremble. "If you don't want to teach me the spell, sir. Just say it!" he said "No one likes me anyways so it's okay..."

He had already speculated with Minnie that these feelings of loneliness were caused by the syrup they both had eaten but right now he wasn't thinking about that.

He still wanted to learn the spell though, so after a 30 seconds or so of standing with his arms folded he lowered them again and began to practise. zigzag zigzag "Nubcio!" ...nothing.

Zigzag "Nubcio!" zigzag... BANG! A small explosion had caused his hair to poof in every direction possible and he had to cough loudly as he inhaled the smoke accidentally.

He waved his wand arm to wave away the smoke rapidly but upon doing so , he accidentally lost his grip and it fell out of his hand and on to the ground. Right at the moment it touch the ground, the wand was pointing DIRECTLY at the Professor and a red light flew his way...

"SIR! LOOK OUT!"

The buzzer wouldn't stop going off. What on earth..? He took it out of his pocket to check on it. "Aww i's broken!" Which meant that he could go back to the Lake.

He strode off to where he'd just been and at down next to Lex. "Sorry, false alarm. Apparently my buzzer is broken." Sigh. "Good ter see yeh, Bartholomew. This," he indicated Alexa, "is Miss Alexa Cambridge in Gryffindor House. She's bin wantin' ter meet yeh ever since she came."

Bartholomew Henry looked politely at the girl, but she didn't seem to have much in the way of functionality as far as speech went. Was the girl a mute? Then a screech came and he knew that was not it.

"Ah, Alistaire. It is good to see you, my friend. And it is indeed a pleasure to meet you, Miss Cambridge. Have you enjoyed your time at Hogwarts so far?"

The sudden sound of the Ground Keeper's voice made her jump. Seriously, what ever happened to walking loudly? With the Giant Squid right there then the added surprize, she was likely to have a heart attack--but of course she wouldn't because she'd waited TOO long for this.

Firth was doing more talking than her. She had so much to say but nothing was coming out and he was asking her MORE questions!!!!

kfdhsfksdgfysgek!!

Come on, Lex! Saaaay something!

Cambridges didn't freeze. No. She would have to say something. Lions were bold and she was being FAR too quiet right now. Time to make them know she was capable of speech. "It's a pleasure to meet you too--more than a pleasure when I think about it!!!" BEAM. "I've liked every year but this one--but meeting you's made it better I guess! Lottie said you'd show up, it's just we figured it'd be on an epic rampage of some sort, shooting water everywhere, crashing stuff down, that kind of thing. I've tried every way of reaching you, how far do you live? Mr. Firth says you don't like cookies but what about double chocolate chip? That any good? You don't eat people, do you? When I was a first year someone said they'd feed us to you but I don't think you'd eat me, you're all civilized and non student eating--not like the plant or the dementors but I won't bother you with talk about them. What's the bottom of the lake like? Do you give people rides? Are you super squishy?? Like if I tackled you would I slip off and drown--not that I'd drown because I can swim, honest!"

There was finally a pause where she took a DEEP breath. That was a mouthful and now all she could do was stand there grinning.

*gives you high five*
 

"Falcons and eagles are awesome." she agreed with a small nod. They were indeed, the way they were so big and brave and just epic. She'd have to agree, having a patronus like that would be cool. Then he was talking about staying with him. She blinked. Only a few weeks left of being at Hogwarts. Glancing at the castle for a minute then back at him, she nodded, smiling a little. "Yeah! This'll be so fun. And I cannot wait to meet them, I bet they're real nice!" she said. She then laughed at what he said. "Well, I don't mind shopping and I always love a good story!" she nodded once more. His family sure sounded like tons of fun!

She burst out laughing at Jory. Boy, was he hilarious or what?! Then she placed her hands on her hips, looking at him in amusement. "Well, shall I kiss your injury then?" she asked with a smirk.

Ethan gave Minerva a small smile as he nodded. "The library sounds great.. I've tried to study there a few times on my own, but my thoughts get the better of me and I can't focus." He didn't know how to slow down his mind at times.. and it was almost scary to him. There was just too much to think about, more so this term than at any time in his life that he could remember and it made concentrating difficult at times. And that wasn't such a good thing as far as NEWTs were concerned. "Maybe if I have someone to help me stay on task I'll get more accomplished." He was sure she could do that.. and they could be free from distraction hopefully.

He slowly grinned as he noticed her blush. Hmm.. maybe he still could affect her in that way. "Well.. you're right.. it is nice to be able to have a conversation together. We have a pretty great relationship, I think.." After everything.. all the good stuff and the bad, he really felt that they were very strong together.. and like nothing would really ever tear them apart. Not that he wanted to tempt fate or anything.

He looked back down at the pocket watch again. He really loved all his gifts, but this one was so meaningful. It was probably the most special gift he could ever remember receiving. Ethan looked back up at her hearing her words. "You're sure you want me to have this? This has to be incredibly important to you.." And he got why she wanted him to have it.. it was symbolic of how important he was to her as well.. but if it was all she had of her father, he wouldn't want to keep that from her.

He chuckled a bit, taking the plate from her. He guessed they did get side-tracked, but she had done such a good job planning and had done just so much it was hard not to. He took a bite, then looked up. "Oh, dessert, too?" He grinned remembering those two desserts the first time they did this. She really did remember everything. "I'll make sure I save room," he winked before eating more.

''It'll have to be fun,'' Jory responded. "Remember what you wanted us to do? All those picnics!'' He was looking forward to those and had already been thinking of some good spots for them to go. It would be a good change from all the studying and so on. He gave Ronnie a sly look. "You know you'll have to bake loads of cookies for me, right?'' Grin. "Well, that's good to hear. At least you wouldn't be bored.'' Nope. Because his parents would entertain her. A lot.

Jory grinned again. "You look like a super model, Rons,'' he said. With the hands on her hips and all. "I'm a big boy!'' he protested. "I'll be good, super model Ronnie Hawkins.''

Oh, she DID talk! And goodness, once she got going she didn't stop! "Well I am glad that I could help make your year better, Miss Cambridge. If I may be so impolite as to inquire, what exactly, may I ask, is a 'Lottie'?"

He had been distracted by a strange word, but then there were many things that he needed to correct her on. "You must know, Miss Cambridge, that I do not rampage. Nor do I crash stuff down. I am a civilized being, though I am quite sure your friends up at the school would try to tell you otherwise."

Despite her incorrect thoughts, he continued to address her politely. "The entire loch is my home. I roam about wherever I wish, though I do tend to stay away from the Merpeople's colony. My diet does not consist of people or of cookies, even double chocolate chip. The bottom of the lake is made of mud, so I suppose once could say it is dirty and dark." As for the NEXT part... "Hopefully after learning this bit about me you will realize that I do NOT give rides to to people. And I have heard from those who HAVE touched me that I could be described as rubbery."

There. Did that answer her questions? He looked over at Alistaire. "This one is quite talkative! A very curious one, she is."

"E you are going to do great on your NEWTS. You are so smart, but the library will work. I need to take a few of those books back anyway." She hadn't been around the school to much alone so hitting the library with Ethan sounded like the perfect plan. "I don't know how much I can help, but you know I'm always willing to try. So sure I can keep you on task... I can be pretty strict too." She eyed him and then gave a small smirk.


She couldn't help but smile with his comment, their relationship had been through so much and they were still together. This to her was a great start and she hoped they could face being apart next term. A frown reached her as she was forced to think about next term. Moments like this weren't going to happen. She was going to be sitting here alone. This was just not going to be fun. She could only hope that next term was easier and quicker than this one. "We do have a great relationship. I couldn't have asked for anyone better." She gave him a small smile trying to push next term out of her head. She had been sad enough lately, did she have to think about sad while they were trying to have a good time.


Reaching over and touching the pocket watch Minerva smiled as memories poured into her mind. She bit her lip to try and control the emotions she was feeling from just everything. "It is, but you are more important than any material item. Plus I'm not really giving it away.. Not really.." She shrugged, it was symbolic to how she felt and if what she wanted happened then it would be part of her life still. Plus she had pictures and her memories those meant just as much to her. Losing her mothers ring to that Niffler a few terms ago made her realize that.

Taking a bite of her food she hoped it was good. It was the first time she had ever really spent days on something, but she enjoyed doing it so it was worth it. "Well good.. I would hate to waste all this food, but I guess if we don't eat everything someone else probably would like some. " Mo or even Kaiden always liked her cooking so they probably would enjoy left overs.

Ah, memories....

Ameliah was reminiscing like a sappy alumni, even though she was only gone for a year AND was studying from home anyways.... Plus, she still had quite few years to make more happy-lake-memories.

The Claw sat, familiarity surrounding her. How many times, actually, had she sat at that very spot? And looking down at her outfit...not much had actually changed.

So why was she getting all sappy all-of-the-sudden?

Eulgh.

Taylor sighed as she went down to the lake. Tay decided to try to be a little happier at least so she decided to dance and sing. As she was twirling, her foot got caught somehow and she tumbled a little before getting up. Tay laughed at herself and dusted herself off. Her mood brightened a little at how klutzy she was being today. After she made sure that everything was okay and in place, she decided to continue down the path, being slightly more careful than she was earlier. Tay glanced around at the trees and listened to the bird's songs. Taylor tried to mimicked some of the songs but wasn't that good at most of them. After a while she spotted Am and smiled, going over to her. "Hey, Am." Tay waved and smiled at her friend/ cousin/ sister or whatever she was... Taylor couldnt remember... Tay gestured to the spot next to her, "Mind if a fellow Ravvie sits down?" She glanced around the lake and had a small frown. One more year left... too fast too short... She sighed and tried to push the thoughts out of her mind as she refocused on Ameliah, waiting for an answer before she did anything.

"friend/ cousin/ sister or whatever she was..." True! I died! xD
 

Ameliah perked up at the sound of a voice addressing her, and pretty much pee'd herself from excitement once she realized who the voice belonged too.

"TAYLOR!!" she shouted, tugging on her bestie's arm to get her to sit down as fast as humanly possible...without actually yanking her to the ground.

"Oops, sorry," Ameliah quickly apologized for her volume, hugging Taylor brightly. Old habits die hard, she supposed. "I haven't seen you since...since..." Since Am was a third year. Dang. The grin on the raven-haired girl's face turned a little sheepish once she realized that she had kinda dropped off the face of the earth the previous year. Did Logan explain to Tay? 'Cause Am sure didn't. And what of the others...?

Meh, Am had time to reconcile with her other friends eventually. For the moment, she was gonna hug Tay and NOT let go for at least a minute.

lol i couldnt remember what they were xD but im glad you liked it ^_^
 

Her eyes grew as she got shouted at and was bascially pulled to the ground. She giggled as Ameliah apologized. Taylor hugged her back. "We havent seen each other in about 2 years!" Tay gasped, not believing that it could have been that long, "Why havent we seen each other?" She pulled a slight pout but kept hugging Ameliah, "That is 2 years too many." Tay sighed, "We have so much to catch up on!" She wasnt even thinking of letting go of Ameliah. The shock from the excitement that Ameliah showed soon faded and her own excitement at seeing one of her besties whom she havent seen in like FOREVER came to the surface. She was still hugging Ameliah, not ever wanting to let go at the moment... too afraid that she would just slip away. "Where have you been?" She looked at Am.

Ameliah nodded determinedly. "Way too many!!" she agreed. Just ONE year was bad. THEN Am just HAAAAD to do OWLs the year she got back. This was probably the one break she'd let herself have all year, she realized. She hadn't even slept more than five hours a night and it was taking it's toll, whether Am would admit it or not. Ameliah released Tay reluctantly at her question, only because it'd be difficult to have a conversation if they were both still latched onto each other like Jack and Rose.

Where have you been?

Ah, the inevitable question. Am blushed a little. "IwaswithLogancauseImissedhim," she blurt-mumbled. Who knew blurt-mumbling was possible?

Tay glanced at Ameliah after they released the hug, "You need sleep... I am gonna make you go up to the common room and sleep before the end of term feast." She eyed her friend with a sigh. Taylor waited for the answer to her question and got a confused look when Ameliah started to mumble really fast. "Huh? What the heck did you just say?" She sighed, "I cant understand you when you mumble ESPECIALLY when it is a really fast mumble." She sighed and looked at her frined.

Ameliah groaned as Tay chastised her for not getting enough sleep. Sure, groaning and sulking were things a little...young for a fifteen year old, but she was Ameliah so FORGET YOUR SOCIETY RULES. "I can't sleep that long!! I've already gotten used to staying up late!" she whined - also something society considered beneath her. "But," Am added hastily as to not upset her friend, "I'll fix my sleeping schedule over the summer! Promise!" So there. Hmph.

Okay, so blurt-mumbling was not as effective as Ameliah hoped it'd be. Poo. "I was..." Am's cheeks became red again. "I stayed home with Logan for the year. 'Cause I...missed him."

Cue scolding, most likely including something along the lines of 'You had me so freaked out because of a BOY?!'

Wasn't Am's fault he was so lovable. Pout.

She giggled at the groaning, sulking and whining. Tay smiled and nodded, "Good. You better fix it during the summer or I am going to be on your case during my last year here." Taylor stuck her tongue out at her then gave her a quick hug. She smiled as Ameliah repeated herself, "You stayed home because of Logan? How cute." She giggled and beamed at her. "How is he?" A pout formed, "I miss him..." She hadnt seen Logan in a while... "Are you two still dating?" Taylor was basically bouncing in happiness and excitement.

Ameliah laughed, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to waste your last year bugging me," she said. "It'd be a waste of your precious time!" Her tongue shot out teasingly with a laugh. The dark-haired girl held in a relieved sigh as Taylor decided against scolding her. Cute? "S'pose so," Am agreed. "Cute" was hardly ever an adjective she used, so she was prepared to take Tay's word on it. "Logan's doing great!" was her response to the question. "If I'm not mistaken, I think he'll be back this upcoming year!"

Was Ameliah excited?

Puh-lease.

Such an understatement was never uttered by man before.

In fact, Ameliah's cheeks grew their familiar pink and she was grinning like a lovestruck idiot which she was at the thought. Her smile only grew wider at Tay's second question. "Of course we are!!! What about you and that guy Brady?" she returned the question.

She laughed and smiled, "Ok... but promise me we will hang at least during next year." At the end, that statement turned into pleading. Tay didnt want to admit it but she didnt want it to be her last year. She smiled, "That is good that he is doing great." A squeal escaped her mouth and she hugged Ameliah, excitedly, "Logan is coming back?" A huge beaming smile came, "As long as I get to spend time with both of you, next year will be amazing!" Taylor was practically dancing in her seat. The dancing stopped and her happiness was quickly zapped when she asked about her relationship. She forced out a giggle. "Brady? You mean Brodie, right?" She gave a weak smile, "Yeah, we are still dating, but..." Guilt showed in her face as she bit her lip and look away.

Ameliah grinned at Tay's excitement, nodding in reassurance that her bestie's last year would be her best by far. The other's happiness was surely mirrored by Am...until Tay's face fell just before she corrected Am. Ah, so the guy's name was Brodie. To be fair, all Ameliah remembered of the boy was that she didn't trust him. And based on the look on said boy's girlfriend's face, she wasn't entirely wrong. "But? Spill. And I mean spill like his guts if he did something wrong to you kind of spill."

TAy smiled as Am nodded in reassurance. She sighed, "It wasnt him who messed up... I kinda kissed another guy and he doesnt know about it... and the guy who I kissed told me that I shouldnt tell anyone because he thinks it was just an accident... but I am starting to feel really guilty about it and I am not sure what to do... I mean I love Brodie and this guy is a close friend of mine and I am not really sure how I feel about this guy... I mean he is amazing and sweet and kind... but I dont know if I love him, ya know?" She blushed then started to whine a little, "You must think I am bad or stupid or what not." Shame and guilt was written across her face as she looked up at Ameliah.

Ameliah was surprised when Tay said it was her fault. Am listened to the story patiently, cleverly resisting the urge to ask about the identity of "the guy." After Tay finished, Ameliah thought a little bit before responding, "I don't think that of you. In any way shape or form. I want to clear that whatever happens, you aren't a bad person. If you've heard the phrase; 'There are bad decisions but not bad people.' So no matter what, you aren't bad or stupid. Now, I know it's hard to draw the line between best friend and someone you love, or between a brotherly love and a more romantic sense. That's the kind of thing, unfortunately, that you have to wait out." Am paused, realizing that Tay would probably want advice in what to do. "About Brodie..." she continued, "I'm gonna sound bad, but I don't think he should know, for the time being. You'll have to talk to the guy, and work out a story of what happened. Keep the story mostly true, but if you have to say it was an accident or something, say that. Once you're ready to tell Brodie, tell him with the guy." Boom. Ameliah had helped so many people with relationship issues that it was pretty natural for her to think of plans like that.

i think Am knows the guy... i think... *whistles*
 

She gave a smile, "Thank you for not thinking badly of me..." She nodded, "It is, indeed, hard to draw the line." She sighed. Taylor nodded, "That is what the guy said... no one needs to know... no one saw... we were alone..." She looked at him, "But we did come up with a story... We were dancing... fact... we slipped... fact... and we ended up kissing by accident.... or something like that... I think." She sighed and hugged Ameliah, laying her head on Am's shoulder, "Why does love have to be so complicated?"

No she has no idea...been gone two years lol! Give her a minute though...xD
 

Ameliah awkwardly patted Tay's shoulder - which may have been odd to most, but Taylor knew Am's lack of physical comfort and so would probably accept such. She gave a noise of agreement/approval at the story story before attempting an answer to the question which was probably rhetorical but whatever. "Love's an emotion. All emotions are complicated." She nudged her best friend in the side with a small laugh. "That's why I don't have any!" she joked lamely.

lol can you guess who?
 

Tay looked at her and the shoulder pat, giggling. "You are so bad with comforting but that is one of the reasons why I love being your friend." She nodded, "Yeah... that they are." Taylor burst out in laughter, "You do have emotions, Ameliah." Tay smiled and hugged her then got up. Tay started to dance in happiness. Hanging with her again was amazing and she loved it.

Lets see shall we... *sly grin*
 

Psh.

Bad at comforting? And who exactly was laughing and dancing now? Hmph. Ameliah grinned up at her friend since she was too lazy to stand up herself. "Speaking of my emotions, my curiosity one is raising his or her hand." Am crossed her fingers mentally, hoping she wasn't about to make her friend upset again. "The guy...wouldn't happen to be Damon, now would it...?" she asked. Maybe she wasn't the most polite person, but said curiosity was overwhelming. Plus, it was a good guess. After all, Tay said they were dancing. Not to mention all the drama those two attracted.

haha xD good guess
 

She paused and looked at Ameliah then bursted out laughing. Tay smiled, "Good one... He aint even here... he graduated and besides he is engaged to a gal named Karla. Getting married this summer apparently... I am suppose to be a bridemaid." She rolled her eyes at the thought. "Anyways we broke up like 2 years ago." She giggled and smiled at her.

Imma genius :D
 

Ameliah's eyes widened. Holy mother of Merlin, she was right?! She whistled at her own prowess before processing what Tay said. "Holy crap, badger's engaged?!?!" she sputtered. After a moment's recovery, she realized it might've been arranged by Puck or something...but dang, getting married pretty much fresh outta school? The one thing that didn't shock Am was that Tay and Damon broke up, since Ameliah dimly remembered that fiasco.

lol too bad it was wrong though :P
 

"I love your joke. Damon and me together again?" She kept laughing so hard that she fell over. After she calmed down, "Yeah, he met the girl then like 2 months of knowing each other..." She sighed, "I dont like her... I dont think anyone likes her... I think she is just a rebound of Ariana I think..." Tay shrugged.

Joke?!

Waitwaitwait.

So "good one" didn't mean a good guess???

There went Am's pride. All over the ground, where Tay was laughing.

Euheuh.

But Am's reputation of perfect deduction aside... (why yes, it HAD been tossed aside, thanks for the reminder...) "Two months." she deadpanned, the statement just barely laced with skepticism. She snorted at the mention of Ariana. "The mutt? Don't remind me." If the derisive comment wasn't enough to tell, Ameliah thought that couple was a trainwreck from the start.

She nodded, "Yeah, two months." Tay grumbled, "And I thought I was special when he told me he wanted to marry me." She sighed, "That was at one year but she got it in two months? That is fishy." She pouted, slightly miffed. She nodded and laughed, "Do you not like the evil snake either?" Tay giggled and smiled at Ameliah. "So are you still curious about whom I kissed?" Taylor teased, trying to forget about Karla, Damon and Ariana for a little bit. "Or is your curiosity killed?" She smiled at her. "I mean you did ask if it was Damon so I didnt know if it is just that or..." She trailed off then started to think of the one she kissed, starting to blush and sighed. She then thought about how it would never be...

Ameliah's nose scrunched at Tay's grumbling. "Dang. It might just be a rebound, if it's that quick." Realizing that her snobby teenage hormones were suddenly acting up, she decided to add in a positive, "Don't worry, you're special even if not to him," to balance it out. It didn't help, however, that Am's natural instinct to Tay's question about the mutt was a very well worded "Eulgh."

Yay, subject change from people Ameliah couldn't stand!! A grin replaced a grimace. "Actually," the claw said matter-of-factly, "My curiosity lives. Do tell!"

Do tell?

Am blinked. What have I become?!

Tay nodded, "That is what I think it is... just a rebound." She sighed then smiled at her friend, "Awwww thanks..." Ameliah actually did do a comforting thing... *cue shock face*. Tay hugged her and smiled again. "Thank you... really... thank you..." She giggled at the 'do tell' thing. "Well... if you promise not to tell anyone OR bug the person since I do know that you know him." *cue a deep blush at thought of the cute guy* She sighed, "There isnt any possible way of us getting together even if Brodie and I split up." She pulled a pout, "Though I dont know if I want to date this guy or not... but he is kinda cute." She blushed and hide it with her hair, "And super sweet and one of my best friends ever!"