There she was being called wicked again! Ellie had called her it earlier, but she had clearly misunderstood what she had meant then. This time, however, Kurumi was a little confused this time around since the conversation was involving dragons and they were often considered evil creatures. Instead of saying anything, Kurumi simply cocked her head to the side and smiled awkwardly.

"Dragons are pretty incredible creatures," she nodded in agreement as a slight blush appeared on her cheeks.

"Thanks," she smiled, her cheeks flushing a bit more. Oh, little did Jonathan know that her worries went much further than her studies.

"You are very gifted in potions," Kurumi nodded with a smile. Kurumi was always too nervous during its lessons due to Professor Lafay to really do exceptionally well. "I can help you with Herbology....i-if you'd like."

Kurumi watched as the younger girl said good bye with her family. It was a big step, boarding the Hogwarts Express and beginning the journey of discovering who you were as a witch.

Kurumi was just about to return her attention to her book when she noticed the girl struggling a bit with her trunk. Setting her own things down, Kurumi hopped to her feet and rushed over to her as her long black hair cascaded down her back.

"Here, let me help you with that," she said offering the girl a hand. "The train won't open up for a little bit longer for luggage. You can put it next to my things if you want."

Skye smilled and let the girl take the trunk over to where her things were "thankyou, im skye by the way, idont really no much about hogwarts as my dad is a muggle and mum died when i was just over a year old, mum was a witch you see" skye thought it might be better mentioning something now then soneone finding out the truth later.

It didn't take Nik long to realize that Mia was not walking beside him and he turned around quickly to see where she was.

Although, with the way she was standing there, he was kind of wishing he just kept walking. What had he done now? If it was because he was not letting her stay home from school.. well, she was just going to have to deal with it. She was not dropping out in her last year. Or any year for that matter.

Hearing her answer to his question, he actually did roll his eyes this time. His arms came up in front of himself, and he crossed them over his chest as he simply stared at her. If she was going to be difficult with him, he thought he might as well just leave. He didn't even bother commenting on her real answer.

"Do you want me to leave, Mia? Because I will. And then you'll be free to sulk all you want because you have to go to school." He was honestly getting tired of having THAT conversation with her.

"Yeah, i find dragons really cool. And it's just awesome how you're interested in them" yeah. Not many girls or practically wizards find dragons the most incredible creatures. Which is really sad since "They're misunderstood creatures" he added. He did want to have his own dragon but his father wouldn't let him and yeah, his mother too. His mother only has a cat and the closest thing he has for a pet is an owl. Yup. Dragons. Although, considering them as pets. Wouldn't that be dangerous?

Jonathan smiled. Humble little Kurumi.

Potions was something Jonathan is good at but gifted? Well, he doesn't know about that one "T-thanks" he looked at the ground and smiled to himself. No one has ever told him that. "Lafay's a nice teacher" maybe to Slytherins and to few selected students but she's not all bad.

And with the Herbology thing. Jonathan beamed when Kurumi asked to help him. He nodded. Of course, he definitely want some help with Herbology. He needs all the help he could get. "but i warn you i space out a lot when i study Herbology" he laughed. True story.

"It's no trouble at all," Kurumi replied shaking her head. The smile on her face quickly faded as the girl immediately opened up to her about her family. Kurumi hadn't had the courage to do that her first yet - let alone now. Perhaps this little one would be sorted into Gryffindor. She certainly showed a lot of courage. "Oh...I-I'm so sorry to hear about your mother."

Kurumi dragged the trunk over next to hers and turned around to face the girl. "I'm Kurumi," she said with a bright smile and a slight bow at the waist. "I'll be a forth year this term and..." she trailed off for a bit. Was this the moment, the moment were she admitted to herself the role she was taking on this term?

No time like the present, right?

"...and I am the Gryffindor female prefect."

There, she had said it.

"Anything you want to know about Hogwarts I would be more than willing to try and answer."
Kurumi's eyes brightened. "I think the same thing," she chirped, clapping her hands together. "After all, the motto of Hogwarts is to never tickle a sleeping dragon. I often thought of this as meaning that we should not provoke things that ought not be provoke in the first place. I am pretty sure anyone would be grumpy if you poked and prodded them while they were sleeping, dragon or not." At least, Walnut was always rather grumpy when she woke him up from one of his cat naps.

"Dragon La---erm, I mean, Professor Lafay....nice?" Kurumi repeated with a slight tone of disbelief. "She...intimidates me..." Kurumi had sought out her help towards the end of last term regarding all her friends seeming to lose their memories - which ended up being caused by them being possessed by pirate spirits, go figure - but she had been rather kind to her during that lesson. "She is brilliant, I will agree with that."

Kurumi giggled as her cheeks continued to glow. "I am sure I can figure out some way to keep you focused," she said with a wink. "Cookies perhaps?"

It was kinda like a mexican stand off wasn't it? She was standing there with her hands on her hips and he was there with his arms across his chest. Both of them just staring at each other. Mia had never actually seen Nikolai like this before and strangely she was rather impressed by it.

That was until he spoke.

Mia felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach and she slowly dropped her hands from her hips and held them loosely at her sides. "No." she said in almost inaudbile voice before clearing her throat. "No, I don't want you to go." Now as stubborn as she could be, she knew that she did not want to go back to school and their last conversation they had was an argument.

Moving over to him, rather hesitantly because he looked quite peeved with her, Mia clasped her hands together and took a deep breath. "I know I'm being a pain and I'm sorry." Maybe because she knew that they were so close to being together all the time that this was the hardest goodbye of all.

"I promise to get on the train without a fuss. Cross my heart." she said using her index finger to trace a cross over her heart. She gave him a faint smile.

Was she forgiven?

Never tickle a sleeping dragon. Of course, no one knows why it's Hogwarts motto in the first place. But that's a great thought. Poke a dragon or any wizard while sleeping and you'll be sorry you ever done it[

B]"Which of the 4 do you think created that motto?"[/B] It could be any of the 4 founders. But dragon is nearest to snakes. So maybe Salazar. But Jonathan is not going to argue about this one. He knew this girl once and they argued with a lot of things especially when it came to the four founder. Pffsshhh She stereotyped Slytherins.

Whatever.

Jonathan laughed this time. Dragon lady. of course, Lafay is known to be the meanest teacher not to mention very strict. "Yeah, Professor Lafay is just as nice" Jonathan said but he can't still laughing. He remembered when the Slytherins won quidditch, Lafay designed the whole common room into a disco themed place. NOW that was really nice of her. "Everyone gets intimidated by Lafay." Jonathan told her. Well, she does have strong features. One of a kind professor.

Cookies??? That's nice. "You would give me cookies just to let me focus on herbology?" Jonathan smiled. He loves Kurumi's pastries especially the cookies. His first tried on last term during the welcoming feast and ever since then, he has been craving for it. No one does awesome, sweet and mouth watering cookies like Kurumi. Now, only if his mother learned how to cook.

Jonathan nodded "Definitely" yey. Cookies!

He really hated that he had to act like that towards Mia, but it seemed that that was the only way to get through to her sometimes. And yes, he took full responsibility for the way she acted. Perhaps he shouldn't always give into her and let her have everything she wanted. He spoiled her too much.

But how could he possibly say no to her? Especially when she looked at him like that.

Nikolai uncrossed his arms and slouched his shoulders a bit. Now he felt bad for even mentioning leaving. Although, if she would have told him to go, he wouldn't have went. It would be the last time he would be able to see her in a few very long months, and he did not want to leave her, the both of them mad at eachother. He shrugged off her apology, "It's okay. So am I." Sorry, he was.

A smile made it's way onto his face when she crossed her heart, and when she finished, he wrapped his arms tightly around her. Their arguments never seemed to last long. "Now will you tell me about Christmas, please?"

"That's an interesting question," Kurumi said as she leaned back in her seat, tapping her bottom lip with her index finger. Helga Hufflepuff, the kindest of them all, would have wanted everyone to be kind to one another, so perhaps she did. Treat others as you would want to treat yourself and this included disturbing one's slumber. Godric Gryffindor most likely didn't have too much of a hand it in, being bold and daring. Approaching a sleeping dragon as part of a dare probably would have been right up his alley. Which left Salazar Slytherin and Rowena Ravenclaw. "I think Rowena Ravenclaw had the biggest say," Kurumi said after several moments in deep thought. "She was the cleverest and had a way with words after all."

Kurumi chose to ignore the conversation regarding Professor Lafay. She didn't want to have nightmares on her trip to Hogwarts.

"You know I would give you cookies regardless," she laughed. "In fact..." she reached into her bag for a medium sized metal tin. As she pulled it out, she removed the cover to reveal its contents. "Here."

omgosh the cookies.... to die for....
 

It could be any of those four founders really. We can all say that it's Rowena but really it could have been Gryffindor himself or Slytherin or Hufflepuff. Who knows really. "Or maybe one of them really liked dragons." he smiled. Yeah, a somewhat random answer. The motto was in fact not even referring to a certain dragon. They're just using it as a metaphor but Jonathan loves a good joke.

She got silent over the Lafay thing. maybe she doesn't to further discuss her. Maybe Lafay should try to be nicer sometimes, not only to Slytherins and to a few selected students but to everyone. Everytime she walks by it's like every students runs and hide. She is pretty intimidating. Jonathan likes her though. Awesome teacher in fact.

As soon as Kurumi gave him cookies, Jonathan's eyes were sparkling like a diamond. YEY!!! Cookies. In his head, he was dancing like a baboon. He hasn't had one of these in weeks. Yes, weeks. It's pure torture not to be able to eat Kurumi's special cookies. "Don't mind if i do" he took a bite and it tasted like paradise. "What's this called?" he said after munching the first one.

He shouldn't be apologising to her. He had every right to speak to her the way he did. Mia knew that she had driven him nuts over the past week with her sulking and complaining and he had put up with it, like he always did. She really didn't deserve him sometimes.

She let out a breath that she hadn't realised she'd been holding when he smiled and immediately she leaned into him as his arms went around her. This is the way they should have been saying goodbye from the start but she had to go and wreck it. With a small chuckle, Mia looked up at him. "Well we usually have this huge christmas tree that sits in the middle of camp and we each have our own decoration that we place on the tree." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. "Oh yeah and you're going to have to make one to put on the tree too." That was going to be fun to watch. Because he was not allowed to use magic.

"Christmas Eve, after the young ones have gone to bed we place the presents under the tree. In the morning we open up our presents, eat a huge feast. You'll love that part." She gave him a wink. "We have a game of cricket and then we party." The whole naked thing was not too far off the mark for some of the people that lived there. She wasn't sure whether to tell him that or not.

Kurumi laughed, not giggled, this time. "So, perhaps you and I are following in the footsteps of one of the Founders then in our love of dragons?" That wasn't a bad thing when you really thought about it. She could certainly live with this concept.

And Kurumi was laughing more when she say the sparkle in Jonathan's eyes and the slight dribble of drool that was trickling down the corner of his mouth. "I haven't come up with a proper name yet," Kurumi said shaking her head as she watched him enjoying the cookies. "They are a chocolate cookie with an orange cream filling. I baked them for the train ride over, although they are mostly meant for first years and prefe---" She cut herself off and her eyes widened like an owl's.

She hadn't even told Selina yet, and she was sure he red head would strangle her for not being the first to know.

Kurumi set the box down on the bench between them and tugged n her hair a bit.

"Jonathan, can I ask you something?" she said timidly. It wasn't that she was looking for a distraction per say, but it was something that she had been wanting advice on for some time. Her best guy friends were far away. Adam...he...he was never coming back - something that still hurt her. Salander was probably busy with Lexi and she didn't want to disturb them. Conan was missing, but she didn't feel comfortable talking with him about relationships just yet. Then there was Treyen, the boy she had been closest with but who clearly wanted nothing to do with her. Truth was, he was the problem. "Do you have someone you like? Not as a friend like, but like like?" She peeked up through her bangs with her violet eyes.

*awkward*
 

"Maybe..." the four founders were excellent people. They have come up with the best wizarding school ever. Although, it is a fact that Salazard Slytherin hated muggle borns and half-bloods. The 3 didn't see it to be a problem though and neither does Jonathan. His great grandfather and grandfather still abide to that principle though. Purebloods and the superiority and what not. Pfffsshhh. It's not really important anyway.

Jonathan took another cookie. This was just so delicious and Jonathan is notorious for his sweet tooth. He loves chocolates. Last term he ate chocolate cakes most of the time. It's a good thing he didn't gain much. According to his parents, he grew thinner. Really? From the amount of food he ate, he still got thinner?

"No name... but still good" Jonathan finished two cookies already when he heard Kurumi talked about giving them to first years and prefects. "Will you be giving these to someone?" he smiled, well, he doesn't want to tease Kurumi. She did have a rough year last term. No need to remind her about that one.

And then it just got awkward. 0__________________________0.

L-like s-someone. Jonathan turned to Kurumi with a blank expression. "Uhmm.." so how should he say this. "hmmmm" Jonathan is really not good with answering these stuffs. He can talk about anything all day but when it comes to feelings of liking or loving someone he tends to froze.

Which is now, happening. "I l-like someone. Of course i do" he answered that one easily "But I don't have a gir--" gulp. Jonathan didn't want to admit it but "--girlfriend".

Sigh...

He looked down and wanted to hide under a rock. A big heavy rock that no one could see him even if he would just lay there. His cheeks slightly flushed. That was an awkward question to be asking him. "Why?" Jonathan asked. And of course, he wants to know why.

Yes, this was much better.

Nikolai let out a content sigh and.. he hadn't realized just how much he was going to miss her. Sure, he KNEW he was going to, but actually seeing her off to the train, and the fact that she had stayed with him for almost the whole summer instead of just a week or two, it was going to be worse than before. He wouldn't tell her, because she would probably bring up not wanting to go back to school again, but he was so glad this was her last year.

At least he had Christmas to look forward to.

With the way Mia was explaining, even though he was not looking forward to making his own decoration because he was not so good at that kind of stuff, he was excited already. He hadn't had a family Christmas in such a long time. "That sounds fun." Especially the feast part. Pulling away from her, he kissed her softly before wrapping his arm around her waist and pushing her trunk closer to the train once more. He was holding her to that promise she made.

And, since it was going to be brought up anyway.. "I'm going to miss you."

"its ok and thankyou, congrats on getting to be a prefect it sounds really good." replyed skye.
skye had loads of questions to ask but wasnt sure where to start "do first years get to do anything with the magical creatures, i love animals."

Kurumi shook her head as she waited in silence for Jonathan to hear the rest of her question. No, no one in particular. Just the thought of giving them to prefects was enough to make her break out into a rash. They weren't so much her superiors anymore, she was one of them. The youngest she imagined. She had never spoken to the Gryffindor male prefect, despite them both being on the Quidditch team together. He had always seemed to not be at practices and had never made a match. So, she already felt at a bit of a disadvantage compared to the other houses who she was sure knew each other. Hufflepuff had Arya and....Treyen...

Jonathan's small gasp of surprise told her that he had finally registered what she was asking. She tugged on the edges of her white skirt and couldn't bring herself to look at him.

Kurumi breathed a sigh of relief. This would make things a bit easier knowing that he had someone he liked. At least he would be able to relate.

"Would you tell the person that you liked them, even if it would cost you your friendship?"

She was now looking at him directly in the eye now.

"Or, say there was a girl who liked you and she told you how she felt...would you...would you hate her for telling you how she felt?"

Kurumi smiled and took a seat. She gestured for Skye to sit down as well. "There is a class called Care of Magical Creatures, which is open to everyone where you learn all sorts of things," she explained. She opened her bag to look for her tin of cookies so she could offer the girl one. "Last term, for example, we had a sphinx come and visit class. She told us all about herself and even asked us some riddles." Finding the tin, Kurumi removed the cover and offered the girl her pick of them. "I love animals as well. Care of Magical Creatures is one of my favorite subjects."

Well he was taking the whole Christmas deal better than she expected. She had been sure he was going to say something about having to make the tree decoration and he didn't even ask what cricket was because he would have absolutely no idea what that was.

Apparently that was because he was trying to get her onto the train. She had to bite back the whine that was threatening to leave her lips. She had promised him that she wouldn't make a fuss. Even crossed her heart and everything.

Swallowing against the lump that had just suddenly formed in her throat, Mia gave him a small smile. "I'm going to miss you also." So much so that it was already beginning to hurt. Her hand found his and she squeezed tightly but not enough to cause any damage.

"Tell me again how fast the year will go?"

Whoah. Whoah. WHOAH!

Why with all these sudden questions of loving and hating and confessing? Jonathan wasn't read to be asked by these, he did confess twice and got hated for it. Well in way, he can actually give an advice based on experience alone. He's no expert frankly speaking. And he's not the most expressive person you could come across with.

"I liked a friend once" He shared. He actually never discussed this with anyone else. Kurumi would be the first one. "But she didn't quite return the feelings i have. Took awhile for us to talk to each other again" that's probably the risk you have to take when you confess your feelings to someone. "If it were me though, I wouldn't get mad" he didn't smile because talking about this just gave him flashbacks about last term. Awful way to start school.

"I like honest people. If a girl told me she likes me, I would never hate her even though I'm not feeling the same way as she did." what's to hate really? It shouldn't be like that now should it?
"No one deserves to be hated Kurumi. Hate is a strong word. Very." he added as he looked at her.

Then it hit him. Was she talking about Treyen? That Hufflepuff guy from last term? Sure, no one knew what really happened after the news the aparecium lady gave. Well, who else could she be talking about?

Rose walked onto the Platform. WOAH, awesome! I IS BACK! Rose smiled.

He hadn't meant to upset her, he was just.. they were going to have to say goodbye anyway, and even though there was still plenty of time before the train pulled out, he figured it would have been easier to say them goodbyes before that time came. Apparently though, it was just as hard. He was almost regretting seeing her off, because of that.

Nikolai smiled at Mia's question, and he returned the squeeze to her hand. His walking had slowed down quite a bit.. what if the train left without her? No, he had to make sure she was on it.

"It will go by so fast." Well, he hoped it would. "And then when it is finally over, you'll be stuck with me and you'll see just how annoying I can be." See, he was already annoying; he was rhyming.

"WOW i cant wait to start the lessons" skye picked a cookie out the tin "thankyou i didnt relise how hungry i am i hope they have crunchies or dairy milk chocolate" said skye.
skye sat there eating the cookie trying to come up with some more questions "what other subjects are your favourites, i dont really like maths dad tryed to teach it me at home but i dont really understand it?, do you get homework?, oh and whats the food like? i hope they do strawberry jelly my favourite!" skye didnt relise that she asked 3 or 4 questions at once i was getting to carried away. there was so much she wanted to ask before she got to hogwarts for the first time.

Sage had just said good bye to her older brother and younger siblings and had been wandering around the platform. She was struggling with her trunk and owl when she accidently bumped into a young girl talking to an older one.

"Oof!" Sage looked to see what she had bumped into, "Oh Geez! I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going at all!"

Sage smiled sheepishly...

"You mean...the Ravenclaw girl...right?" Kurumi squeaked looking at him nervously. She didn't mean to pry, the words had actually come out before she realized that she had said them. "S-S-Sorry, I-I don't mean to make things difficult...it's just...I don't feel like I have anyone I can really talk to about all this..."

Kurumi leaned back and listened a bit more. She was glad that Jonathan was the type of guy that appreciated a girl telling her honest opinion. Why wouldn't she like more guys that appreciated honest as well. It seemed like, Treyen didn't...and that hurt the most considering he had always told her that she should be honest and not hide anything. She felt...betrayed.

"I was honest once...the first time I ever confessed my feelings actually and, well, he rejected me. Those feelings anyway. We agreed to give each other space and I didn't see them for months. When I did, at the closing feast, they looked upset that I had even said hello." She sighed and hunched her shoulders. "I feel like I shouldn't have said anything at all..."

She looked up at Jonathan innocently, not realizing the weight of what she was just about to ask.

"I feel like...I am just one of those people who doesn't deserve to feel THAT way..."
"You're welcome," Kurum smiled as she watched Skye eat one of her homemade cookies. "Not to worry, there are plenty of sweets on the food trolley. I recommend the licorice wands." Kurumi sat silently, giving the first year her undivided attention. "Actually, Arthimancy is perhaps my other favorite subject." She simply couldn't decide between it and Care of Magical Creatures. "Of course I will help. Even if we are not sorted into the same house, I can help you in the library instead of the common room." And then came a whole bunch of questions at once and Kurumi couldn't help but giggle. "Each class gives you homework," she nodded. "The food is fantastic. The house elves are always busy at work preparing things. I go down to the kitchens sometimes in my free time to bake cookies and they are always very accommodating."
Holy Hippogriff!

Kurumi jumped to her feet when she saw another younger student stumble.

"A-Are you alright?" she asked as her violet eyes scanned her for any visible scraps or anything. The platform was becoming more and more crowded as it became closer and closer to it being time for the Hogwarts Express to depart.

"Here, let me help you with your cage."

This had been a bad idea having him come see her off. Previously she would say her goodbyes to him at home and then she would just go. Here though, it was slightly agonising having to wait for the inevitable separation.

They were standing in front of one of the doors and Mia looked over her shoulder at the train and she could feel her eye beging to sting. "I like it when you're annoying." she said as she turned back to look at him. She did her best to smile at him but it was a little bit wobbly. "And we'll have Christmas and Spring Break." So it won't be too bad. She hoped.

Letting go of his hand, Mia reached up and grasped his shirt with her hands and pulled him to her. Tipping her head forward, her lips found his and it started with a light brush before she closed her eyes and deepened the kiss.

After a few moments, she pulled back, letting go of his shirt. "When I get on the train, I want you to leave straight away." Her bravado was starting to falter and if he stayed any longer, she was going to lose it completely.

Taking a step backwards, Mia pressed two of her fingers to her lips. "I love you." Anothet two steps and she could feel the train door at her back. She lifted a foot and stepped onto the train, never taking her eyes off him.

"Always."

Jonathan laughed lightly when she called Jeanne, Ravenclaw girl. Well she is under Ravenclaw but the fact is after they both started to talk again it was practically normal. Awkward at first but then after awhile Jonathan tried to forget and became sober about. Heck, they both even joked about it sometimes. And finally Jonathan realized that his feelings for her were more of short-term. Infatuation or whatever it is they call it. "Yeah, Ravenclaw girl" he nodded. "It's okay. We're both friends again." they are thankfully.

OKAY.
No crying. It might look like Jonathan is bullying her or something.

Jonathan smiled and tapped her shoulder for comfort. "Everything's going to be okay." that's what Ayumi always told him. Everything will be unfold anyway. "Give this one some space and when you guys are ready to maybe talk. Then talk about it." situations like this should be carefully done. Time heals and giving someone some space to think is definitely appropriate, especially Treyen. Like she said, he kinda hates her right? Sooner or later he'll talk "He'll come around Kurumi. Don't worry"

So maybe Jonathan is not big with words. He didn't quite grow up in a family full of emotions. Giving out advice is not his forte but he likes to help. Jonathan was in the same situation as Kurumi before.