Ian smiled when she said it was quiet. It was only quiet when it was he and mum. When his parents were together, there were stories to tell and fun to be had and animals to care for. It is sometimes, but with the wind and waves and all that, I don't really notice the silence. And as for the animals, well, they take a good bit of care. That's one of my chores when I'm at home.

He thought about the loneliness question. He had never really thought much about that. Not much. I don't really have much time to think about it with the working and my free time is spent reading. He had really enjoyed his life, though his mum was encouraging him to make more friends.

Wow! That's a lot of siblings. It must be heard to get some quiet time to yourself. He wondered what the family would be like when they were all together.

Lux was so excited as she made her way over to the beech tree to get everything ready for her lunch with Ana. She had taken down a blanket from her dorm, and had also stopped by the kitchens to get some things from the friendly House Elves.

Humming a song to herself, she spread the blanket out under the tree, thankful that though it was chilly outside since it was the start of December, there was no snow on the ground. Once the blanket had been laid down, Lux then placed a plate of cucumber sandwiches, a plate of chocolate chip cookies, a pitcher of pumpkin juice, and two glasses upon it. She hoped that Ana would want cucumber sandwiches, since she had said she enjoyed them as well.

Sitting down on the blanket, she waited for her friend to appear.

Ana was looking forward to her lunch with Lux, she was looking forward to it so much that she'd done something she rarely did. Actually cooked some soup. It was actually the only thing she could cook without it going disastrously wrong. It probably also helped that she'd had a House Elf hovering around her for if anything went wrong. The other food that she had with her though were things her Mamushka had sent her just this morning. She figured they'd be great to share with Lux now. Although she had left some of it in her dorm to maybe share with Terry or Bay.

"Luxy," Ana called out, waving to the girl when she noticed her sitting on a picnic blanket with food and drink spread out. The little girl was definitely a forward thinker. Ana hadn't even thought about bringing a blanket with her. Luckily the little girl had though. Ana smiled down at her friend when she reached her, carefully dropping down onto the blanket, making sure not to knock anything over.

Placing her bag beside her she pulled out her own contributions to the feast. First out of her bag were two thermos' of Rassolnik, which she placed close to the Pumpkin Juice, followed by containers of Prague Cake and Syrniki. The last thing she got out of the bag, also placing it near the Pumpkin Juice was another set of Thermos', smaller than the ones that contained the Rassolnik, filled with Sbiten.

"It seems we'll be having quite a feast," Ana observed as she took in all the food around her. Good thing she hadn't ate breakfast and had a healthy appetite besides.

Hearing her name being called, Lux looked over and saw Ana approaching. "Heey there!" she said as she waved out excitedly. Wow, Ana looked super pretty today! Beaming as she was joined on the blanket, she saw three Thermoses being placed down as well as some containers. This was super duper exciting, because she had a feeling that at least a few of those containers held Russian foods that she really wanted to try.

"Oh, yes. I made sure not to fill up on Chocolate Frogs." Laughing, she patted her stomach and then rubbed her hands together. "I want to see what you brought for us to eat." She was a very curious child, and she loved food.

He must like the quiet. Gwen frowned slightly, thinking. She supposed it would be hard to get quiet time to herself, but why would she want quiet time to herself? She shrugged. "I don't mind. I actually like it a lot." She was grateful for all of the drama going on around Hogwarts because it helped get rid of the quiet.

"It's always like a party at my house." Well, it used to be before they moved. "My older sister is deaf, so when she has music playing it's really loud," so she could feel the beat. Ian probably wouldn't like that too much. Though Gwen loved it. She could hear perfectly fine, so sometimes she did ask Annora to turn it down, but she loved feeling the beat vibrating her body and people everywhere. It was fun.

She splashed Ian in the face with the water and swam away quickly in case he retaliated. "You just need to get out of your books and have FUN, Ian," she grinned. He didn't seem like the kind of kid who played very often. Gwen was going to make it her personal goal to change that.

Adelaide was glad she wasn't the only one that was confused. It made her feel a bit better about not being decided. "Good to know other people are just as confused. Yeah. Flamsteed said basically the same thing." Because of course she'd already talked to her favorite professor about these things.

Addi turned to Tag when he mentioned falling. "Let's not think about that." Because falling was not good. She still worried about that during quidditch. She began to eye the tree, looking for a good branch to start with. She found one and boosted herself up. She looked over at Tag and saw he was standing now.

She wasn't the only one. Tag figured a lot of sixth and seventh years were still all trying to figure out their futures. But it was better to start earlier, in terms of getting an idea, than wait for the month before the student graduated. Preparation. "Its a good thing you talked to him. I can't imagine trying to figure all of this out without the help of some Professors. That's exactly what they're here for." To help out and educate and guide!

Right. No thoughts of falling now. Tag had never fallen before, but there was a first for everything. He nodded as he watched Addi make her way up the tree. Then, he circled the tree and found a branch that was hanging lower than the others and clung from it and scuttled his feet up the trunk of the tree and stood on the branch afterwards. "Let's not get too high up, yeah?"

Adelaide nodded. "Exactly why I went to Flamsteed. He's probably my favorite professor." For various reasons, mainly because of the very first astronomy lesson she ever attended.

Adelaide smiled at Tag as he started to climb the tree with her. "All right. But I'm used to flying around the pitch so my judgement of too high might be a bit off." That and she'd never had an issue with heights.

Tessa was content just to walk alongside Sander as they continued their 'tour'. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze, just enjoying this time with him. After all, with classes and homework, it wasn't often that they got this time any more. She hoped Sander was okay, and wished that she had some more of the dragon fire potion- that would have been nice to use on his back after her ride.

"Oh really? Do you know who won this game?" she teased, looking over to the area Sander had mentioned. "And what happened over there?" she asked, indicating another area of the grounds. She wasn't sure if anything had- but she would be curious to see what Sander came up with. She would have to start thinking of some fun stories to tell too.

"That was probably a good idea," Ana agreed as she closed her bag after double checking she'd gotten everything out of it. Satisfied that she had Ana put the bag beside her, out of the way of the food and Lux.

As she turned back to face the younger girl she couldn't stop the indulgent smile that came over her face. Lux's curiosity was endearing, she didn't even bother to remind her that patience was a virtue as she might have done with her own sister. Katya would have a field day with that if she knew.

"The smaller thermos contains a traditional Russia drink known as Sbiten. We tend to drink it in the Winter months and it's served hot, it's also honey based and quite delicious, Ana explained as she indicated the thermos she was talking about to make sure there was no confusion. "The other thermos' contain Rassolnik, which is a Russian soup. I actually made this using my Babushka's, that means grandmother, recipe. It contains pickled cucumbers and is really tasty," Ana assured Lux, also taking the opportunity to teach her another Russian word. Lux would definitely be more advanced than Bay and Tessa by the time they actually got to have their lessons.

Now that she'd explained what was in the thermos' Ana turned her attention back to the containers. "Now this is a Prague Cake," she explained as she pulled the lid off the container and revealed what was inside. "I think you'll like it because it's got a lot of chocolate. My Mamochka, a word for mum, made this and sent it to me so I thought I'd share it with you," she told the little girl, giving her a bright smile. She'd only brought two pieces of the cake with her but if Lux liked it then she'd give her some more at a later date. "And last but not least this container contains Syrniki," Ana told her as she opened the container to reveal the pancakes which she'd gotten the house elves to reheat so that they'd be warm now. "These have goats cheese in them, so if you don't like that you wont like these, but they're a traditional food and we eat them a lot, served like this they'd be a breakfast food but we also have them as a dessert," Ana explained, before leaning back and looking at Lux. She really did hope that she liked the food, especially the soup.

Sander smiled. He knew that Tessa knew that he was making stuff as they walked along but she continued to play along with the charade. She was definitely a special girl and Sander was glad that she had chosen to be his friend and most importantly, she was willing to spend her time with him.

So he continued to walk down the path with her, contented to hold her hand. When she asked who had won the hide-and-seek game he had made up, Sander laughed, "Of course Hermione. Remember she's the smart." he bumped his shoulder against hers before continuing to walk on.

Then she asked what happened over in another area of the grounds,"Over there? Well let me see. Over there is where Headmaster Dumbledore competed against Professor McGonagall in a sack race. Alas! they both ended up crashing into each other before anyone could cross the finishing line." Sander told her deadpanned.

Then as they continued to walk he pointed to a point near the castle walls. "Do you know what happened over there." he asked Tessa trying to look serious.

"I always have good idea," Lux joked as she stretched out on the blanket. She loved picnics, so she was really happy to be having one with someone as awesome as Ana. She loved the girl because she was so nice and funny.

Oh, the Russian lesson was starting.

Lux listened intently and looked at the dishes curiously as she was shown each in turn. The cucumber one in particular caught her interest, though she wanted to try each of them, the chocolate one almost as much. "You had me at cucumber." She rubbed her hands together in anticipation and thought about how delicious everything was going to taste. "I am so going to know more than Tessa and Bay at this rate."

Ana giggled at Lux's statement, liking that she was joking, and not too modest. "Of course you do. After all, this picnic was also your idea," and Ana had been looking forward to it as well. She also liked the idea of having it under the Beech Tree since that was where she'd first met Lux.

"I thought I might, it's why I chose this soup in particular," that and it was the only recipe she'd memorised. But mainly because of the Cucumber, after all she could have just asked her mother to send her some soup if she had of wanted too. "You are," Ana agreed indulgently as she leaned over to pour some Pumpkin Juice in her and Lux's glasses. She was hungry and she bet Lux was too.

Lux beamed. "I love picnics." Seemed she was not the only one if Ana thought it was a good idea. Time for them to get down to eating, and it couldn't be at a better time since she was starting to get rather hungry.

"Cucumber soup is something we should have at the school." Oooh, maybe if Ana talked to the House Elves, they could get the recipe and start serving it with lunch or even dinner! Another great idea, because she was full of them today. Taking the glass of pumpkin juice with a thank you to her friend, she raised it so that they could have a toast. "To Quidditch, Hobbits, mermaids, and Chocolate Frogs!" Because that was what life was all about.

"So do I. I haven't had one in years though," Ana admitted as she brushed some hair out of her eyes. She probably should have clipped it back but she'd had other things on her mind at the time.

"Well, lets wait on that until after you've tasted it. If you like it I'll give you more," Ana promised, glad that Lux was open to trying new things. "And Cucumber Sandwiches," Ana added, tapping her glass against Lux's before taking a sip. This was good.

Oh, well... that was a shame. At least they were having one now though! "Maybe we can have all our Russian lessons as picnics." Unless of course Ana did not want to do that, which would totally be fine as well. She was the Teacher after all.

Happily Lux toasted with her friend before taking a sip. It tasted absolutely delicious, and she had needed a drink. Placing her glass back down, she went about getting herself some of the soup. "Yummy looking Rassolnik." Look, she actually used a Russian word! Go her!

"We'll see what the weather is like. I'll probably bring food to all of them though," Ana told the younger girl. If they had picnics for all their lessons she wasn't sure how much learning would actually happen. Although having picnics for some of them certainly couldn't hurt.

"Very good Lux," Ana praised. It seemed as if the little one had a good ear. Her pronunciation wasn't perfect, but it was still better than expected, and that was what mattered. Especially considering this wasn't an actual lesson, just a lunch date. Instead of going for the soup right away Ana reached for the Syrniki, taking an eager bite. Yep. Just as good as she remembered.

Ian watched as she swam around. She was a little ball of energy, this one. I suppose I've just grown up with time to myself. Part of being an only child. But I think it would be interesting to have a brother or sister. There were problems with that, he thought to himself, because there might be less to go around, less privacy and someone touching his things.

He listened as he swam closer, just to move his legs some. His hip did feel a little better here in the water. Wow! Ian exclaimed. That must have been challenging. So she has some hearing for the music? He didn't understand why a deaf person would want music up any louder if they couldn't hear it. Where does your family live?

As he was treading water he felt the cool water splash his face and he sputtered. He shook his head and wiped his face. I think that there are things that are fun besides being outside Ian grinned. He was having fun and thought that Gwen was a nice person that seemed interested in the things he had to say, not like that silly git, Bart.

Gwen still just couldn't imagine it. She'd never been all by herself before. She had come from her wild house to Hogwarts where it felt like having a million brothers and sisters. "Do your parents take you a lot of places then?" Because Gwen's made an effort to have one on one time with each kid, but if all of that was combined into one child, he must spend a lot of his time doing fun things with his parents.

Hearing for the music? Gwen shook her head. "No, she can't hear it." How to explain this? "You know when music is really loud and you can feel it in your body? Like it vibrates the floor and you can feel it?" Did that make sense? "She turns it up loud so she can feel it." But if Ian was used to a quiet environment, maybe he'd never been in a situation where the music was loud like that, and he wouldn't understand what she meant.

And they'd gotten round to where she lived. "We used to live in New York, which is why I've got the accent, but last year we moved to London." Which was why Gwen was going to Hogwarts. As she understood it, only students in the UK got letters to Hogwarts if they were muggleborn. If they were still in New York, she'd be going to a different school. Salem Witches Academy maybe?

She shrugged, allowing him the fun statement. "Sure, I guess." Nothing that Gwen liked to do, but it was fine if he did. He should have been in Ravenclaw, they liked people who liked to read there. She shivered a little. The day was colder than she'd originally thought, and especially in the water.

Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhh. This was a nice place!!! What a lovely tree and birdhouse..... which wasn't quite a birdhouse! Brilliant!

Sophie smiled at all of the prettiness and took a deeeeep breath, taking in all of the - COLD - fresh air and watching the landscape for a bit before acknowledging the few people that were sitting nearby.

She did spot an ickle Hufflepuff talking to an ickle Ravenclaw and smiled. A bit further away there was another ickle Hufflepuf talking to...GAH! Ana. Deadpan. Sophie immediately felt uncomfortable, which annoyed her. It wasn't Ana's fault and it wasn't even about Mordred anymore. All this was what made the badger so annoyed at herself and UGH! Stupid feeling!!!!

But anyway. The seventh year took another deep breath, now to get these thoughts out of her mind, and sat down, facing the Black Lake. She had the package of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans on her lap now, but didn't eat any. Sophie stared blankly at the Lake as she... inevitably thought of things she didn't want to think about.

Mizu walked towards the big,beautiful tree and sat by it.Opening is bag he pulled out his book "The Enchantress" and began to read.He took a deep breath and sniffed the salty air.

"A perfect day for a book." whistled Mizu. He read for hours until he got hungry and looked in his bag.He had HoneyDukes,Cyrstalized pineapples, and Choclate eggs.An awful lot for just one person he thought, but dismissed the thought after he started to eat.

Andrew siiiimply had to get out of their dorm room what with the endemic aging disease that everyone else is getting. It was a good thing though that he didn’t have gray hairs, wrinkles, cracking joints…rheumatism and what not. Sure, it’s part of the life cycle but…no thanks. Maybe when he reach his 60s then he won’t worry so much, or fuss over it like a woman.

Breaaaaaaaathhhhhheeeeeeee. Ahhh. Yes. Fresh, cold, winter air. He’d rather be out in the cold than be stuck in their dorm room filled with aging students. Some even lost control of their gas emission, it was terrible and headache inducing. Toot, toot and more toot. How in Merlin’s wrinkly face will he be able to study for his NEWTs with that kind of lot...plus the tooting sound? The Library was an option, but the area is also filled with gramps and grans wearing the latest fashion trend and/or the Hogwarts uniform.

Tucking his Potions book under his arm, Andrew made his way towards the Beech tree where he thought was the perfect place to study. Eh. Wrong. Ms. Eager Beaver was already there. Zoned out. Wa-hey! Are those Bertie Bott’s?

The seventh year Slytherin silently walked towards her, looking here and there to check out if she was with anyone. Well, apparently she was alone...so…heeheehee. “YOU THERE!” Andrew bellowed mimicking a large man’s voice. Haaaaai Eager Beaver Sophie.

Hi.

That was annoying..... Sophie was not a happy camper whenever those stupid thoughts came to her mind, and she got even more annoyed at the fact she couldn't help but feeling... uneasy. She did know Mordred loved her more, of course, but she couldn't help but think that that girl was prettier than her. Sad times. Sigh-- O___O

Before she could actually fully let out the sigh, a LOUD voice BELLOWED something out of NOWHERE!! Wut! It sure did startle her, alright! And she turned around looking for the source of such loudness only to see... "Oh, hi, Andrew!" She smiled, realising it was only the crazy Slytherin. "I thought you were quiet!" The brunette chuckled, sitting straighter and adjusting the box of Bertie Bott's on her lap.

Blink. Berti Bott's. Random Slytherin. Charms. Huh! That could work! Though Sophie did feel slightly bad for not being able to tell him that those were enchanted beans. But oh well, all for the greater good of testing out a more advanced version of the Charm they learned in class!!

SDKFJSNFJKSNFJDSNFJSF She was EXCITED again all of a sudden!

"What exactly are you doing out here in such a weather??" She asked curiously, but there was a bright smile on her face now. All the thoughts of Ana and her silly prettiness had vanished from her mind and all she could think of at the moment was that awesome spell she had just cast on those beans. EXCITINGGGG!!

Sophie looked down at the package of Bertie Bott's and shook it a bit so that all of the beans moved around. "How colourful are they??" She beamed, looking back up at Andrew. They were indeed so prettehh!!! "Would you like some?" And she held out the box for him to help himself, if he wanted. She wouldn't force it if he didn't accept, though, because she would eventually find someone to eat some of the beans if Andrew didn't feel like it.

Awww, Lux had thought that picnics during all lessons would be fun. "Probably for the best, besides we don't want Bay weighing a million pounds because of eating too much." She laughed. Her friend sure loved eating. Though she could not complain, because she did too!

Lux beamed and took a silly little bow as she was praised for saying the right word. Well, even if she probably butchered the pronunciation, at least she had been paying attention to what Ana had been telling her. Hmmm. She would have to make sure that she worked really hard between lessons to make sure that she remained on her game.

Curiously, she tried a spoonful of the soup. Oooh, she did like it! "This is very nice. I've never had soup like this before."

"Probably not. It would be amusing though," Ana said, laughing at the mental image she got of Bay. She'd never feed them all that much food though, even if Ana herself had a normally hearty appetite. "Besides, I'm sure we can rely on his parents health food during the holiday's to ensure that he stays slim." Although since Ana was planning on giving him lots of sweets for Christmas if he could make them last then he'd at least have a few nice things to offset the gross healthy stuff.

Ana gave Lux an amused smile at her little bow. She was definitely playful, which Ana liked. It made Lux more interesting to be around she mused as she finished off her Syrniki and took a sip of juice to wash it down. Ana reached for a Cucumber Sandwich next, and took a bite. Yep. Delicious.

"Well, I'm glad you like it, I'll have to find you more similar soups to try," since soup was amazing and Ana thought you could tell a lot about a culture by their food.