Abby wandered down to the whomping willow and stopped at a safe enough distance away from the tree cause she knew that the tree was not safe enough to go really close to unless you wanted to end up in the hospital wing she hoped that she would meet plenty of new people this year

LALALA. More wandering for the sixth year. She wanted to explore once more. Maybe Bart and she could jog all around--or she and Cole could out this way--even PHE wouldn't mind. She knew Clara didn't much like being outside...so..yeah...

Spotting a familiar face, Eden smiled as she approached Abby.."Hey...Abby?" She asked softly. She did not want to SCARE her. "how's it going?" she asked. She wondered what the girl was doing by the Whomping Willow.

Abby smiled at Eden and said "Hey Eden it is going pretty good thanks, glad to be back at Hogwarts" Abby was glad to be back and she hoped to meet loads of people this year cause she needed more friends

Eden ran a hand through her hair and nodded. "I am glad, too." She had missed everyone here, really. All of her friends--and just the familiar faces here. They made her feel so comfortable. Durmstrang felt so cold and distant compared to this place.

She would probably never say this aloud, though.

"How was your summer?" she asked casually, sitting down next to her and watching the tree with interest. She could watch the tree

Abby smiled at Eden and said "My summer was okay thanks pretty quiet, how was your summer?"

Eden nodded. She felt rather tranquil right now. And Abby was nice enough too. She wasn't stressful or full of drama or anything. Siiiigh. Some people though...some people were...MUCH DRAMA.

"I had a pretty...exciting summer. Lots of things happened for me that were niiiice--" she said with a nod. "Did you go on a vacation or anything?" she asked.

SIGH.

What a lovely day.

Abby smiled and said "Mostly spent it at home and spent time in Diagon Alley, my parents had to work a lot during the holidays so didn't have time for a vacation or anything"

He had a lot of places to check, like all the school. Not knowing where to start his tour from, the sixth-year decided to go out on the grounds and see where his feet took him. Sounded like a good plan. Slipping out of the common room, Dante headed towards the grounds or well, explored the way there. He made sure to take mental notes when they first entered the castle. So there was that. Plus, it wasn't that hard to figure the routs out.

Following others also was a thing to try. Since there were no classes today yet he could only hope that others headed there would lead his way.

And it turned out to be really easy. And he needed no one's help, psht.

Without having to think about it, Dante found himself already by the whomping Willow. He stood close enough to see but not enough to get whacked. He'd read about it and done his research. Although, a part of him DID want to get a closer look. Hmm. Maybe staring would do for now.

The tree. She almost forgot she had to go check out the famous tree, the Whomping Willow. But she did remember, and that was where she was headed on her free afternoon, between other routes of exploration.

Evie tucked her cold hands under her arms and made her way up the small hill towards the tree. She saw another person there, but it wasn't until she got closer that she realized she recognized him from... shopping? Yes, shopping in Diagon Alley. She had bumped into him at the creatures shop. Literally.

"Don't get too close," she said, kind of teasing. She assumed he knew not to.

With every precaution, and her kitten...well, more like a grown black cat now, Paloma approached the Whomping Willow hoping to find a little of disastrous peace and inspiration to continue writing her song. She also had her guitar with her, which in case worked if her heart and mind came up with something more than LA-la-laaaaaaaaaaaah in her music sheets.

She sat a few meters away from the tree, looked at it for a while and tried to find the rhythm at which it moved it's branches, or whomped around something close to it, like that bee that was just too near. Poor buzzy bug.

"It's more like an outbreak, you and me keep..." Nothing. No words, not even a note to continue....

Fresh air, that's what he needed. Finn decided he needed to get out of the castle, stroll around a bit, get himself moving. He let his feet guide him all around, though, he did look up every now and then, making sure he was not close to bumping into someone and having to face them.

He made his way round and found himself looking at a girl talking to herself. Was everything alright with her? It usually isn't normal to see people talk to themselves, unless they were mad. But, that would be rude to ask, and Finn didn't seem to recognize her so well, so he just stood a little ways off from her. Oh, but then he saw it, the guitar. Everything made sense, she wasn't mad, hopefully. However, he did continue standing off to the side, watching her, waiting to see what she would be singing next.

And that's where she heard it, a beat, that was more than the branches moving, or the bees buzing, or the last little birds flying around; there were footsteps coming near her, and suddenly they stopped. She kind of loved the audience but at her circumstances she was just...talking with no rhythm...So, she tapped what she had just heard, those little tingling notes in her ear and then wrote them on her music sheet.

"You know...I have a wage for performing live..." She teased, humming a few notes as she continued writing.

Oh, well, she was distracted by writing, that was excellent. He could just scurry off a bit more from her view and still be able to listen without looking odd standing there in the middle of the grounds. But that was short lived, it seemed, as she spoke up to him.

He grimaced to himself as he thought up of something to say, wishing she hadn't spotted him. "I'm not going to pay for something... that may not even be well." Why would he waste his money on a guess? One that may not be worth his time. But she was writing, so perhaps, she couldn't be all bad and have some inkling of talent. Writing, singing and playing an instrument was no easy task. "How long you've been... practicing?" She didn't have to answer. It was personal. Not so personal, but, something that was for herself, rather.

SNORT. Abby's parents sounded similar to Eden's...Except Eden's Mam was now...unemployed. Meh. Eden didn't want to think about that right now, though. Nope nope. She was trying to relax.

"Oh. I didn't go on vacation either. But I did visit a friend in New York--and another in California--but it was like..a day trip type thing--" thank Merlin for the floo! International floo.

Abby smiled at Eden and said "Yeah i am hoping that once next summer comes around i actually manage to see some friends outside of school"

He was concentrating. On what no one knew, not even him. But he was and she interrupted with a very-known fact. Dante looked at the girl and paused. Had she seen her before ? Oh, the one that bumped into him causing the creatures to freak. Good thing she didn't bump into him now and get both of them whacked. He was going to keep a safe distance just in case.

But instead of telling her he knew, he decided to play dumb. "Why? What would happen?" He asked pretending to be completely clueless. He knew she would see right through it, but she probably also knew he knew he shouldn't get too close, so yeah.

Eden nodded. The tree in front of them seemed to streeeetch for a minute, and then become still once more. Hmph. Funny thing, the Willow was. Eden had to grin to herself.

"Oh? Well that's good. Aren't you...related to AJ?" she asked curiously. She thought they were sisters but maybe Eden was WAAAAY off--which, was, you know, very possible.

Abby smiled at Eden and said "Yes i am related to AJ she is my sister and my other sister is also in gryffindor" Abby loved her sisters even though she was in a different house to them but heck she was having fun at Hogwarts anyway

Evie kept her distance from him at a few feet. She didn't want to get whacked either.

What would happen? She knew he knew. everyone knew. People who didn't live in the UK knew. But she didn't say that. Instead she looked at the tree again. "It would break your ribs and I would have to save you." She said it matter-of-factly. This boy didn't seem like one who wanted to be saved by a girl.

SNOOOOOOOOOORT

Dante thought that was hilarious. He also thought she should know. "Hilarious," There. But she was probably curious to know why, or he felt like he should explain. "First, a simple whack wouldn't brake my ribs, it'd barely scratch my chest," He told her so sure of himself. The source of the confidence was probably his arrogance rather than any concrete proof. Or probably the idea of being saved by her bothered him.

"And let's entertain the idea that it would," He said rolling his eyes at the thought. "I'd have figured something out," See, he was a survivor. "Because you wouldn't be able to hold me up, even," It was a fact not an insult.

Called it.

"A simple whack?" she repeated with a small amount of humor behind her voice. "Do you think that's all it would do to you?" Had he not read his history books? News reports? Come on, he wasn't playing dumb now, was he?

'Figured something out' was short for: he had no idea because he hadn't taken time to think about it OR he really overestimated his self-preservation abilities. But it was true, she wouldn't be able to hold him... "Not without magic, no. But I think you underestimate the personal space issues of the tree and the force of which her anger hits. You also underestimate my wandwork. I could lift you. And then you would be forced to accept the fact that you were indeed saved by a girl." She really liked this scenario.

"Would you like to find out who's right?" Because she was actually really curious now. And mildly riled up.

A Ravenclaw's curiosity was just to much to resist, and Dima was moving closer and closer to the Whomping Willow every time he passed it. The third year had common sense and knew to keep his distance so he wouldn't get whomped, but his thirst for knowledge was insatiable.

How many people had it hit? Where was the knot that supposedly froze the tree? Could it have been the source of the ominous deaths of Hufflepuffs?

In previous years, of course. No one had died this term. Yet.

On his way back inside after a day of scouting for the Giant Squid, Dima found himself standing in the general vicinity of the tree. Thinking.

Paloma turned her gaze, and almost glare towards the boy. How dare he say that...

Well, it wasn't exactly the best song. She had been taking ages since she started writing it, and it was not material to even show it to her boyfriend. "Well, it's not finished, so...you can say that, I guess..." She whispered the latter, as she turned back to her music sheets, humming the notes as she tapped her fingers against the guitar.

"Uhh...I started playing instruments since I was seven. First the piano...then the guitar, the violin. And composition, just...a few years ago. If that is what you're asking." She hoped, because Pal had no intention of saying how long had she been trying to finish that song. "By the way, I'm Pal-" Yeah, she tried to say her whole name, but she prefered the short way lately.

What was that look for? Technically Finn hadn't said anything rude, it was more of his 'at the moment' observational opinion. But, it seemed like she had let it slide by so he let out a quick, short sigh.

"It's a 'work in progress' as they say, right?" Just because she wasn't done, didn't mean it wasn't good or well. It was most likely being tweaked with at the moment. Maybe she should look at it like that. Then it seemed like she was done with him as she went back to her guitar so he just gave her a nod, though she probably couldn't see it considering she was focused back on her music, before slowly backing away from her, still facing her. She most likely didn't want to be bothered. Finn knew the signs when to leave someone alone.

But, then she was back to speaking again, and he stopped mid-step. Then her list, was quite extensive, wasn't it? He raised his eyebrows at her when she was done. Impressed eyebrows. "Wow. Talent. Couldn't do half of that myself." And he was being honest there, not making any sort of jab. "Like the friend." Finn said with a closed smile, when she said her name. "Finn." He said to her, walking closer and holding out his hand to her.