FRESH AIR.

Well, kind of. Jun finally made it outside and what a relief if was. Sure, he finally ate at the feast but that place gets crammed so fast. And then to wait for everyone to get out was even worse. The tie-boy walked along the bridge, happy that there weren't much people on it yet. With some candy in his pocket, he was just enjoying the view. Jun preferred school to being at home. He had magical friends here that could cause a bit of mayhem with him. That was always fun. Upon reaching further onto the bridge, Jun saw a gazebo, which he doesn't remember last term. The new groundskeeper must've built it. He had skills. Walking towards it, he popped a candy piece into his mouth. Maybe this gazebo can be a place him and Lex could meet for candy dates. But then too many people would be around.

Ugh.

Melek wandered the grounds at Hogwarts, trying to discover new places and how to get to some places. She came across the wooden covered bridge and decided to go across it. Mel looked around the side she was on before starting on it. Melek tested it a little bit since it didnt seem so sturdy but then, why would they be allowed on it if it wasnt sturdy so she started on her way but then paused after a few steps in and looked out then continued on her way. Mel made it to the other side of the bridge and wanted to sit down so she looked around for a place to sit. A smile came to her face as she saw the gazebo. Melek skipped over to it and sat down on one of the benches, pulling her legs up. Mel pulled her coat closer together and took out her journal, quill and ink. She dipped the quill in and opened her journal. She started to write. Melek tilted her head to look at the words that was starting to pour across the page from her writing. A few strands of hair fell from her messy ponytail into her face. Mel gave the few strands a blow but they didnt budge so she sighed and tried to ignore them as they tickled her nose. Eventually they got annoying so, she swiped her hand with the quill in it across her face, pushing the hair back. Melek didnt notice, however, that she had gotten ink on her forehead by doing it though. Mel went back to writing in her journal, cluelessly.

PRETTY. The grounds were just so pretty.

Delilah smiled to herself as stood on top of a wooden bridge, snuggling Lola in her arms. The view.. She pushed a few strands of her blonde hair away from her face. Wasn't it beautiful, Lola?

She slowly walked along the bridge, unable to tear her blueish-grey eyes away from the greenery. After a while, she found herself at a small gazebo.. Wow. A gazebo in the middle of the grounds. She bent down to let her kitty run around for a while before she walked into it.. and spotted someone already there.

GRIN. "Hey."

Jun sat on the ground, taking in his fourth piece of candy? He lost count after the third, maybe. Either way, he was barely getting started. Jun finally decided to just have a lollipop and let it melt with time. He also had Aleks' letter on him, which still needed to be read. Taking that out, he smoothed out the letter and began to read it. I need to figure things out first. Jun snorted and kept reading. He'll have to show Lottie later but he was sure she would just say 'I told you so'. Half way through, he heard people around and someone greeting him.

Was it even to him?

Jun looked up and gave the girl a nod. "Hey. Enjoying school so far?" he asked, looking back at the letter and away from the girl.

RUDE. Delilah slightly narrowed her eyes at the boy. She had greeted him politely but he said something and turned away? And he didn't even smile. Pfffft fine. "Yeah, I am. Are you?" The girl said stiffly before looking around for Lola. Where was she!?

... Oh, look. There she was, near the entrance to the Gazebo. Delilah picked her kitty pick up before making her back inside and sat down. She might as well spend some time here before returning back to the castle. She liked this place. Mhm.

It was time to finally explore the outside world of Hogwarts..the Grounds! Although he knew that the grounds was supposed to be beautiful or whatever his parents had told him, he did not like it he had to climb down alllll the way from the Gryffindor TOWER to walk here. He didn't like exercising and now he had to climb so many staircases that it made him regret being a Gryffindor at the moment. If he had KNOWN their common room was in one of the highest places he would have asked the sorting hat to put him in...oh he didnt know...Ravenclaw or something...at least THEY didn't have a tower..right? Or did they?

As he stood there, watching a unsafe looking bridge , Kevin wasn't sure if it was safe or if it would fall apart the moment he stepped on it but after seeing a couple of students on the bridge and knowing that the professors wouldn't hurt their students...EXCEPT-THEY-TOTALLY-WOULD-EYES-FOR-YOU- PROFESSOR-WHO-WAS-ON-THE-TRAIN! ...He decided to walk over the bridge.

He walked by Jun who was talking to a girl which made Kevin wiggle his eyebrows at him before he walked further until he found someone who was sitting down, writing something in a journal.

Curious as he was, the Gryffindor stood behind her "Whatcha writing?" he asked and craned his neck to see what she was writing. "Are you already doing homework?! classes haven't even started yet!"

Jun nodded. "So far, classes haven't started, most people are still inside meeting in each other. So far, so good," And it was true. Everyone loved coming out to the grounds. Especially the lake. It was where most people crowded about and whatnot. But not for Jun. If there was one place in the grounds he didn't go, it would be the lake. That place was just a big no for him. But as Jun put away the letter in his hand, he eyed the girl when she picked up a small kitten and sat down. Ugh cats.

"I'm Jun, by the way," And maybe that's all the girl needed to know. No need to tell her that he didn't like cats or anything else. That would be too rude. Pfft. "Fifth year Ravenclaw," Mhm, that should be included too.

Fall was Cosgrach's favourite season, because it wasn't cold enough to make him reluctant to go outside, and but it still stung enough to remind him he was alive. He also liked it how people associated the season with 'seperation' and 'heart break'. He had wrapped himself in his black muggle coat and was strolling on the grounds absent-mindedly. The grounds had changed drastically since his time.

...like this bridge. Had it been here? Was that the reason it looked so old? Cosgrach clearly hesitated before stepping on it like that small kid, but there were already a few people there. In any case, he had his wand, hadn't he? He could manage this.

Following the kid without any set intention, Cosgrach wasn't paying attention to anyone really until he saw the kid craning his neck to peek at the girl's notebook. He hesitated because he would have done the same, but he was a professor. What if the kid turned out to be a complete bully to her? Better avoid it before he even thought about it.

"Don't you know it's rude to peek at a girl's notebook?" he called out to him from the other end of the bridge as if it was a mile wide. He wasn't aggressive, though. He was just telling him what was right.

Caterina might have been moping about the loss of the duck pond. Actually, she definitely was, but she had good reasons, right? The ducks were gone now, obviously, since their pond as also gone. It had also been sort of her and Mo's place to go together, and now it was just gone.

Such a sad face she had.

She'd wandered around for a while before she found the cool gazebo. Cat sort of figured that they could make this a good place, right? There were no ducks to feed or name, but they still had the same company in each other. Decidedly, Cat had left Mo a note to meet her here, and it looked as if now, she was the first to arrive. Placing her bag on the seat, she laid down and propped her head on it. Perhaps a nice nap until the boy arrived.

West was leaning on the railing looking out over the grounds. It was nice to be back. The tall Slytherin liked it here, at Hogwarts in general not the bridge specifically, though he liked that too obviously. He was just getting some fresh air and thinking about all the things. Quidditch tryouts took up a huge chunk of his thoughts, but also Alice things, and Dead Kneazles things. Busy mind. This wasn't one of those not-thinking moments, and the bridge was a good place for introspection.

The sixteen year old took hold of his ring which he now wore on a chain around his neck rather than on his finger, and stared out at the view.

Sad-faced girlfriend was not something that Mo wanted to see so early in their sixth year, and he really ought to do something about that. Immediately. The trouble was that he hadn't been expecting to see a sad-faced girlfriend, and so Mo didn't have any current plans to alleviate her unhappiness.

Mo sat on the bench beside Cat and peered down at her, upside down. "Hey. Hey, Cupcake. Aren't you pleased to be back at Hogwarts? Is it really so bad here?" He tapped the tip of her nose and grinned at her.

"The ducks are all gone away." Cat said without even bothering to open her eyes. It was a sad day when there were no ducks around. A sad day indeed. She did open her eyes then and she smiled at the upside down boyfriend that she saw. See? She wasn't ALL sad, just sad about ducks. She missed them.

"Besides that, I am pleased." She climbed up again and sat in front of Mo, facing him and crossing her legs. She blew a kiss at him. "Hi."

Hogwarts felt different. Something had changed since she'd last been here and it took Bliss far too long to realise that thing, was her. Obviously she was going to have changed. Two years away was bound to affect a person in some way or another. Deciding that she needed to clear her head, Bliss walked. Walked out of the castle. Away for the people - some that she recognised (and they mostly ignored her) and some that she didn't. Before long, she reached a peaceful area and a bridge. And ...

West.

West was on the bridge.

She knew the back of his head anywhere. Without even thinking about it, she sped up her walk towards him, not shy or nervous, just with a faint sensation of butterflies and excitement. Of all the people she'd been friends with in her years at Hogwarts, when she'd moved to France, West had been the only one she'd kept in contact with properly. She'd lost a lot of friends, but at least she still had one. And finally, she was seeing him again. Just before she reached him, though, she slowed down and approached him silently, without him noticing. Then, after a pause to collect her thoughts, she grinned and said, "fancy seeing you here," coming to stand right beside him.

It seems the grounds change every year even more than the teachers do. No more duck pond or even the tree house. Though that might no have been there last term. But Nigel did not really notice or even care to remember.

Nigel wandered around for a bit and mistakenly came upon this gazebo thing. Was this new or something? It was pretty cool.

Now what was he suppose to be doing?

Melek jumped at the voice and she glared at the boy as he tried to see what she had been writing. "It is none of your business what I am writing. No I am not doing homework and even if I was it is none of your concern. It doesnt matter if classes has or hasnt started. I could be doing some research or studying. I am in Ravenclaw after all." Mel huffed and glared at the boy, closing her journal and putting it away before turning and giving the boy a full on glare. She crossed her arms, "I would advise you not to try to look at girls' journals because you could get in trouble if you do." Melek was about to storm away when the professor called over to the boy, asking if he knew it was rude to peek at a girl's notebook. A smile came to her face at the professor calling him on it and then looked at the boy again, "See even the professor says it is rude." Melek was truly mad at the boy for trying to peek then looked at her journal again to see if closing it had smudged the ink. A smile came to her face when she saw that it was all fine before putting it back in her bag again.

Sounded like Bliss.

West was in his own thoughts entirely, and it wasn't even as if he expected anyone to talk to him, so that when he heard a voice he thought it was maybe someone talking to someone else nearby since there were a few people floating around and all.

Except that it sounded like Bliss, so he glanced with vague curiosity toward the voice.

The voice coming from the girl at his shoulder.

The girl at his shoulder that was Bliss.

Bliss his ex-girlfriend.

Bliss who he still missed all the time because he'd never stopped considering her a friend.

He blinked at her. Taller her. Definitely taller. Actually LESS than a foot between them which was kind of amazing.

Why was he thinking about her height?

A beaming smile broke over his face and West scooped her UP and spun her around.

"You're BACK! For real? Is this real? You really ARE back right? I'm not imagining thin-- not that I think I'd hallucinate you or anything bu-- you're back right? Hah!" He put her back down and kept on beaming.

"We can make our own ducks. For now. And maybe the new Groundskeeper guy will bring back the ones who lived here before." He was willing to pause long enough to catch her kiss, but then Mo was digging through his bag.

Camera, white balance filter, collapsible tripod, two books, spare quill, regular quill... parchment. Mo pulled out the length and ripped off the last six inches or so.

"I'm pleased too. How's the dungeon? I made a sandwich and thought of you. Sweet, right? I'm the sweetest."

Most times, Alice didn't wander around without reason. There was usually a specific goal in the Gryffindor's mind, and today it was exploring that new gazebo thing near the end of the wooden bridge.

And on her way over there, she might have passed a giant sticklike figure scooping up a tiny blonde and essentially being disgusting. What was with people and public displays of affection these days? If there was anything different about that particular pair, though, she didn't notice. Just another one of those couples being gross, right? Right.

"Hey Nigel." Was he poking around here, too?

"You know you could do that with your hands." Cat brought both of her hands together and tried to contort them into something that would resemble a duck. "Like shadow puppets." She wiggled her fingers at Mo, "Quack." See? It was easy. She still preferred real ducks, though. "I wonder if they could live in the lake, or would the squid eat them?" Hmm.

Cat leaned forward and glanced into Mo's bag as he dug through it. What was he looking for? "We could order some rubber ducks." She added, thoughtfully. Though, that wasn't the same either. "The dungeon is dungeon-y. We had a party. I made food. I thought of you. I'm sweet too." Cat beamed and wiggled her eyebrows. Totally sweet. "But yes, you're definitely the sweetest. Was it a good sandwich?"

That was a very necessary question.

As soon as he spotted her, Bliss was in his arms and was ... being spun around? Wow. She liked this reaction to seeing her. "HI WEST! West. West. West. West. West," she repeated, tucking her head into his neck as he spun her around, just appreciating the moment. Home. She felt a little more at home at Hogwarts already.

She beamed - possibly for the first time in ages - and made the beam WIDE.

"You have no idea just how much I've missed you, West. I'm back. For real and for .. forever, I guess," she explained, her eyes crinkled as she smiled at the thought. "Business wasn't great for my mum at the bakery. And because we don't have nanny any more, we have no reason to stay in France." That wasn't all there was to it - Bliss had involved a lot of begging - but, now she was back.

Wait, what? Imagining things?

He'd missed that THAT much? That only made Bliss smiled wider and a voice in her head prodded her, telling her that he wasn't the only one who'd imagined this moment again and again. "I'm back," she said, finally and left it at that. No need to dwell of the fact that he'd imagined her coming back. He wanted her back at Hogwarts.

Well, he had it.

Once last thing. "Have you gotten smaller?" she asked teasingly and beamed once more.

"That is still my name, yes." Grin. This was SO EXCITING. "That's the best news I've heard in ages.. well not about your mum's business, but that you're HERE and not THERE." Yes. West had always been someone that valued his friends, and he and Bliss had been closer than most, partly because of what happened with her dad and him being there for her through it. She was a good understander too. Someone who he rarely had to explain himself to. So that was always appreciated. Someone he could count on.

"Sma... no I've grown about three inches since I last saw you... but I see you've done more than that." Lookit. She was normal height! Still a titch of a thing and itty bitty to him but she grew! No more step stools for Bliss Ryans!

"Have you seen anyone yet?" Yes? No? He knew that there might be a bit of shock and apprehension at her being back, but overall people would be happy right? "There's tons of new people for you to meet." TONS. "I can introduce you." Yes for sure. "How are your family?"

Ahhh this was the best! He was almost bouncing like a little kid again.

Nigel had begun noticing that it was not just him here. But he was not interested enough to be poking around. So when someone said his name. He was a little surprised. Nigel turned around and saw it was Alice.

Maybe she was just coming to see this Gazebo thing. Positive Thinking. Never doubt the power of positive thinking

"Hey Alice. What brings you to this Gazebo thing?"

Now time to think of puns.

"Glad to know that it hasn't changed, I'm rather fond of West," she said and poked her tongue out at him. "It is?" His life must've gotten pretty boring, if that was the most exciting thing to have happened to him in a while. That, or he really, really had missed a lot. She did hope that the latter was true. "There sucked. Here is ... taking some getting used to again, but, here has a you!" And that made it alright. One friend here, was better than no friends there. Besides, she did have more friends here. They just had two years of catching up to do.

Bliss BEAMED. "Yes. I'm all tall and stuff now." West now had less than a foot on her and she was taller than most of the people that she'd passed in the corridors. "I'm five foot seven, to be exact. I had .. a lot of growth spurts, just like my Dad predicted," she said, smiling a sad little smile. Her father had been gigantic - West tall - and had said that one day she'd shoot up in height, too.

"Yes. Wait, no. Not really. I haven't wanted to talk to anyone, in case ... well, you know," she shrugged. Did he really know, though? Was he aware of the terrible state she'd left everything in when she'd moved to France? New people. Sounded good. "Please do."

Family. "Oh. Well, Tia decided to stay in education in France. Sarah, Mark and Dylan are all doing well. Really well. They're all glad to be back." BEAM. "Mum, however .. I'm not so sure. She's really broken - over everything. Losing dad and her mum, it really damaged her." Deciding she'd rather not talk about that, she shook her head and looked West in the eye. "So, how are YOU?" That's all that mattered to her right at that moment. Him.

Mo deftly folded as he talked... and managed to peek up at Cat and toss her occasional charming smiles to let her know he was aware she was there and summer!pretty and his. Hi, girlfriend. "Shadow puppet ducks are good, and rubber ducks are a perfect idea. I bet we could even animate them and leave them here to quack at whoever comes by later."

That would be dead amusing, really. "But for now, an origami swan. For you." He offered the parchment swan to Cat on the palm of his hand. "A party? Already? Is that how Tillstorm intends to continue, because I don't think Slytherin devotion can be bought off with food. Or can it?" Because he needed to know for reasons.

"Excellent sandwich. You want me to tell you about it?"