The Prefect absentmindedly rubbed his eyes as he gave her a small nod. "I-uh-really appreciate it, Lux." The study buddy bit. 'Sides after going at these books alone for so long, he was about to pass out. From boredom of course, nothing to run to the healer about. And quite frankly, he never wanted to have to run to the healer. She was a very scary woman who really hated Gryffindor. Apparently. Anyways, as he stretched a bit, he gave her a slight smile, "OWLs are going to be the death of me, Lux."

Why was he smiling exactly? Because at this point it felt nicer to laugh at his own misery rather than stay upset about it. If they kicked him out of Hogwarts on account of failing grades, maybe he could go to clown school or something? ... Did they have those?

"Oh, if you go do that.. You should let me know, I might tag along." Herbology was one of the best, honestly. Straight forward. Hands on. No ridiculous spells other than the easy to say standard ones. Really it was a beautiful subject. "'Sides, I haven't really spoken to Professor Millard yet... Other than lessons, of course." Which was rather strange actually come to think of it. Zander sort of had a record for Herbology Professors? Like with Beautiful Bentley and then there was Wicked Walton. And now... Now it was just plain ol' Professor Millard. Not that the guy was plain or old.... Zander barely even knew the man!!-- And that's what he was talking about. He didn't even know the guy. WHAT WAS THIS WORLD?!

This male bonding thing was going GREAT. They agreed about things!!!!

Zeke was momentarilly lost in thought, thinking of all the things they were missing out on in class. Like... THIS. Yeah, much better than making clothes or changing ones eyebrow colour.

He snapped back to reality at Ben's invitation. "Yeah?" Yeah. YEAH! "Sounds better than what I was doing before," which was unsuccessful cramming Astronomy into his brain. Yep. WEEE! SPELL WORK! "Where should we go?" he asked, already rising from his chair and putting his things together. He was more than happy to follow Ben's lead. His senior Gryffindor was already showing more promise in teaching him things than some of the Professors had. Awesome.

Janelle had come to the library to do some homework and some reading. She found a nice comfy chair and sat down. Maybe this was not the best place to sit. She didn't want to get too comfortable here. Once again, she was surprised to see a cat wandering around. How it got past Mr. Kitridge, she could not imagine. She decided just to watch him and took out her quill and parchment to make notes.

Apparantly this cat was not going to give her much to work with. He found a nice spot under a table, laid down and curled into a ball. Janelle kept watching, but it seemed that the cat had settled in for a long nap. He seemed to be a regular and Janelle wondered if there was a whole colony of cats who hid out in the library, unbeknownst to the librarian. She'd have to keep an eye out for more of them. In the meantime, she finished writing her notes so she could tackle her other homework.

So that cat followed her all the way to the library. Good now she could finish this assignment and get it turned in. She quietly flopped down in a seat in the study area. The cat jumped up on the table in front of her. She watched it closely for anything that would predict something.

But all the cat was doing was staring at her. Just starting. "What?" She eyed the cat. Should she pet it her put her hand out to the cat to pet it. She petted it for like a millisecond before it jumped down and sat in the floor to wash its paw. She kept an eye on what the cat was doing exactly. Since there were so many things that a cat washing could mean.



So it seem like the only thing this cat was going to do was wash it's paw so.... Someone was upset with her? Surprise! Not. Cat do something different jump in the air or turn around.

Or leave.

Yeah. Bye to you too. Well on the bright side she was finished with this assignment and only had to do turn it in. Then go snuggle up with her lazy cat because she was tired.

SPOILER!!: Zeke

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hera

This male bonding thing was going GREAT. They agreed about things!!!!

Zeke was momentarilly lost in thought, thinking of all the things they were missing out on in class. Like... THIS. Yeah, much better than making clothes or changing ones eyebrow colour.

He snapped back to reality at Ben's invitation. "Yeah?" Yeah. YEAH! "Sounds better than what I was doing before," which was unsuccessful cramming Astronomy into his brain. Yep. WEEE! SPELL WORK! "Where should we go?" he asked, already rising from his chair and putting his things together. He was more than happy to follow Ben's lead. His senior Gryffindor was already showing more promise in teaching him things than some of the Professors had. Awesome.

Ben almost chuckled as Zeke looked lost in thought, taking a few moments to react to his question. Not that the boy was in a rush, but he wasn't going to make a move until he got an answer of some sort. If positive, they would be off...if negative, he'd save it for later and see about something else. He couldn't help but give a small smile when it was the former. Great! Testing out a new spell and having a partner in crime to do so.

Surely Adi wouldn't be jealous of Zeke.

"I think the Great Hall," he offered, getting up to his own feet. "There should be stuff we might need there." Slipping a spare bit of parchment into the transfiguration book to mark their place he was ready to go and with a quick glance towards the younger lion, it was clear Zeke was ready as well.

So they were off.

They were men on a mission!

...

This was going to be all sorts of awesome.

"Great Hall sounds awesome," he agreed, though his mind was mostly on food in saying so, but heeeeeeyyyy ... people got hungry when they worked hard, so it made sense. Right?

Yeaaaahhh..

Anyways, instead of dawdling, Zeke promptly followed Ben out of the library in pursuit of knowledge, learning and food, with new fish friends.

Awww, look at Zander being all cute. He needed to stop that, because Lux had found him adorable from way back when they were Third Years. Of course it had always been in the way of a cute puppy because she would never have a crush on anyone when she was in love with her Lion. "It's what friends are for!" she said as she patted him on the back. "We shall get through these exams, and if we die we can haunt Hogwarts together." Hopefully he would get that she was joking because there was no way they would die from the exams. Gosh, she was being so silly today. At least Zander was smiling too!

"I will definitely let you know!" It would be a lot better having someone come along with her for company even though she didn't mind going on her own either; Millard wasn't scary like Bellaire. There was no way that Lux ever wanted to be alone with Bellaire under any circumstances. "He seems like a really sweet man, doesn't he?" The excitement over plants was rather adorable, and he seemed really friendly.

"Woof Woof"

The dog in the portrait started wagging it's tail and getting excited. Why was it so energetic today.

"Woof Woof"



"Shhhh the students are trying to study." Giffard Abott had been standing next to his dog as he always did watching the students studying. "I do apologize for him. He's just been getting more excited to see people around the library lately." He smiled towards the students that were there. "What are you studying?" Maybe he could help in some way, it had been awhile since he felt up to helping.

O______o Okay. He wasn't actually dying, Lux. Also not going to come back as a ghost thank you very much. "Uh, I might have to pass on the haunting bit," he crinkled his nose just at the very thought. "So maybe dying on account of OWLs isn't really an option at all... I need to study MORE Lux!!" He gave her a crazed sort of look as he stuck his head back into the book he had been looking at earlier.

"Professor Millard?" A nice man...? Actually Zander hadn't really interacted with him at all.... But he wasn't horrible during lessons. Soo... "I-yeah, I suppose so," still had his head stuck in the book by the way. Not that it was really helping or anything. Maybe he could just diffuse the information into his head or something? Though he kept his head in his book, he did look up at the sound of barking... Wait. Barking???

Portrait!?

Since when did that get here?? Was that always here? Merlin. Maybe he did need to start visiting this place more often after all. Just goes to show how much he knew about the library before Fifth Year hit. Oops? "Oh, uh, it's okay.." Not like he was getting anything productive done after all. "Bet loads of people are coming in now, on account of OWLs and stuff," the Fifth Year class was HUGE. It was a fact. As for what he was studying... Uh.... Well... It was us... Wait a minute. What book was he staring at again? "Oh, uh, Ancient Runes?" Yup. That one. "Except it sounds a whole lot more like chinese to me," he gave a weak smile-- though really he wasn't smiling about it on the inside because studying was gross-- and looked over at Lux a bit too.

As the second year made her way around the area she found herself a very comfortable chair. Settling herself down in it and curling her legs up under herself she reached over pulling a few books out of her back pack.

Quietly shuffling through the pile of books she found the one she wanted and silently thanked her father for sending them. Leaning back into her seat and propping her head up on her hand, elbow resting on the arm rest, book placed on the arm rest as well she cracked open the cover. Time to get to learning.

Hopefully this book would teach her some simple healing spells so when she hurt herself again and she knew that she would she'd be able to take care of it. Relying on others was something Hady wasn't to fond of so learning something like a healing spell would be very useful for her.

Within moments she was so engrossed in the book she didn't notice anyone or anything else around her. Thankfully no one appeared to want her attention anyway.

"Oh yes it is that time of year isn't it." Sadly has a portrait he could never really tell the time of year it was. The room always looked the same and the window was hard to see from where he was positioned. The students were in the same style robes, so he got lost when it came to the month and even the day. Gifford looked around as he watched the other students studying. "Ancient Runes, very interesting things to read for that subject. Many students have shown me their lessons in the past." He always enjoyed when students shared what they were learning.

Wagging it's tail the dog watched it's owner and the children. He wanted to bark again and jump around the portrait but looking up he knew he shouldn't, he was told no.


See another student sitting down near, Gifford gave a nod in her direction, but realized she was busy studying so she wouldn't have noticed. It was always so nice to see students doing their work and trying their best. He always liked when they came to the library. He wondered what it was she was reading, but decided to not comment. He didn't want to scare her if she didn't know he was there.

Quote:

See another student sitting down near, Gifford gave a nod in her direction, but realized she was busy studying so she wouldn't have noticed. It was always so nice to see students doing their work and trying their best. He always liked when they came to the library. He wondered what it was she was reading, but decided to not comment. He didn't want to scare her if she didn't know he was there.

During her reading of the book set on the arm rest before her Hady just barely made out a small nod of someones head directed at her. Or well she had thought that's what it was. Lifting her head slightly to be able to get a better look she noticed the portrait or Gifford and smiled politely.

"Oh, hello there!" She greeted warmly keeping her voice quiet so as not to disturb anyone around her yet loud enough for the portrait to hear her. It only took a second for her to notice the dog there as well and she gave it a little wave in greeting as well, Hady liked animals.

The human waved at him. "Bark Bark" This was exciting. The dog wagged it's tail and jumped around the portrait. "Bark Bark"

"Shhh, this is a library." He tried to shush his dog. "Sit" He pat the dog on the head trying to calm him. "Hello, I'm sorry about him. He gets excited when people pay a little attention to us. " Glancing at her books again he gave a kind smile, "What are you studying?"

Quote:

The human waved at him. "Bark Bark" This was exciting. The dog wagged it's tail and jumped around the portrait. "Bark Bark"

"Shhh, this is a library." He tried to shush his dog. "Sit" He pat the dog on the head trying to calm him. "Hello, I'm sorry about him. He gets excited when people pay a little attention to us. " Glancing at her books again he gave a kind smile, "What are you studying?"

The brunette giggled at the dog happily. She loved dogs and wanted one back home but her mother was allergic really badly. Plus she didn't think her other pets would get along well with a dog.

"That's alright I like dogs, does he have a name?" She asked in a small whisper so as not to disturb anyone around them adding a second later, "I'm Hady by the way." Yup gotta give her name so they knew who she was.

Studying? Oh, oh the book on the arm rest she was reading. "This?" She pointed to her book. "Well I'm not really studying exactly more like just reading and attempting to learn. It's a book on healing charms...I asked my father to send it to me. I want to learn a few charms to heal myself or others rather then always go to the healer." Not that she minded going to the healer and all if she needed to but she'd much rather handle things on her own.

Wagging his tail the dog looked up at his owner and sat down. He knew how to be calm, he could show he was a good dog. Though he wanted to bark when the little girl asked about him.

Gifford patted the dog to show he was a good boy for not barking anymore before looking up at the girl. "His name is Jabber" Patting the dogs head again, "He's a good dog, just likes the attention." They had been in the portrait together for many years, though Jabber did like to run around other portraits daily. Hmm that was interesting, "A young healer in training perhaps? Is the healer really busy?" He didn't get much conversation from students needing to study, so he wasn't sure if there were many sick students. Something that didn't come up in his conversation with portrait friends either.

At this time last term, Eden had begun studying for her OWLs already. However. This term, she was...free to pursue other studies. Right now, it was snidgets. She knew they were birds...she did. She'd read about them before. But since she was applying for an INTERNSHIP at one a sanctuary for the birds..well..she wanted to become a 'sorta' expert on them. If not to impress the people in charge, then to KNOW HOW TO TAKE CARE OF THE DEARS.

She had two books open, and she was chewing gum. A big no-no. The gum part, not the two books part--but Eden was always a ....rebel was probably too strong of a word. But she get switching back and forth from book to book. Both were...fascinating. One had lots of pictures. The other had...tiny print. Pros and cons, mate.

The brunette tied her hair back into a tight pony-tail so it would quit bothering while she read. She blew a bubble, instantly freezing----oops. Had anyone HEARD THAT? She hoped not. She just kind of...sunk down in her chair, her cheeks red, and pretended not to exist.

She was normally good at that.

Quote:

Wagging his tail the dog looked up at his owner and sat down. He knew how to be calm, he could show he was a good dog. Though he wanted to bark when the little girl asked about him.

Gifford patted the dog to show he was a good boy for not barking anymore before looking up at the girl. "His name is Jabber" Patting the dogs head again, "He's a good dog, just likes the attention." They had been in the portrait together for many years, though Jabber did like to run around other portraits daily. Hmm that was interesting, "A young healer in training perhaps? Is the healer really busy?" He didn't get much conversation from students needing to study, so he wasn't sure if there were many sick students. Something that didn't come up in his conversation with portrait friends either.

Awe look the doggy listened rather well just sitting there with his tail wagging how it was. Really really cute, he made Hady want a puppy even more now. Oh and his name was really cute too! Eep!

Giggling Hady smiled at the doggy. "Well hello there Jabber it's nice to meet such a good pup like yourself." She complimented him turning her attention to Gifford after a moment. "He seems really sweet and playful, I've always wanted a dog but we can't have one since my moms really badly allergic to dogs." Sad but true. There was probably a magical way to help with that though right? Maybe she could look into that soon.

"I haven't really decided yet to be honest but maybe. That or something with animals...I like animals a lot", she answered truthfully. Maybe she could heal animals? That would be cool and helpful. "Erm I really don't know if the healers been all that busy honestly but I like to do things for myself usually. So knowing how to heal myself would come in handy I think."

Thornton was looking for that book. The one that he and Paige had found the year before, with the advice and the quizzes and the insistence on carrying breath mints. Because, he hoped, as he scanned the shelves, that it would have some insight into.. this. Paris had only been a little helpful and Thornton was not at all satisfied that he understood his own feelings. Chewing thoughtfully on his lip, he considered going to find Paige and asking her to help him locate the book.

But then she would ask why he wanted it, with that inquisitive head tilt and squint that she did. And he did not want to tell her. Nope.

Resigning himself to a failed search, the second year sighed loudly as he left the shelving areas, stopping suddenly and looking around to make sure he hadn't disturbed anyone. Which was the only reason he noticed Eden McGee and her bubble at the study tables.

Eden McGee. Eagle Comrade. Perfect.

Thornton approached a little hesitantly and stood just to the side of her table. "Eden?" he whispered to get her attention. "Can I... can I sit with you?"

One step at a time.

This was a very interesting young lady and Gifford was glad to have met her. "Well thank you and Jabber thanks you too." Sad though that she couldn't have a dog, "Dogs are the best pet, very loyal and helpful. Has your mother ever thought of a potion that will take care of the allergy?" He remembered learning one once, though he couldn't recall the name at this time.

"Working with animals could be fun. Healing is a very important job even if you are doing it with animals. It takes hard work to become a healer so finding yourself in the library is a very good start." He thought a moment about who the healer was now, did he remember? He hadn't heard about it changing so he figured the same one, "She was a Slytherin if my memory recalls. Maybe you could shadow her and see if you really would like Healing." That was always a good way to find out, first hand experience.

Eden was content to chew her gum the entire time she was here. No cares or concerns. Plus, Snidgets were SUPER fascinating, right? They weren't as cools as snakes--or even some lizards? But still pretty cool. They KIND of reminded Eden of a glorified humming bird. Hmph.

She didn't even look up from her book when she heard the little voice. It was Thornton, she knew. No need to make sure. She scanned the sentence she was on in her reading(in the book on the left) and clicked her tongue a bit. "Thornton--" she suddenly looked up, her blue eyes wide. "Did you KNOW--that snidgets can fly FASTER than hummingbirds--and hummingbirds already go FIFTY MILES PER HOUR? And they fly so fast that we only have a FEW recorded instances of their speed?!" she said, looking QUITE impressed. "I'm not sure how fast the wings can flap--but I dunno'--I think a hummingbird might win THAT. But the snidget is still FASTER--" so she was rambling to poor Thornton Baines.

Oh well. He was a Ravenclaw and wouldn't mind....???

She was also still chewing her gum.

"Yeah--sit--whatever you waaaant--" she kicked the chair across from her out so he could sit. She felt so BRUTISH around Thorn because he such a proper little guy, but Eden was Irish, and felt pretty brutish around lots of these British folk.

Quote:

This was a very interesting young lady and Gifford was glad to have met her. "Well thank you and Jabber thanks you too." Sad though that she couldn't have a dog, "Dogs are the best pet, very loyal and helpful. Has your mother ever thought of a potion that will take care of the allergy?" He remembered learning one once, though he couldn't recall the name at this time.

"Working with animals could be fun. Healing is a very important job even if you are doing it with animals. It takes hard work to become a healer so finding yourself in the library is a very good start." He thought a moment about who the healer was now, did he remember? He hadn't heard about it changing so he figured the same one, "She was a Slytherin if my memory recalls. Maybe you could shadow her and see if you really would like Healing." That was always a good way to find out, first hand experience.

Hady offered a smile. "You're both welcome. I don't think my parents would want a puppy though because I wouldn't be home much to care for it, plus we have other pets as well." She explained. Seeing as she's the one wanting the animals it's up to her to care for them. At least with a cat and owl she could bring them to the castle with her, not a puppy though. Ah so there was a potion that could help! "I'm not sure. She never really said if she'd take a potion or not."

"I think being an animal healer would be really cool. I'd get to travel around and care for different creatures." Yeah this totally sounded like a plan to her. The more she spoke to Gifford about it the more she liked the idea and became interested. "Oh that would be awesome! I wonder if she'd let me do that...maybe I can ask her about it." Hady grinned happily at this suggestion. She hadn't thought of that before but shadowing the school healer. It would be a very good start in the right direct that's for sure.

Thornton nodded politely, not at all sure whether he had known that before or not. He supposed it might have been in something he'd read but he was more than a little distracted recently. Between the near constant cello practice to perfect that audition piece and now his weekly Saturday morning painting plans with Maddie, he was barely managing his homework load. Extracurricular reading was... no longer on the table.

"That's really fast," he offered, sliding into the chair she'd kicked out. Father would have had much to say about Eden's manners, but Thornton, frankly, was starting not to care. "Thanks."

As soon as he sat, he immediately regretted not having a book with him to at least pretend to be studying while he found a way to bring up his question for the older girl. There would be little way to cover the fact that he was going to interrupt her reading for something, well, that Thornton feared was maybe just a bit ridiculous. Chewing the inside of his cheek and studying the wood grain of the table far too intensely, he just decided to get it over with.

"I..I was actually wondering if I could ask you a question?"

Eden nodded, blowing a bubble and letting it pop. "Veeeery fast." she commented. She could tell the smaller Ravenclaw had something he wanted to talk about,t hough. Eden didn't know what it could be--she didn't feel nearly as wise as some of the other older 'claws. There was only a few things Eden was even well versed in...

Though. As soon as he asked..if he could ASK her a question...she froze and did her best not to look at him. The last younger MALE Ravenclaw to ask her questions, ahem, KYROH had confessed his....crushness for her. And Eden didn't want to be the reason for ANOTHER classmate's SADNESS. Her heart began to race, and she finalllllly looked up, biting her lip. "Oh--um--sure! Ask awaaaay--"

Merlin. She couldn't handle it if THORN had a crush on her. Nope. Nope to the NOPE. She was hoping this was about something completely unrelated. Maybe it was...maaaaybe he needed help in a class. Let's go with THAT, yeah?

Did she seem uncomfortable? Thornton certainly thought so and he worries that he was intruding or had caught her at a bad time or if she was just always like this. Whichever reason it was, Thornton was also now feeling uncomfortable and maybe a little embarrassed.

He looked around to make sure that no one else could hear and made sure to keep his voice low. "I asked Paris but he didn't really have an answer and I thought maybe you might have a better one and I know it's maybe a silly thing to have to ask but I don't know and I didn't didn't think my friends would know and...." Thornton was rambling quite uncharacteristicly and he knew it. Which in turn just made him more self-conscious. His cheeks were flushed and he kept his gaze trained intently on a swirl in the grain of the table.

"how... How do you know if you like someone, like, as more than a friend?"

Eden listened VERY carefully. So he had asked Paris first? Well, Paris was a smart guy. Nice, too. Could play the ukelele pretty well. Mhmm. But...as he rambled on, Eden found herself shutting her books gently and leaning on them with her elbows, her face twisted in thought.

Oh.

So...little Baines DID have a crush--but luckily for Eden, it sounded like it wasn't on her. Well thank MERLIN. "How do you know?" she asked, quietly, and then made a face.

Well.

How DID one know?

She thought back to when she was at the crush phase with Phe--Cole--Cuthbert--hmm. "Well. Your heart goes all...flippy dippy when you talk to them or think you see them. You find yourself wanting to like the things they like, even if you have to kind of force yourself into it--" that was certainly true. "You wanna' talk to them all the time but at the SAME time it's so scary!" she waved her hands around dramatically, because she normally spoke with her hands. "You find yourself thinking about them without even realizing it....." she could on forever. "...does this sound..about right? Or..??"