The Great Lake
 

Ali/Kaysha
 

The start of term had been almost as crazy and full of chaos and running around the castle as the last one had been. The only difference was that Emmeline didn't get lost on the way to classes now -- at least, she didn't get lost as much as she had last year. And and, she was still spending most of her free time in the creature barns.

It was currently the morning break time, and Emmeline was sitting curled up in a ball near the lake. She had too many thoughts chasing their way around her head, you know? Plus, she was being sneaky today; she had taken Cypress, Cami's Professor Stewart's crup, out of the barn for a walk. She didn't technically have permission to do that, exactly, but she didn't think her guardian would mind if she found out. Hopefully. The twelve-year-old had wanted to come sit by the lake with a cruppy, and she was still scared that Professor Wayland might take hers away if she let him leave the nursery barn. So she'd gotten Cypress out instead, and was currently petting him lazily while he sniffed alllll around the area.

It was a lovely day out, and the last place Sam wanted to be was stuck inside. Nope, it was the perfect autumnal weather for a bit of training by the lake. The Ravenclaw jogged easily down the path to her favourite spot, dressed in a sporty skort and tee, her brown curly hair pulled back in a high ponytail, ends falling loose at the nape of her neck where they weren't long enough. She smiled at the sun on her face, but her thoughts were far away, flitting between what Al was doing in the cold of Durmstrang right now, and ideas for her Herbology report.

It was only when she got close to the lake's edge that she realised someone was already there. "Any signs of Barty today?" she asked as she slowed down to a walk, hands on her hips.

Joy's attention was brought to an older girl speaking to her.

"Huh?" She said, blinking against the sunlight. "Oh, Barty. Right." The squid, of course! Joy had heard about this squid before. She wondered how often a student would see it.

"I haven't seen anything yet," she said with a friendly grin, "Except for a few mermaids and grindylows." She gazed out at the water in front of her. "Does he come out of the water often?" She wondered if giant squids were friendly. "I'm Joy Williams, by the way," she added, extending her hand.

Well, now she certainly hoped she'd catch a glimpse of Barty the Giant Squid. How fascinating.

Shan
 

Now Nigel was officially a Ravenclaw meaning that he was part of Hogwarts which has been his "dream" -sort of- but for some reason he felt...nothing. It was exciting to finally be here but he was so far away from home that somehow he felt alone.

Okay, stop with the self pity and start enjoying White.

The third year got up from his bed, grabbed a notebook and decided to go outside, he stood by the entrance scanning the grounds and deciding which spot was the best, with a smile he located the right one: the lake. It was peaceful and perfect.

Nigel sat down not paying attention to the people around him and started to write down on his notebook.

After walking through her schedule, Olivia decided to enjoy the fleeting remainder of sunlight by the Lake. She knew that the warmth and the sun would go soon as winter was on its way. The days would get shorter, the leaves would change colour and fall off, and then the snow would arrive. As soon as she got to the Lake, she rested her bag on the ground and pulled out a camera. The Lioness had recently gotten into photography and tried to always carry a camera with her because you never knew when you were going to stumble on a really cool Kodak moment.

Snap.

One photo taken. Now what else....? She began scanning the scene for something else when she found the guy that she had met on the train. He was scribbling away at something in his notebook. "Hey there stranger," she greeted. "Two questions. Is this seat taken?" Olivia pointed to the grass below her. "And are you a writer?"

His dad had told him about the Great Lake but he had never expected it to be THIS great. When he had imagined it from stories, he had always visualised a normal sized lake and when he had crossed it on the boats it had been dark so he hadn't seen how big it was.

Dorian held his fishing equipment in his hands as he moved along the the water, trying to find a perfect and quiet spot to sit. Once he found it, far away from the castle but obviously still on the grounds, he placed the small stool he had been carrying down on the grass and he placed the bag with bait and hooks and the fishing rod beside it.

Lake this big HAD to be a perfect place to fish! He carefully grabbed the hook and with his other hand he attached a small worm on it. "Sorry buddy" he mumbled before he stood up. Making sure that no one was behind him, he threw the line in to the water and watched the bait sink.

Then he sat on the small stool and waited.

Nigel was literally not paying attention to his surroundings so when he heard a voice, a female voice, he slightly jumped. He quickly closed his notebook and looked up. It was the girl he met on the train, though he didn't knew what her name was. "Uhh...yes and no" he blinked "Sorry, I mean... no, it isn't taken and... no, I'm not a writer" forgive him please.

"What's your name?" he was curious, they barely talked before so, yeah he wanted to know who she was.

Sam hadn't clicked immediately that she'd been talking to a firstie, and was about to explain who Barty was, when it appeared they were back on the same page. The Ravenclaw returned the smile with a little shrug. "Maybe he'll appear later then. Think it all depends where the mood takes him." It was a big lake, after all.

And introductions! "Sam Tyler," she greeted, taking the extended hand. Luckily her hands weren't too sweaty from her jog, but after a fairly firm shake, she didn't linger too much longer, just in case. "S'nice to meet you, Joy. So you already saw some merpeople, you said? That's cool."

Whoops. Had he jumped? She hadn't meant to startle him but he didn't seem too startled by her coming over to say hi. She chuckled at his reaction and happily took a seat next to him. Vi had planned to sit down with the Ravenclaw regardless of whether he wanted her company or not. She didn't know why she felt so impulsive but for some reason or another.... she just embraced it. Vi was about to ask another question when he had beaten her to it.

OH. What was her name? Oh ho ho..... Now if she told him, she wouldn't be the mysterious stranger or older girl that he met on the train anymore right? It was kind of an intriguing concept having people not know her name but it seemed as if most people did anyway... That's what happened when you were friends with Prefects, she supposed. "Olivia. Olivia Holden but feel free to call me Vi, Liv, Ols, hey you works too," she laughed with a grin. "But I prefer Vi for sure. What's your name?"

for Shan & her Beau
 

Dorian watched the float in the water as he sat on the stool, patiently waiting for it to go below the surface. It had been his granddad's idea to take him out fishing at a pond one day. Apparently, he had trouble focusing on one thing at a time, which was completely true, and fishing was supposed to keep him relaxed and focused on one thing and despite that his granddad had first wanted to help him out, Dorian had been surprised that he had liked fishing.

He had therefore asked his dad if he could send his equipment to school and that was how he got here. He smiled as he opened his school bag and grabbed a bag of licorice wands which he began to eat slowly. He checked the float again, hoping it was under the water but he knew from experience that you had to be really lucky to catch a fish right away.

He had had that luck one day in his life though so it was possible. But the other days he could sit for hours and he would catch nothing. He vaguely wondered what kind of fishing swam in this Great Lake. He knew of merpeople, and the Giant Squid, but they were intelligent creatures so he doubted he could catch them, which also wasn't what he wanted.

Another thing that he liked about fishing was that he could be by himself. He did not mind company of course but sometimes he wanted to be left alone. He was happy with that, content. Not sad at all. He checked the float again, still nothing , then he pulled up the fishing rod a bit to see if the bait was still on it and when it was he lowered it back in the water and then shifted in his seat to find a more comfortable position.

Beau was MORE than EXCITED to be around this castle ALLLLL of the time. HE JUST HAD SO MANY PLACES TO EXPLORE. Really REALLY he was exploring every free moment he had and STILL had not covered every floor or all of the grounds -- no one had ever told him how BIG things were here and how much there was to be seeing. AND how long he would be spending at each of them. HOURS in some. LOTS OF HOURS in others. SO MANY HOURS in the rest. SO. MANY. HOURS. GONE.

BUT SO GUD.

He had seen a LOOOOT of things this week already but NONE as funny as this person CRAWLING around by the lake. WHAT. ON. THE. PITCH. WAS. HAPPENING. HERE. ?!?!!!!!

Beau was intrigued and therefore decided to also pull himself along the ground using his elbows (or actually just on his all fours until he caught up with the other boy and then back to his elbows). "HELLO I'M BEAUUUUU AND YES IT IS NICE TO MEET ME." WTH was volume control?

A bright, sharp burst of pain in her side pulled Emmeline back to reality. Back to the lake and Cypress and...Miss Kay! Who had apparently almost stumbled over her; Emmeline grinned up at her sort-of aunt? cousin? something? She wasn't mad at ALL, 'cause she was alllllwayyys running into people herself. And fences. And doors... Really, she was just glad that Miss Kay hadn't fallen.

"Hiii, Miss Kay---errr, Professor Stewart," she chirped back happily. 'Cept she was supposed to call her guardian's cousin "professor" again, oops. She'd had the same slip up when talking about Cami several times already this week; thankfully, it had only happened in front of her friends or Cami's professor-friends so far, mhm. She needed to get better about it, though, 'cause she didn't want the other students to think she was a teacher's pet or getting extra help or anything. She could get her passing marks in Muggle Studies and Transfiguration alllll by herself, thanks. Anyway, she gave Miss Kay another biiig smile and tried to reassure her: "Nope, you didn't hurt us! Term's been...okay, I guess. How're you doing?" She scrunched up her forehead in thought a little bit, too, 'cause now that she thought about it... Miss Kay sort of, a tiiiny bit, had that "upset grown up" look on her face, mhm.

Emmeline was super good at spotting those looks by now; she'd had to be at her parents' house -- judging grown ups' moods by their "pretending to be fine but are secretly upset" looks had saved her from...things...several times in the last couple of years. Even if she hadn't needed to do that at Cami's house, she still knew how to read faces. And with most adults she wouldn't dare to say anything but this was Miss Kay, so she took a deep breath and added in a softer tone: "What's wrong, Miss Kay?" She didn't bother to correct herself this time; she just fixed her eyes on Miss Kay's face and tried to focus on any little change in the professor's expressions.

Grab us? :33 <3
 

*snags you both!*
 

Being a seventh year, Noelle figured she'd be more busy than she had the previous years. But senioritis must have set in early because she wasn't rushing or trying to get everywhere and do everything like she had been. she was more relaxed and smiling. So today, while studying, she branched out to the lake. She wasn't sitting too far from the young first year who was fishing. In fact, she'd inched closer as he fished. Her transfiguration book was now turned upside down and placed into the grass.

Inching closer, Noelle ended up right beside him and his stool. "I wonder how many fish are still left in the lake with the giant squid in it." she said softly because she didn't want to scare any fish away if there were any.

Looking around the lake, and basically just enjoying herself and the weather, she noticed a professor about. Hey! The flying professor! Noelle lifted her hand and waved at him. She wasn't going to yell because she figured that yelling would make it LESS of a chance for this ickle to catch a fish.

But he saw her right?
Waving?

Hey there professor!

Haraldur threw a peanut up in the air and caught it in his mouth. Crunch, crunch, crunch. He was not being lazy. He was supervising. A waving hand caught his attention and at first he thought someone might be drowning. But they weren't waving because they couldn't swim, but to say hello.

He put the now half-empty (or half full, but no one viewed a half-eaten bag of peanuts as half full, NO ONE) bag of peanuts in his pocket and decided to slowly walk over to the waving person in question. He hadn't actually spoken to the young Gryffindor prefect properly now that she was in her seventh and last year.

"Miss Summers!" He exclaimed, unaware of how his booming loud voice might interfere with the young boy's fishing. "How are you?" He glanced over at the young boy (yes, he was still trying to memorize all the new names and faces. It was a hassle.)

"Have you asked permission from the merpeople, Mr. Katharos?" He chuckled at this. Because he found himself funny.

Dorian looked up at the sky, hoping that it wouldn't rain today. It did not matter with fishing what weather it was, you could even fish in the winter. But HE did not like getting wet. The sky was still clear though with a couple of white clouds.

Looking back down, the first year realised he had company and he sighed softly. Oh well, he could hardly tell her to go away because this place was for everyone so instead he shrugged his shoulders at her question. "Lake this big i doubt even the Giant Squid has eaten everything" he said "The Squid has a name right? I've forgotten what it was..." he asked and looked at her now.

....A red badge. "You're a prefect" he said, stating the obvious. "Cool" He turned back to his fishing task and ate another licorice wand. From the corner of his eyes he saw the girl waving at someone else and he smiled. He knew why she was doing that and he appreciated it. However, the person who greeted her back to not get the memo about being quiet.

The Ravenclaw rolled his eyes, not having seen that it was one of the Professors just yet and he was about to look which idiot decided to interrupt the silence when he saw the float go underwater. He GASPED, jumped up and began to reel in the line. He focused his attention on catching the fish and after a second or ten he held up the fishing rod with attached to it some.....kind of water plant.

ugh...

Mr.Katharos? Only older people called him that, which meant, he looked at the professor now and was glad he had rolled his eyes when he had been facing the water earlier. "I need permission from the merpeople?" he repeated, looking panicked at first before he narrowed his eyes "You're pulling my leg right, professor?" he asked as he had definitely heard that chuckle.

Taking a few turns around the grounds, Luci ended up close to the Great Lake shore. She couldn't wait for the water to freeze during winter and be able to have some fun skating there. At least for a while. And hopefully invite Will, which was probably the best idea in that case.

She sat down on the ground, her back against a tree, and took her notepad out. She had to reply to her mother's owl, expressing how excited she already was to see her baby sister again.

Na-na-na.... she began to whistle the tune of one of the songs she was supposed to be practicing in the harp. Oops.

Julie, with books tucked neatly under her arm and a picnic basket in hand was enjoying the mild weather of early fall. Her curls and sun dress floated with each subtle breeze and the sun felt warm on her shoulders and face (of course, naturally she was wearing some sunscreen. Scottish sun might not be as fierce as a Carribbean sun but that didn't mean she'd let her guard down), and all in all, it felt good and right to be out of the castle today.

She glanced around, looking for a good spot with a view of the black lake and just enough sun to keep her warm but not overheated. Maybe some shade, but not too much, you know? The tree by the lake was an option but so was that patch of grass by the wild flowers... Hm. Thoughtfully, Julie chewed her bottom lip.

How do you start a letter, again?

Luci felt blank now, showing her frustration braiding her hair strands, looking down at the blank sheet of paper, hesitating if she could tell her mother all that has been going on in her head, to ask if it's okay to get distracted every once in a while.

She shook her head, and came back to reality, noticing a girl had sit nearby. Another awkward moment to add to the collection, of people that might have seen her talk to herself, or smiling all weird.

With an apologetic smile, Luci waved at the girl and glanced back at her notepad, still clueless of what to put as content of the letter.

Inevitably, Julie chose the sun spot by the patch of wild flowers for the aesthetic as Althea Kenning would have said. She unfolded her basket, pulling out her cutlery, plate and the many boxes of grape juice (white and red) the Slytherin had packed for herself. Next was the fruit; blackberries, blueberries, cherries and her favorite strawberries. An excellent snack and picnic for one while she read. Her new copies of Cardcaptor Sakura would be more than enough to keep her entertained and busy.

Oh. That Ravenclaw was waving at her. Naturally, the only thing to do was to wave back. "Hi, nice day, huh?" Julie lightly called out. It was only polite.

Beau SHRIEKED with laughter. SUPER DUPER SHRILL AND LOUD AND HAHAHAHAHHHAHAHA. WOW. "You're MUDDY!" Derrrrrrrrrrf. Muddy Derf. What kind of name was Derf? It was ALMOST like NERF. Or DUH. Maybe his parents hadn't known what to call him and it was more of his Mum suggesting 'Dave' and his Dad saying 'errrrrrrrrr' and then a a sneeze! D-ERRRRRRRRRRRRR-Fchoo. What a wonderful naming situation. Beau-ey didn't even know his own naming situation. Just that the Francis was because his Grandaddy had the middle name Francis too. They were middle name twins.

He reached out and gave the other boys face a wipe with hiis CLEAN hand. To be helpful. Hi hi hi. Hello. Lookit this helping HAND.

"OH! SORRY. Maybe YOU shouldn't be SHOUTING, THEN." Derrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-f

Luci took a better look of what the girl in front of her was doing. Comics and a picnic, she approved in her head. Nothing better than recreational reading and food, nothing.

She nodded back at her and smiled. "Yeah, pretty good day, like to come here alone?" Luci asked. Maybe it was her ME time, just like she had treated it.

Haraldur leaned forward, curiously as the young boy began to reel in the line, only to display a plant. Disappointing. He sighed, tapping his stomach, debating whether or not to return to the cool, shade from the tree again.

The groundskeeper wasn't 100% sure he knew what "pulling one's leg" actually meant. He was 89% sure though, which meant there was still an 11% risk it could mean anything. He'd learned that the English language wasn't very literal, it was all very confusing.

So, he ignored the boy's last question and focused on the first one. "No, no, no you don't need permission from them." He admitted, eyes drifting to Derfael with the young Gryffindor Beau Montague. Yup. He had studied names this term. Aside from the mud, they seemed a-okay. So the groundskeeper turned back to his current victim Dorian. "Well, actually... I don't know that for sure." He added, thoughtfully. "OH WELL! If you aggravate them, you'll know soon enough!" Hehe... Heh. No, but really.

Emmeline smiled again and nodded as Miss Kay had said she wasn't watching where she was going. She added, "It's okay, I do that too! Especially when I'm thinking a lot." The last sentence was coupled with a pointed look at Miss Kay. Not all thinking was BAD, but that much distraction paired with the adult upset look on the professor's face was kinda worrying, you know? She thought briefly about telling Cami, but then her eyes drifted to Cypress. She wasn't technically supposed to have the cruppy out, and she didn't want that coming up in conversation with Cami. Especially not when Miss Kay didn't seem to think anything of it, nope. Soo Emmeline went back to petting Cypress with loooonnng strokes. At least, she did until Miss Kay made the comment about her lessons and excelling and stuff. Emmeline went red in the face, and did anyone else notice how hot it was out here all of a sudden? She didn't think she really excelled in most lessons at all, even if she HAD made a lot of the professors' list thingies at the end of last term. "I'll, uhh, try...", she told Miss Kay with a little nod.

Wonderful? Miss Kay didn't seem wonderful at all, but before she could say that, her teacher was already talking again. Normally, Miss Kay's big smile and the abrupt change of topic would've been enough to distract the Gryffindor, but NOT when she was already on the watch for upsetting things. "Thoughts about what?", she asked in a reallllly, determinedly CALM tone of voice. Almost like how she talked to creatures when they were upset, but without the higher pitch and stuff. She blushed a bit when Miss Kay said that she AND Cami were excited that she was a part of the family, too.

"Umm, thank you. Cami's super, super nice and we did loooooads of fun stuff over the summer,"she told Miss Kay. Even though Miss Kay probably knew that already. But that was fine; she had noticed that Cami or Mr. Healer sometimes asked her questions that they already knew the answers to, and she kinda figured that it was to see what she thought about whatever it was. So maybe Miss Kay's question was like that.

Julie popped a ripe berry into her mouth. sour, sweet and with enough sugar to keep her longing at bay- at least, for the moment. She needed to be chilling out, she'd definitely over done it last term with cakes, sweets and chocolate and her teeth had suffered from it. #thankmerlinformagicdentistry "Sometimes. It's not really a ritual or anything." She'd just had the urge that day for a read out in the sunlight. Company or not, that part hadn't mattered.

Anyway. "Baeva, right?" She was excellent at remembering names.

Luci nodded at her response. She knew how that felt, just coming here to chill, and welcome the company that may arrive. Personally, she would have invited someone, but her mind had to get clear from any feelings right now. Cool head, warm heart.

"Yeah, Luci..." She smiled, quite impressed at the girl. "Uh...Julie?" Lately, she started remembering names with the same letter from her sister's name, J.

Professor and Cutie Ravenclaw Ickle
 

When coming over to see the ickle fishing, Noelle hadn't thought about if the boy actually wanted company or not. Oh well, too late now. She was already perched beside him, looking at the fishing line.

He made mention of her badge. The one she wore at all times. Because she was instructed to do so. Not that she minded. She'd become used to the thing by now. "Oh yes. I'm Noelle. One of the Gryffindor prefects. What's your name?" She asked, being quiet.

Unlike the professor.

Noelle giggled at him. Plus his story about the merpeople giving him permission to fish. "Well the Giant Squid and the merpeople are kinda the Kings and Queens of the lake. You gotta go through them." Noelle said, adding to what the professor had said.

Actually.... Noelle had never tried fishing the lake. So she had no idea if that was true or not. She'd gone swimming multiple times but like the boy had said, the lake was huge. "I'm sure itll be fiiiiine" And behind the boys head, she gave a little wink to the professor.

*comes over to say hi*
 

It was a lovely day out, and Bartholomew Henry felt that it was a perfect time for him to bask in the sunlight and maybe find someone or another to chat with. That was why he was making his way lazily towards the shore. "Well, hello there!" he said as he spotted the groundskeeper with two students (Dorian and Noelle). Waving his tentacle in greeting, he saw that they seemed to be fishing. "Having any luck?" Just making friendly conversation.

That wink from Noelle did not go unnoticed. Nor did the appearance by Bartholomew. Obviously. "Oh yes, yes, I'm sure there'll be no problem." Haraldur flicked one of the feathers on his head. "The merpeople are not evil creatures per se. They will surely send someone nice over to discuss things with you, Mr. Katharos, before they drag you down for fishing without permission. As long as Bartholomew isn't around you'll be fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine." Heh. Jokes.

Haraldur saluted the giant squid as he floated closer to them. "Well, look who it is, kids! Bartholomew! Dun, dun, dunnnnnn. "Hello, hello, lovely day, isn't it?." Lovely, as in too hot OOOOBVIOUSLY. But the squid liked the sun so he guessed lovely was the appropriate wording.

Having any luck? So far, only plants and mud but he left that to the ickle/firstie/boiiii Dorian.

Noelle Groundskeeper and Squiddy~
 

The more the professor talked, the more unsure the first year looked. What if he wasn't lying and he was warning him about the merpeople? And then Noelle started to talk about how they were the kings and Queens of the Lake. What if he got dragged in to the lake for violating their code?!

"Uhm...i'm Dorian" he said as he placed down the fishing rod on the grass. Maybe he should wait with fishing till he was a hundred percent sure that he could.

Bartholomew? Who was Barthol--- oh...

Dorian's eyes widened as the Giant Squid came out of the water and he just stared at it. He wasn't even listening to the Gryffindor Prefect and professor anymore. He had heard stories of his dad about the Giant Squid but to actually see it with his own eyes was ..SO COOL!

"Uh...not really...i caught a plant though" he said after waving his own hand at the Giant Squid absentmindelyBut then another thought came to his mind and he freaked out again. Not because the creature could possibly call the Merpeople but because..."How am i able to understand Squiddish?!" he asked, voice going high as he looked from the Giant Squid to the Professor.

Nigel nodded. So the mysterious girl had a name, Olivia. "It's pretty" he slightly smiled "I'm Nigel but I don't have a nickname. I guess cause the name Nigel is short anyways so, a nickname would make it shorter and will make no sense, I guess, so call me Nigel..." he could make so many unnecessary comments out of nowhere that would leave him thinking where did they came from. And this moment was one of that. Sorry.

"Anyways, forget about that" please "What year are you in?" she looked older but not that older, he guessed she was maybe in fifth year? "Are you taking pictures?" said as he saw the camera. Ohh that was cool, definitely.

Vi lowered her camera. Pretty? He thought her name was pretty. "Pretty?" she repeated, blushing ever so slightly. She had always been horrible with compliments. However, now she had a different thought in her mind which made her smirk.

She smirked, wondering what else he thought pretty but decided not to press further. "Yes, the mystery is unravelled," she teased before listening to him speak. Nigel? What a unique name. It suited the boy somehow, she thought. Very well. She didn't know him but... She smiled as the kid rambled on and then mentioned her to forget what he had said. What a cutie. That was adorable. "No, it's okay, Nigel," she said with a smile. "Though Nigel is a lovely name." Lovely and nice and memorable. She'd remember his name for a while.

"I'm a sixth year," she said. "And yourself?" She wondered what year he was in. Third or perhaps fourth year? He did seem younger than her. Glancing at her camera, she then looked up to nod at Nigel. "I was taking photos. The sun's rays is jus perfect for taking photos. The light itself is beautiful at this time of day." She said as she began looking through the viewfinder. "Here. Smile." Vi pointed the camera towards Nigel and then...

Click.

The giant squid!!!!
 

Noelle was debating on grabbing a fishing pole or make shifting one to join Dorian in his fishing ventures. She grinned but then the giant squid was there.

......and talking.

Noelle had NEVER known that the Giant Squid could talk. She'd heard rumors but she just thought they were hogwash. But here he... she ... Henry.. so probably a boy. Here he was swimming in front of them... or more like sitting? resting. That was a good word.. Resting in front of them.

Blink

Okay so Dorian was just as surprised. But she was a seventh year and he was an ickle. How had she gone this long without hearing the Squid???

"I didn't realize you talked!" Noelle said, open mouthed in surprise still. "I mean... its awesome."

Oh. That's right, Miss Kay's father is ill. Emmeline couldn't believe that she hadn't thought of that herself. She frowned a little and answered: "I'm sorry. Is he feeling any better?" Probably not if Miss Kay was still worried about him, but the twelve-year-old wasn't sure what else to say. And then her face went tomato-red all over again when Miss Kay started talking about her going far. 'Cause to be honest, she didn't have any great, huge goals or anything; she just wanted to work with creatures when she grew up, mhm.

"Yeah! Ummm creatures and tea and chocolate and flying," she answered when Miss Kay asked if they could do something special. 'Cause it sounded like looooads of fun. And and, Miss Kay had noticed that it was Cypress Emmeline had out, not Sirius, AND given her permission to play with Marshmallow! The second year gave her professor a HUUUUGE grin, 'cause obviously she wasn't gonna get in trouble this time. "Thanks!! She's fun to play with." She knew that from the pet party last term, mhm. That had been loads and loads of fun too! Her gaze dropped to Cypress again, just to keep an eye on him, but he was just chilling. Good.

"Yes, it really is a lovely day. I thought it would be a good idea to bask in the sun before it gets way too cold." This was why he liked the summer so much. Of course that had came to an end and winter would be approaching soon enough.

OH! Well, that was a real shame that they were having no real luck with fishing so far; Bartholemew Henry knew that it was much easier for a Squid to do that kind of thing than it was for humans. He didn't really get their method of catching them, but it certainly could be successful. "Well, keep at it and I'm sure you might catch something." And if not they would probably have fun regardless. "Oh, yes. I can certainly talk. I've had a number of conversations with staff and students here." Even Albus Dumbledore.

It was nice cool afternoon. The sun was setting - for Aymeric this was perfect timing to leave the castle. He may have homework or other obligations but those could wait patiently for him in the common room and he would attend them, at night.

Although it was still considered the beginning of year he knew the number of days before it was too cold to leave castle was decreasing - and he absoulutely despised feeling cold. Therefore it was incredibly important for the Ravenclaw to visit the lake and do what he loves most - draw.

Ever since a young age Aymeric enjoyed painting drawing, sometimes he even tried sculpting. It soothed him similar to a cup of tea.

He made his way down towards the lake. Aymeric placed a cushion on a rock and sat on it, wasn't the most comfortable position to create art, but he wasn't able yet to conjure a chair out of nowhere.

The third year took out of his bag a brown wooden plank - wider than his knees. Out of the bag he fetched a rolled piece of paper, a box of colour pencils and 4 feathers. He rolled the paper upon on the plank and straightened it with the help of his wand.

He was working on this piece since the train - it was inspired by the Hippogrif's nest near his father's barn. The drawing was - on the right side of the picture an almost finished sketch of a Hippogrif's head. Except from the beak and a few clusters of feathers the head was almost done. The eye stood out since he drew it using the colours hazel and crisp brown.

The back round was a huge lake (which he hadn't started drawing), and a vast forest in the midst of autumn (the colours he used were similar to the one's he was using for the Hippogrif's eye).

The four feathers he had were Hippogrif's feathers' his father collected for him. Aymeric used it in order to get an accurate shade of off-white, grey for the Hippogrif. Accuracy was very important to him.

Today since he had the Great Lake in front of his face - he would begin an early colour sketch of it. He held up the a few pencils wanting to find the perfect shade of blue he could find.

Haraldur raised his eyebrow at Noelle. How did she not know? "Miss Summers..." He muttered, shaking his head. And she was a prefect. Kids these days lived inside their own little bubble. A bubble of non-talking giant squids. "Might have to brush up on your Hogwarts knowledge there, Miss Prefect."

He turned to the squid, giving him a nod. "Delightful as always." He placed a heavy hand on Dorian's shoulder. "Young Mr. Katharos here was worried he might need permission from you or the merpeople." Haraldur chuckled. "But it has been a while since you last dragged a student down to the bottom of the lake, hasn't it?" Ahhh, jokes.

since we're all on the same tl apparently....*ahem* GK, BARTHOLOMEW, & co
 

Laura/Felicity ♥
 

One date. Felicity had agreed to one date, and she was already regretting that decision when she walked away from Flynn the day before. As Vivian and Skylar both said, no meant no, and the boy should have just left her alone. But knowing Flynn, the only thing that would stop him asking was her caving, and so cave she had.

But she'd had a plan. She hadn't brushed her hair that morning, or even washed her face, let alone had her fun with her full face of make up.

She hadn't even got dressed. That was how much effort she was putting into this date. Her adorable, pink, monogrammed pyjamas were clean and cute, though, so there was that, and of course she'd put shoes on because there was no way she was leaving the castle bare-foot. Then, before padding down to the lake, she'd asked a second year for a joke sweet that made her breath smell.

In her own opinion, standing in front of the mirror, Felicity Harrington was repulsive.

Which was why her stomach had dropped slightly as she'd approached the Lake and the boy sat there. It wasn't because she had feelings (or, at least, any positive ones), but Liss did feel bad when she saw how much effort he'd put in. And then she reminded herself why he'd put the effort in, and why she was turning up like this.

"Hi." Sit down. Yawn. Look awful. Check.

Flynn had closed his eyes, enjoying the silence, until....

until.....

what was that s m e l l?

He opened one eye and looked up at no other than his date, who basically smelled like garbage. He sat up, gave her a nice long look-over in complete silence, before replying, "Even though you smell like a badger," *ahem*, "and look like one too, you are still somewhat attractive."

Was he saying that to get a rise out of her? Possibly.

But was he going to let her ruin this date by arriving looking like a hot mess? No. He knew the game she was playing since she had denied him this date more than once, and he was not going to let her RUIN IT. Not after all the time he spent putting it together!

He was going to have to face away when he breathed though. She smelled toxic.

"I made sandwiches.... and cookies." Well, the house elves made the cookies but still.

"That's a shame," Felicity mustered, swallowing her pride and crossing her hands in her lap. "I was aiming for skunk." You know, the worlds smelliest animal? She would not admit that she was kind of upset that he told her she looked like a badger, because she totally wasn't. That was the look she was going for. No, she hadn't wanted him to tell her she looked nice when she'd just woken up, and no she wasn't upset at the use of 'somewhat' in front of attractive.

And no the guilt wasn't growing at the mention that he'd made the food.

Of course it wasn't. "You? You baked?"

Flynn took out the two sandwiches he made and looked at the wrapper on them. He placed the gluten free sandwich on the plate in front of him then placed the other one on her plate all the while listening to what she was saying. "I prefer badger," he said. "There are some smelly badgers in this school." He was just sayin'.

......

"With some help." More like, a lot of help. He proceeded to pull out the cookies, which were sealed nicely in a little bag, and placed them between the two plates. "I was not sure what to bring as a beverage, but I thought I couldn't go wrong with water." He pulled out the last two items in his basket: two water bottles.

Ah, now Felicity understood why he chose badger. She shrugged a little before responding. "Why do you have to be so mean?" Like, s e r i o u s l y?! She'd thought she could be a bit mean before she met him, but sometimes it felt like everything that came out of his mouth was just not nice.

"Th-" Just as she began the words thank you she bit her lip. The aim was worst date ever: manners not included. Instead she just started unwrapping the sandwich, thinking of something mean to say and settling on, "Can't you do anything for yourself?"

........Ah. Water. Water. The dreaded 'cure' to the 'badger-mouth'. And the annoying thing was that she was thirsty.

Flynn pursed his lips as he looked at the hot mess in front of him. "I am the one being mean?" He asked, blinking. "Who's the one that did not even care to look presentable for a date? Especially when a lot of thought was put into that said date, and the person who put that said date together never does anything like this for other people." He said this all while not letting her know that yeah, it actually bothered him some.

Flynn Kowalski does NOT do things like this, but he wanted to impress her. Why? Why did he torture himself to get the attention of Felicity Harrington? WHY did he put up with the fact she was revolting this whole date AND the fact she only said yes to shut him up?

Because that's what happens when a Kowalski lets feelings take over.

"I put this whole thing together myself," he pointed out, shrugging. He placed the water bottles on the blanket and closed the basket.

D a m m i t.

Why did he have to go and make her feel really guilty? Fishing for time, and trying to organise her thoughts, Felicity took a bottle of water from in front of her and drank for a few seconds. Bye bye, badger smell.

Which she was secretly glad about, because man was that smell totally disgusting.

"I didn't expect you to do this much..." When she finally spoke, Liss was quiet, and she couldn't quite bring herself to look Flynn in the eye, instead toying with the edge of her sandwich. Her idea of a date with him was... Actually, she didn't even know what she's expected, but it had definitely not been something like this. Why did her first date have to be with someone who infuriated her so much? Someone who she was positive was only doing this to prove a point, whom she didn't think really cared. Why couldn't he have accepted her 'no'?

Besides, didn't look presentable?! Psht, her pyjamas were totally adorable. Her face on the other hand.........

Flynn looked away and began unwrapped his sandwich, sulking in the silence she was given him. All he had wanted from the start was one date - just ONE. He had gotten it; yet, he felt like he should of settled for not having a date instead of this one. This would probably be the one and only date he would get with her, and she was making it non-enjoyable.

"When I said I liked you, I meant it, Felicity," he stated once she broke the silence. "That's why I did all this. You did not want to believe me, so this was me trying to prove it to you." He paused. "Okay, look." He moved so that he was now sitting Indian-style in front of her. "I'm a terrible person; I know I am. I may not be the most ideal person you would want to be on a date with - because honestly, I probably wouldn't even want to date myself - but I'm trying." Trying AND failing, but nonetheless, he was trying.

"Since you showed up," regardless of the attempt to ruin this date, "I'll give you a choice: you can leave or you can stay."

bone_baud10
 

Maisie watched the boy. He was drawing something. He had feathers and pencils and he seemed devoted to his work.

Maisie wasn't the most creative, she was far too into her books for that, but she made beautiful astronomical charts. She'd been copying the stars since she was three. Her creativity came out in writing. Maisie wrote avidly in her journal. She wrote about everything: lessons, books, the night sky, letters from home, food... Secretly, she wrote fictional diaries too. Even her mother didn't know about those. They were about knights and heroes. Dragons and goblins. Battles and wars. Everything she had expected from her father. A hero.

She didn't want to disturb the boy, but she didn't want to stare rudely without his knowing. What if he didn't want anyone to know about the piece he was working on? What if he had a secret passion too, like Maisie?
She thought of the notebooks in her trunk in the dorm. There were three - one for each of her characters. Peter the Brave, who fought dragons and griffins on hippogriff back. (She'd been writing that one since she was six). Knight Skylarn, a Knight of the Stables; a Knight who was the Horse Master of King Arborsh's court. (That one, she'd been working on since she turned eleven). And, a story she'd started just before she left for school: Lellie, Faerie Queen.

Maisie tried not to stare at the artist too much, instead, looking out across the lake for the squid.

Was she a terrible person? Because, honestly, she was totally starting to feel like one. A niggling part of Felicity’s brain, however, was telling her that this was all a ploy, to lull her into a false sense of security. The same part of her brain that started working whenever she remotely thought a boy was attractive, the part that overrode everything and reminded her that boys sucked.

“It’s just…” Felicity swallowed, shaking her head a little so her face was obscured by her messy hair. “I mean, you liked Hattie… And now you say you like me, and those things don’t just happen, you know? You can’t just change your mind. And Hattie’s my friend and...” She trailed off, biting her lip, not realising that the speed talk she’d just delivered had completely obscured that fact that, whilst infuriating, Flynn saying her name hadn’t made her feel sick. “Besides… What’s there even to likeaboutme?” After all, Hattie was so much prettier, and funnier, and smarter, and prettier, and, you know, probably easier to deal with than she was. And had she mentioned prettier? Because that was really what boys cared about, right? The way that the girl they wanted to kiss looked.

“You’renotaterribleperson.” Came out before Felicity even realised what she was saying, and still she didn’t look up from the crumbled edge of her sandwich. As Flynn continued to talk, her front teeth played with her bottom lip, and she tried to figure out what on earth she was going to say, leaving a rather pregnant pause. “I… I want to stay. If you want me to.” Finally, she looked up at him, searching his face from underneath her lashes. But she wasn’t going to apologise – she was still wary of him, not least because he was being nice. And the threat of a really loud burp wasn’t completely gone, yet, either.

"I -" Flynn shut his mouth for a measly second or so, thinking of the right way to go about this. He knew whatever came out of his mouth would make it back to Hattie. Girls talked, especially best friends. He had learned that the hard way when him and Skylar had kissed. "I never changed my mind," he finally replied to her in the calmest tone possible. "I never made up my mind to begin with, quite frankly." He never remembered saying that he was head over heels with Hattie. "Hattie is a great friend, but I don't see myself with her. You know how I am, and you also know how she is." If he and Hattie dated, it would probably be more problematic than anything. She was so kind. He, on the other hand, was a wrecking ball. He wanted someone who could handle him, but brought him to his next response to her:

"I can give you a list of things I like about you," He still showed no emotion on his face because why should he? She could be walking away any moment now, leaving him here to enjoy this picnic alone, "but what I like most about you is your personality. You don't put up with the things I do, and I appreciate that." Someone had to call him out. He also enjoyed the challenge of getting her on this date because she had wanted to play hard to get.... still does, actually.

"Was it not just yesterday that you got mad at me for threatening a first year? Nice people don't do that," he pointed out. Though, he only did it because he knew it would get her down from her dorm.

He quickly fell silent when she said that. He had expected her to get up the moment he gave her the ultimatum and leave. After blinking a few times and registering that she was, in fact, going to say, he said, "Of course I want you to stay. I spent a good amount of time planning this out for you." He didn't want his sandwich making skills to go to waste.

Saz/Kimi!
 

With the much cooler early November weather upon them now, Camilla was taking advantage of the little bit of afternoon sunshine that happened to be becoming more rare lately. It wasn't at all unlike her to be outside but she had been a bit busier this week with some upcoming lesson plans she had come up with and needed to get worked out.

A nice relaxing walk down near the Lake had sounded perfect to the older women. A clear mind would surely be of use when she made the walk all the way back up to the sixth floor where her office was located. Right now though she was enjoying the gentle breeze that was blowing and checking out the changing colors of the leaves on the trees.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

Aymeric has been drawing for several minutes. Every now and then he would look up at the lake to achieve an accurate image in his head of what colours he should use/merge. One lake and too many shades of blue, he could see himself sitting here until dark.

Scribble. Scribble. Scribble.

He continued drawing for a few more minutes. He has been sitting here for about half an hour, and he wasn't so pleased with his progression. Nevertheless, he should take a small break, his fingers were feeling uncomfortably tense right now.

Aymeric remained seated and stretchered his back, flicked his fingers a bit and rolled his neck from side to side. Too much sitting in one place.

Whilst rolling his neck he noticed a young Ravenclaw girl not too far away from him, why was she alone? The third year rolled his shoulders back, they too needed some sort of release. He turned to the girl and shyly smiled at her. "Hello, are you lookin' for some colouring pencils?" He looked at his cup of pencils. He had an abundance of pencils, very vivid colours as well. Maybe she was interested. He turned back to the girl. "I'm Aymeric." He let out his hand - for a handshake of course.

Squid, prof, Noelle, Derf~
 

Placing the fishing rod down on the grass, Dorian sighed. With the Giant Squid, Gryffindor Prefect and the Two jobs professor nearby it would be nearly impossible to catch a fish.

Judging by Noelle's reaction, he wasn't the only one who was freaked out by the fact that the Giant Squid could talk their language. He also noted that the Giant Squid liked to Bask in the sun...maybe he should give him sunglasses or something? He then laughed, out loud at the idea and quickly cleared his throat.

"You dragged a student to the bottom of the Lake?!" that was scary and ...cool...kind of... "They...they aren't dead right?" he frowned as he looked at the Professor. Wait, this did not make sense. If the Giant Squid was so dangerous, why was it in the Lake where a school was. And it certainly wouldn't be talking with them... The Giant Squid was a good guy!

Unless it was a trick...

Dorian shook his head. He was overthinking again.

A shout so loud startled him and as he turned his head he saw an older guy running towards them shouting to another boy for him to follow. Great, now he REALLY needed to find a different fishing spot!

He stared, open mouthed at the boy as he actually offered to let him be dragged to the bottom of the Lake. Was it an academic reason or was he just stupid? "Wow..." he whispered and turned back to face the Giant Squid. "Can i touch a tentacle?!" he asked, eyes wide.

Haraldur, Derfael, and Dorian
 

Err, permission?

Bartholomew Henry hadn't really considered that aspect of things. Really there didn't seem to be any harm in a little bit of fishing; well, just so long as Hogwarts students and staff didn't start to deplete one of his food sources. "I can't speak for the merpeople, but I don't see any problem with it." So the boy need not worry about anything.

...

And talk about him DRAGGING students to the bottom of the lake!! Goodness, this was opening a whole other can of worms, wasn't it??? But before Bartholomew Henry could respond to the joke, there was an excited boy rushing over and defending him. Well, wasn't that sweet. "Well, hello there!" Happily he waved one of his tentacles. "And who would your mom be?" Clearly she had gone to Hogwarts, as many of the parents had. "You want me to drag you to the bottom of the lake?" Now that got a laugh. The first time that had ever happened!

"I didn't actually drag anyone down," he reassured the boy who hadn't been sure about fishing in the lake. There was absolutely nothing to fear. "You may certainly do that if you wish." As he spoke, he held one of the tentacles forward. Of course anyone else was welcome to as well if they so wished.

"Yeah, that's me. Julie Bellaire." the brunette said, a soft but proud smile on her rosy lips. She laid back, arms stretched out and under her head as a pillow. Comfortable, she watched the clear sky. "So... What are you doing out here, Baeva?" Julie asked, glancing up to set her blue-green eyes on the other student.

So maybe Felicity was a little taken aback by the things Flynn said. She tried not to show it on her face, but maybe the way she'd started dragging her fingers through her unkempt mane was giving it away. Suddenly, being the sole focus of his attention, him baring feelings to her whilst being less than a foot away from her was too weird. Far too weird, because suddenly she had knots in her stomach and she was seriously regretting how ugly she definitely looked with her bare face right now. And she felt bad for Harriet, because she hadn't told her what was going on, and her friend really did have feelings for the boy.

The boy that she was on a date with it.

Fifth year was so messed up. "Okay..." Liss swallowed, realising that she'd let Flynn do a whole lot of talking and kind of hadn't given him any response. The problem was that she didn't know what to say: she was completely discombobulated, and a very large part of her wanted to run back to her dorm room and hide under her sheets for at least two weeks.

"I didn't say you were nice," Liss couldn't help but point out. "Only that you're not terrible." Her small smile gave away her joke almost as much as the teasing tone to her voice. And she'd never admit it, but spending this one on one time with him meant she was warming to him. And the fact that he'd done it to get her attention... Well, she was going to pretend that hadn't flattered her.

Her smile, although still small, didn't faltered. "Then I'll stay." Although if this feeling in her stomach didn't go away, there probably wasn't going to be a lot of eating going on.

Derf and the squid's gang
 

Beau was all the ready to TELL this boy (loudly) that he was MOST CERTAINLY SHOUTING, when.... well, when he actually DID SHOUT and Beau-eye did look in the very direction that the blonde boy was now RUN RUN RUNNING. "WaIIiIiiIIIITTtTTttt forRRRRR mEeeEEeEEEEEEEE!!" He too squealed, getting to his feet and breaking into a big old run after him. His first year feet hit the ground with quick plods and his shoes might have actually fallen off if he hadn't triple knotted his laces that morning.

"BarrRRRFFFF who?!!!! DERRRRF-uhh..." And that was when he propoloperly saw what he was supposed to be meeting.

"WwoOoOOoOOOoooowWWW"

Oh.

MY.

WOW.

Instead of skidding to a halt with the others there, Beau decided to CATAPULT himself up into the air and wheeeeeEEEEEeeeEeeEeee over into the lake.

SPLASH.

SQUEAL.

GIGGLE.

She was going to stay.

She.

Was.

Going.

To.

Stay.

IN YOUR FACE, VIVIAN MAYFIELD FAIRFIELD.

Flynn could care less what was said before those three words because in the end, all that mattered was that she stayed. It meant all the hard-work he put into convincing her to join him on this date paid off. It meant that he was going to be rubbing it all into his Prefect's face that she was wrong to tell him that he should leave Felicity alone.

Lesson of the day: ignore your Prefects, kids.

He took his first bite into his sandwich, smiling as he did so. He was so giddy right now but he was not going to show it. Nope, he was going to play it cool. "I don't think you'll regret staying," he finally replied to her. "You may regret not brushing your teeth though." Because merlin, he could still smell her breath from where he was sitting.

Oh.

Well, hello little one.

Bartholomew Henry smiled as he saw another boy run over to join the fun... but it didn't stop there. No, instead of staying by the shore with the others, he had decided to CATAPULT into the air and land into the lake.

The immediate reaction was one of concern, but the boy seemed to be perfectly aright and splashing in the water. "Well, hello there. And what might your name be?"

Maybe Felicity was going to regret agreeing to stay, because Flynn was still being rude. She toyed with the edge of the sandwich, breaking some off to put in her mouth, rolling her eyes as she chewed. If he made one more comment like that, she was going to get up and leave, and take the food with her.

She deserved that, at least, for putting up with him. As for her breath - tough luck, Flynny. She had mints in her back pocket, but there was no way she was going to eat one now.

Did she...blushed? Nigel made her blush? He could tell because of her skin tone even if it was a little bit but that was kind of an accomplishment to him, for some strange reason.

Sorry about the rambling. It tends to happen when he was nervous or just because he wanted to talk nonsense. "Thanks" he said when Olivia mentioned his name was "lovely". Lovely wasn't a masculine word but whatever. Ohh so she was a sixth year and he was a third year...hmm...not good. Definitely NOT GOOD. But you know what they say: age is just a number. KIDDING. Or maybe not.

"I'm a..." should he say he was a bit older than he actually was? Like maybe fourth year? Or perhaps...fifth year? "I'm a th-fourth year" Fifth year no way she was going to buy it. Fourth year? Maybe.

He barely had time to smile properly so basically there was a lame photo of him. Not because of Olivia's fault nonononooo but because he wasn't fast enough. "My smile was awkward" she was going to laugh afterwards when looking at them "My brother takes photos too. Can I see yours?"

Vi smiled at him.

So this kid was a fourth year? She paused for a moment and then wondered why he paused a little to her question about what year he was. Huh. Th-fourth year? Maybe he just forgot what his year was. “I thought you were going to say fifth year,” she said with a playful wink. Okay so he totally wasn’t a fifth year because THAT would have been a big leap but a fourth year was passable.

Awkward? She shook her head. “No, I don’t think your smile is awkward.” His smile wasn’t awkward at all. It was actually nice. She lowered her camera from her face so that she could show him some photos from the viewfinder. “Sure! Here’s the photo of you and then here’s some of the light hitting the leaves…. Then some shots around the castle and some of my friends,” she explained.

"Fifth year?" said with a snort "Do I look that older?" Or mature? Cough. In that case he should have gone with that but fourth year was more reasonable, though he knew he had just lied....BUT it was for the greater good.

His smile wasn't awkward? Please. And he got a chance to see his photo which actually was...not that bad. "Maybe your camera does miracles" because he knew he was awkward, pretty awkward especially when taking pictures of him. "Those are great shots" Nigel smiled at Olivia "I should borrow my brother's camera and..." he could feel it, he was nervous "And...and we could take pictures together" he paused for a second "I mean, not pictures of us together but of things but us taking the pictures...together" facepalm. He wished he could glue his lips together to avoid this moments.

She raised an eyebrow, noting the boy's snort."Not older... Just how you hold yourself," she explained. Despite being awkward... he seemed kind of sure of himself. Some kind of quiet confidence... However, most boys were awkward from the age of thirteen onwards way up until sixteen (or even twenty three for her brother).

"I have a good model." She was hoping to inspire a little more confidence in this one. A little self-confidence. Vi chuckled at his suggestion about taking photos together. She had gotten what he had meant but the way he had said it had just been so adorable. Now wasn't he sweet... well awkwardly sweet around her. It reminded her of how she had acted around Tenacius for a while.... Erm. A thought crossed her mind. No. No. Impossible. She brushed the thought away. The boy couldn't fancy her... He didn't even KNOW her. "No worries. I know what you mean. So kind of like photography.... friends?" she suggested.

Kitty felt especially nostalgic as she clicked the button on the camera to take a picture of the lake. She'd taken pictures of it many times before, but this time felt very different. In just a matter of weeks the term would be over and she wouldn't be returning next term. She'd be going on to get a job or become an activist or to a university, but not to her home of Hogwarts.

Now she was assembling her final personal yearbook. After having taken the picture of the lake, she turned around and began snapping pictures of everyone and everything in the area. If someone asked to not be included she would abide by that person's wishes, but she hoped no one would.

In a little while she would be starting her final prefect patrol for the day.

"You best be catchin' me good side," Sam said, dropping down easily from a nearby tree she'd been perching in. She'd been sketching a slightly different angle of the same scene, her pencil now tucked behind her ear, and sketchpad under her arm. She wasn't great at landscapes, but it was a lovely day for it, the first hints of spring starting to peep through. And the crooked grin on her face would suggest that no, she wasn't upset by it.

"New hobby?" She seemed to recall seeing the Head Girl a few times recently with a camera, but she might have been mistaken.

Katniss Easter egg xd
 

Kitty turned to watch as Sam dropped down from her tree with her sketchbook. The head girl took our her camera and showed her picture of her. "I think it's good. I like your sketch, by the way." She glanced at the picture Sam had been sketching.

"I've been interested in photography ever since my second year here," she admitted, remembering fondly all the times her camera had come in useful. " Ursula Black was our Divination teacher, and I brought it to class to take pictures if she tried attacking any of us." Her plan had gone terribly but ever since then she carried the camera around. "It's still weird to imagine she got to be a teacher here. But stranger things have happened I suppose."

Sam lent in to get a closer look at the picture, a smile curling on her lips as she saw herself. "Yeah. Ain't too shabby at all. D'ya reckon you could make me a copy or two of it?" It'd give her something different to owl to her brother and Dad. Al, her boyfriend at Durmstrang, would probably appreciate a copy too. "I don't mind paying yeh printing costs." As for her sketch? Sam shrugged her shoulders. "S'okay. I'm not very good at landscapes. Tryna get better."

Thinking back, Sam remembered that. It'd been her first year, and she'd had no idea to expect. She'd known some hags that weren't bad growing...but yeah, Ursula Black was awful. "In the six years I've been here, I'm not sure that was the worse decision that's been made...but it's definitely up there. Hogwarts likes to be eventful, if nothing else." And it was definitely weird to think she'd be of age soon, and only had one term left.

"So, you know what you'll be doin' next year?"

For Kate/Paul :)
 

It was a new day, the sun was BRILLIANTLY shining, and Paul walked Zelda, the fluffy collie, towards the lake in a pretty cheerful mood. He even whistled while they walked. As stressed as he had been the day of the most recent rehearsal, he had talked to his husband over some hot beverages at the Three Broomsticks after, and he felt a bit better about the play not turning out exactly how he wanted it. His vision wasn't entirely ruined, but the children...they had hand in this, so it was no longer just PAUL'S thing. It was THEIR thing, and he needed to be okay with that.

His first year directing a play, and he thought he was getting a handle on it. But it was...very stressful. He already had ideas for a play for next year, though...and it might be a lot more in DEPTH.

"Why, hello, Gaston!" he waved cheerfully at his colleague. "Wonderful weather today!"

Sorry this is so short! #sick
 

Gaston was a tornado of conflicting emotions... like, more so than he usually was. He was sad and worried for the people who had been cursed, guilt ridden over not doing more to help or better yet stop it from happening in the first place, and frightened out of his mind that it would happen again and he'd be just as powerless to stop it. And on top of everything else, he was absolutely disgusted with the actions of some people in the Room of Requirement!

On the bright side, all this internal conflict was giving him a lot of inspiration for new songs. He had already written four or five since the incident in the Room of Requirement, and he was already halfway through the second verse if the one he started since he was out here. He was so absorbed in his writing that he didn't notice anyone else around until he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

He stood, replacing the little black book in his pocket, and looked back at Paul. It was so nice to see him out and about; he was so worried he'd die from... whatever that curse was! He smiled, though there was a slight tinge of sadness in his eyes. For a moment, he was unsure how to react, unable to even speak. "Hello, Paul... and Zelda," he said when he finally found his voice, reaching out to give the dog a little pat on the head. She wasn't going to bite him, was she? He nodded in agreement to the comment about the weather. "So... how are... things?"