"I'm okay, trying to have some free time at last, without homework and studying. It was quite a busy time for me lately." Jess answered.
"Tryouts...hm...I couldn't participate because I was down with a terrible cold exactly when they were held. Oh well, I might have a chance next year." she added with no regrets.
" I suppose you made it to the team again, right? You're such a good flyer...I missed you so much. We should hang out more often."

Out of the sudden, Ellie was babbling about some crazy and strange thing called repelent. Willow had never heard that word before, and whatever it was, it sounded as an insult. She was not sure if that what it was though "What's a repelent?" She demanded, completely ignoring the rest Ellie's speach about she liking the Lake.

Willow listened intently at Ellie. "You are having nightmares?" She asked with concern. She rarely had nightmares, in fact, she rarely had dreams while she slept. "Have you been under stress lately?" She inquired, with a frown on her face. According to what she had read stress, was one of the reasons of having nightmares "Nightmares can be related to physical causes such as a high fever, or psychological ones such as psychological trauma or stress in the sleeper's life" Willow added with a matter-of-factly tone of voice. The Ravenclaw on her, was coming out. "Or they can also have ano appearent cause" Willow shrugged at this.

"I highly doubt that you won't make the team" Willow said, not giving much importance to that matter. Ellie was easily the best chaser, the snakes had, and if their captain didn't make her part of the team again, then Denver was an idiot who didn't cared about winning the Cup. "Don't worry about that. Maybe the stress of the Tryouts is what's making you having these nightmares" Mmmmmmm..Time to go back to the library!

Willow smiled a little, as Ellie asked what was wrong with her. Truth be told, she was sure that many things were wrong lately, but she wasn't in the mood to talk about it. "Quidditch tryouts" She lied quickly, answering with the first thing that popped in her mind. That was completely the opposite of course, because as far as she new, she had done quite well on the tryouts.

Ellie nodded, she had been quite busy too.
More than she could even imagine then she would be.
“Cold?!” Ellie raised an eyebrow. “Oh geee that is bad Jess. You are better now, I hope.”
Ellie couldn’t imagine herself missing the tryouts. She could be dying but she would miss it.
Ellie shrugged. “I don’t know if I made the team Huffie.”
Oh gee, did just Jessica told that Ellie was a good flyer? She felt her cheeks turning pink, that must be the only way to turned it pink, because Ellie rarely blushed.
“Thanks Huffie.” She said with an honest smile “I know! I miss you too! We can go to Hogsmead together.”





Ellie blinked, how could the Ravvie girl not know what a repellent was!?
Oh wait.. she was a pureblood and her father hated muggles.
Ellie had almost forgotten that part.
“A repellent is something that muggles wear to protect themselves from insects.” She said while she nodded. She felt useful when people asked things that she could actually answer… correctly.


Ellie bit her lower lip to avoid a laugh, she was starting to talk like an intelligent know it all (in a good way) Ravenclaw.
Willow was definitely a Ravenclaw, no doubt.
Then she stopped biting her lip and said “No, well, I’m not under stress I think..” she that studying a little bit more was stressful.
Maybe it was..
she took her hand to her forehead and looked at Willow.“I don’t have high fever..and I don’t think that I have any trauma..”
just my sister.. but I think that doesn’t count.
“I think it’s the last one Ravvie. I just can’t understand why I’m having those nightmares! They are taking my sleep and I’m feeling more and more tired.”
She gave a few steps then turned to Willow with a shrug “Maybe this means that I’m officially crazy.”


Another complement about Quidditch.
Ellie couldn’t handle with complements, she never knew what to do after revive them.
She felt her cheeks turning to pink, again. The Slytherin girl bit her lower lip and said trying not to think of her cheeks with a smile. “Thank you Ravvie. I think the same about you.”
“Maybe the stress of the Tryouts is what's making you having these nightmares”
That sentence was stuck in her head. Maybe it was really the stress of the tryouts.
Or not.
“No, when the tryouts started I was already having nightmares.” She said pensatively, more to herself than to Willow


Ellie raised an eyebrow. Lie, lie, lie!
She could see in Willows face that she was lying, besides she had been avoiding that question and she was in a bad mood. “You are such a bad liar Kovac.” She said while she rolled her eyes with a small laugh and walked to her friend.

He walked into the gardens, having no idea where he was. he was getting used to just appearing in places without knowing how he had arrived there but he decided this place seemed nice.

Dia nodded, listening to her explain. "Sounds good," she glanced around the gardens. "Yes, I was going to--of course, as I don't have it currently, I'll have to plant it later..."

She nodded. "I think it'd be great to have it here.. It's a beautiful plant." She continued to work doing maintenance work on the gardens, sweeping the walkways and cleaning up leaf litter from the planters.

Dia smiled. "Thank you." she nodded, joining Xana in the maintenance work.

Hermy entered the garden, wrapped up warm in her winter cloak and Ravenclaw scarf. On her hands she wore fingerless gloves and a chunky blue bobble hat covered her hair and kept her ears warm. She smiled, looking at the unspoilt snow across the student gardens. Shame she was about to make footsteps in it to get to her plant.

On reaching her hybird, Hermy smiled. Although the bloom had gone, and the leaves had a lovely shaping and it was these Hermy had come to sketch as they poked through the snow. She sat down, not caring about gettng dapm through her thick coat, pulled out her sketchpad and quill and ink sand set to work. She wanted this to have the affect that n old botanical painting would have had.

Having missed seeing Hermy this morning, he decided to go see if she was checking on her plant. If nothing else, he could go see what it looked like, though he wasn't sure that he might recognize it.

As he approached the garden plots set aside for the students, he knew he didn't have to worry about that now. As the smile opened across his face, he hurried his pace to go to her. He walked up quietly to her and kneeled down wanting to see her work before he interrupted.

Hermy inked her peacock feather quill with some brown ink, and lightly started to sketch an outline. She had chosen the brown especially for this purpose, and was hoping it would help give the drawing that aged affect. She would age the background carefully later, if the sketch came out alright. It was unusual for Hermy to be unsure how a picture would turn out, but today the main reason was that she was working straight in ink rather than sketching first. It was more of a challenge this way, and she slightly stuck out her tongue as she worked.

When Hermy had half completed a light outline, she noticed a shadow across her page. She glanced up to see her favourite Hufflepuff there. "Finn!" she said, wanting to leap up and hug him, but unable to due to the way her sketchpad and ink were balanced. "What a lovely surprise." She grinned, and her stomach leapt.

Finn watched quietly as she drew. He was impressed as she was using ink. He didn't know much about art, but he knew that ink was harder.

She turned to face him and he saw her smile and then he reached down to hug her around the waist. His new hat hid the yellow streaks that had appeared in his hair that he had been unable to get out. So the hat would have to do. It was a Chutley Cannons hat. Gah!, he thought and wondered what was going on with him.

Those thoughts left as he looked at her.

Hermy carefully laid down her quill, minding not to dribble brown ink everywhere, and put the lid back on the ink bottle. The outline was looking good and she didn;t want to spoil it by way on an accident. She grinned as Finn reached and hugged her, and Hermy pulled his arms round her tight. He made her feel wonderful.

She looked up at his hat. "The Cannons eh?" she said, mentally noting that down. One of those little details that made present buying and the such so much easier. Hermy was a stipler for details like that, both socially and in her work. The finer the brush and detail, and more happy she was with the work - some of her work was almost photographic because of that fact. "I'm more of a Harpies girl myself."

As she gathered his arms around her, he took in her light perfume and smiled more. After she had put her things away, he sat beside her and listened as she looked him over. He hoped the yellow streaks weren't showing.

"Yeah. My dad got me onto them. It's quite a good team." He giggled as she mentioned the Harpies. "I suppose all the girls go for them."

Hermy smiled. "I guess they do. I'm not really sure how I got into them, from the Prophet I guess. Not that I've been a supporter long - Quidditch wasn't my thing til the summer, as you know."

It was strange, there was something she could detect with Finn that was, well, slightly peculiar, but she couldn't work out what it was. Maybe it was just his hat covering his hair that had made his complexion look different. Or the reflection from the snow. She had an artistic eye and could pick out minor light changes, perhaps it was just that. She tried not to show her intrigue on her face. Afterfall it was probably only her seeing things.

"So have you been to lots of matches?" Hermy had never seen a league team play, and wondered what the atmosphere was like. She was starting to get worried about her own first game coming up soon.

"yeah." He agreed with her. "I thought maybe it was just because it's an all girl team." he smiled at her.

He noticed a look on her face. It was somewhat questioning. He nervously pulled his hat lower, afraid the streaks might be showing.

"Not a lot. Dad usually takes me to one a season. He's got season tickets and uses them for his business associates." He looked at her and smiled, "You?"

Hermy shrugged. "I guess thats probably why they stood out to me, but I like to read all of the match reports to be honest. And make sketches from the photos."

She paused as she saw Finn pull his hat down further. "Cold ears?" she asked, glad of her own woolly hat. Instinctively she rearranged it so it covered her both her ears and some more of theback of her neck where it met her scarf.

Hermy shook her head. "I've never been. I'm not exactly going to go with my family, am I?" She laughed. "The closest I've got is watching the Professionals play earlier this term." She smiled. "I'd love to go to a live match though, one day. Or the Quidditch World Cup."

He nodded. "Well, they are a good team as well. I guess I've just been conditioned to the Cannons." He smiled as he thought of one of the few pleasures he shared with his dad.

He looked surprised when she asked of his ears. And then, grateful for the cover, he said "Yes. QUite cold. Should have worn a sensible hat like yours."

"No, I don't suppose you would." he replied. "Maybe I can get mah dad to let you come with us this year." He said, hopefully.

Hermy smiled. She was glad to know that Finn enjoyed some company with his father. "Much better than trying to be enticed into liking football...I wish I'd been introduced to Quidditch as a child. Maybe I'd have been a better player." She rubbed her hands together to warm them up.

"Perhaps you should. I reckon a bright orange one with a big pom pom on the top." She laughed. "A pom pom that wobbles as you walk." Hermy grinned, and shook her head so the bobble on her own hat wobbled. She giggled and hugged into Finn.

Hermy's eyes widened. "A trip to see the Cannons?" She was in awe of seeing any professional team in action. "That would be amazing!" She hugged him tight. She knew she wanted to asked Finn something, but didn't know how to say it. Hermy had a feeling inside, it was telling her that soon was the right time.

He nodded. "Well, my early introduction hasn't really impacted my skill so much. But I love to watch. It's quite amazing watching them speed around." He saw her trying to warm her hands. He took them in his own and wrapped them in his robe.

He laughed as she described the hat he should get. "It would be lovely, I think." he laughed as he tried to catch her bobble. When she hugged into him, he wrapped his arms around her.

Finn smiled at her some more. "yes. I think it would be very nice to have you with me at a match. It would certainly make for better company I think." Her tight hug made his tummy feel all soft. He rested his chin on the top of her head and relaxed with her.

Hermy nodded. "Wow, I can imagine." The thought of a professional match made her nervous about her upcoming match. She dreaded being the weakest on the pitch due to her distinct lack of experience. She hoped they didn't play Slytherin first, Hermy didn't want Marco laughing at her.

"I'll try and remember to get my aunt to knit you one then. How does orange, yellow and red sound? To match your shoes?" She giggled as he tried to catch her bobble.

"If the opportunity arises, I'd love to go with you. It would be wonderful." Hermy snuggled into Finn, and relaxed as Finn rested his chin on her head. "Finn," she said quietly. "Can I ask you something?"

He listened to her. "What about you? Are you excited about your first match?" He couldn't wait to get the chance to cheer for her. "Of course if it's against the huffies, I can't cheer very loudly for you." He smiled at her, being sure he would cheer just as loudly.

"That would be fantastic!" he exclaimed. "And I think those colors are perfect. Perhaps a hint of blue though, to represent someone special?" he hinted.

"It's settled then. I'll send an owl right off and ask him. "

Having heard the gentle question, he nodded. "Of course. Anything you like." He said, quite happy with her.

Hermy nodded. "Definitely, but very nervous at the same time. I've got absolutely no game experience so going into my first competitive match is pretty scary." She smiled. "But, yeah, I'm really looking forward to it." As Finn mentioned not cheering very loudly against the Huffies, Hermy pushed him away playfully. "Sure!" she said, laughing.

"A hint of blue?" She raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure that could be managed." She smiled knowingly. That just told her this was the right time, her heart started to quicken, and her stomach gave that excited nervous leap to had come to get used to when to was near Finn.

"I think I've found someone very special to me, and I want to let him know." She said it slowly and carefully. "I was wondering if he felt the same thing..." Hermy wanted this to happen the right way.

"Well, " he began before he was pushed away. He wrapped his arms about her again. "It is my house and I'm supposed to support it, right?"

He smiled and thought that the blue would go wondefully with the colors she had mentioned. It may not look like it to anyone else, but he didn't care.

"Well," he said, thinking and trying to help. "Maybe you should tell him and then ask what he feels about you?" He suggested, with a lump in his throat.

Hermy let herself be enveloped by his arms, and pulled a face. "I suppose so, if you have to." She said, disappointedly, both grinning and wrapping her arms round him. "Though if you cheer to loudly for the Huffies, and not enough for me, I might have to hit a bludger at you!" She giggled.

"Okay then," Hermy said as she turned to look Finn directly in the eyes. "Finn," she started, squeezing him hand. "You are that special person." Her eyes twinkled. She paused, unsure what to say next.

He laughed at her face. "I'll have to keep an eye out for bludgers then?" He grinned. "I am quite sure that I can keep my composure long enough to show a hint of love for blue." Her giggles were musical.

He listened. She had gotten a little quiet before she said he was the person. As the words sunk in, his face broke out in a wide smile before he responded. He wasn't sure words were enough. "Hermy," he said as he squeezed her hand in reply, "You are quite special to me too."