'Err, RIGHT. Of course you do,' Terry hastily added, though he couldn't help but glance at her curiously. 'Why exactly do you not like animals, eh? Is it just one of your quirks? Just something that you like that's different from the rest of us animal-loving fools?' Sticking his tongue out at her, he forced himself not to bow to an imaginary audience with a flourish. DOOD. He was on a roll here!

A teeny tiny smirk found itself dancing on the corner of his lips, and he found himself quickly swallowing down a chuckle. Heh, she looked kinda cute when she was worked up. No need letting her see he found her amusing. She might eat off his head. ...and Terry kinda VERY valued his pretty head. 'Whoa, whoa, WHOA.' Terry backtracked swiftly, waving his hands in the air, palms facing her in mock-surrender. 'I'm sorry. Jeesh. I meant to say you'll make a super-awesome fantabulous captain, girl.'

'Tsk tsk, Willow. There you go again with the more than slightly insulting 'kid' remark. Did you really not learn anything at that wedding that summer?' Terry clucked mock-sternly, then found himself raising an eyebrow as an image of him taunting her by playing with her hair flowed into her mind. MWAHA. That'd been funny. He had to shake his head to loosen the thoughts from his mind. 'I'mma take that as a 'YES' in WillowLand.' Terry murmured flippantly, then finally resorted to begging her. 'Please please please PUH-LEASE Willow?' His hands clasped together, his bottom lip pushed out in a slight sulk, Terry implored her silently. She HAD to meet Mr. RAWR. One look at him and she'd be converted! Atleast he thought so anyway. 'I promise, if after the first meeting you dislike him still, I PROMISE you'll never have to lay eyes on his again.' Eh, so the idea of that disturbed him slightly, but right now, he'd take any chances she gave him.

Teehee. Making a comical fishy face, he batted his eyelashes at Willow, squeaking out, 'What can I say Willow Kovac? You happen to be my earth and sun. You set my blood alight from right the other side of the room. So how can I want to waste even a single second of being in your glorious presence?' He finished by miming holding his heart lovingly in his hands, then whipped it to the girl with a dramatic flourish, looking sorrowful, 'I hope you take care of it for me.'.

He paused though to look at her a little strangely. '...have you spoken to her lately?' His voice slipped out a little fearful. Eh. This was NOT a good signal. He watched her push her hair out of her eyes, then asked distractedly. 'Have you done something to your hair? ...It looked different somehow.' Terry looked at her shiftily, a dark rising up into his hair, 'Is that so? Well this is certainly fascinating Miss Kovac,' Leaning forward studiously, he pulled out a tiny pad out of his pocket, then held it into the air dramatically, a quill poised over its surface, 'Tell me then, exactly what does your cup of tea require?'

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclipsed

'Err, RIGHT. Of course you do,' Terry hastily added, though he couldn't help but glance at her curiously. 'Why exactly do you not like animals, eh? Is it just one of your quirks? Just something that you like that's different from the rest of us animal-loving fools?' Sticking his tongue out at her, he forced himself not to bow to an imaginary audience with a flourish. DOOD. He was on a roll here!

A teeny tiny smirk found itself dancing on the corner of his lips, and he found himself quickly swallowing down a chuckle. Heh, she looked kinda cute when she was worked up. No need letting her see he found her amusing. She might eat off his head. ...and Terry kinda VERY valued his pretty head. 'Whoa, whoa, WHOA.' Terry backtracked swiftly, waving his hands in the air, palms facing her in mock-surrender. 'I'm sorry. Jeesh. I meant to say you'll make a super-awesome fantabulous captain, girl.'

'Tsk tsk, Willow. There you go again with the more than slightly insulting 'kid' remark. Did you really not learn anything at that wedding that summer?' Terry clucked mock-sternly, then found himself raising an eyebrow as an image of him taunting her by playing with her hair flowed into her mind. MWAHA. That'd been funny. He had to shake his head to loosen the thoughts from his mind. 'I'mma take that as a 'YES' in WillowLand.' Terry murmured flippantly, then finally resorted to begging her. 'Please please please PUH-LEASE Willow?' His hands clasped together, his bottom lip pushed out in a slight sulk, Terry implored her silently. She HAD to meet Mr. RAWR. One look at him and she'd be converted! Atleast he thought so anyway. 'I promise, if after the first meeting you dislike him still, I PROMISE you'll never have to lay eyes on his again.' Eh, so the idea of that disturbed him slightly, but right now, he'd take any chances she gave him.

Teehee. Making a comical fishy face, he batted his eyelashes at Willow, squeaking out, 'What can I say Willow Kovac? You happen to be my earth and sun. You set my blood alight from right the other side of the room. So how can I want to waste even a single second of being in your glorious presence?' He finished by miming holding his heart lovingly in his hands, then whipped it to the girl with a dramatic flourish, looking sorrowful, 'I hope you take care of it for me.'.

He paused though to look at her a little strangely. '...have you spoken to her lately?' His voice slipped out a little fearful. Eh. This was NOT a good signal. He watched her push her hair out of her eyes, then asked distractedly. 'Have you done something to your hair? ...It looked different somehow.' Terry looked at her shiftily, a dark rising up into his hair, 'Is that so? Well this is certainly fascinating Miss Kovac,' Leaning forward studiously, he pulled out a tiny pad out of his pocket, then held it into the air dramatically, a quill poised over its surface, 'Tell me then, exactly what does your cup of tea require?'

Though she always let everyone know that she could not stand animals -just for future reference, in case someone decided to give her one of those things- the girl simply detested to answer the same question, over and over again. How nosy could people be? Was it not 'I do not like animals' enough? "I just don't like them. Period," answered the girl curtly, using a tone that clearly stated that the animals discussion was over.

Why did she always find herself stuck with boys? She did not understand them, or like them, and nor did she want this to change. Rolling her eyes heavenwards, demanding what on earth had she done to deserve this kind of punishment, Willow forced the muscles of her face to move, and the quickly, a smile curled upon her rosy lips. The smile would have been polite -kind, even- if it weren't for the fact that it did not touch her forest green eyes. "Apology accepted." Of course she would make a good captain; there was a reason why Vindictus had picked her after all. And then, sounding completely serious about it, the girl inquired, "I am curious, though; what is the meaning of the word 'fantabulous?' I did not know such a word existed." Pfft. Of course it didn't--but at least she knew what it meant.

Still thinking that the Gods in the sky indeed detested her, Willow could not help but to look up at him from under her long, dark lashes, before raising an eyebrow at him. Of course she remembered that--but the sixteen year old was not about to admit that. So, putting up a pleasant, albeit cold, smile on her face, Willow mused sweetly, "You see, Terry, I do a pretty good job with erasing painful experiences from my memory, so, naturally, I do not rememeber that." Smiling one last time, and feeling quite smug about it, she went back to her parchment, as she absentmindedly, dipped her quill inside the little bottle of ink.

"Quit pouting, Saunders, is not going to work," muttered the girl sternly at him, her eyes now fixed on her readon. Imagine she'd discovered a new rune? What does it mean? Hmmmm. . . Interesting. Of course it was interesting--it was Ancient Runes! "Why waste my time? I am certain I am not going to like him." Obviously. Honestly, would he ever give up?

Huffing with impatience, and tapping her foot against the floor as she looked up to see him again, the fifth year could not help but to snort a little. But since snorting was an improper thing to do, she quickly covered it with a fake cough, quickly followed by a clear of her throat. One dark, delicate eyebrow jerked up at his odd behaviour. . . his air, sun. . . rubbish. Though she had to admit that her presence was indeed glorious.

Could you be more vain? The voice inside her head hissed

Shut up, Willow thought back, scathingly

"And I hope you save it for someone that actually wants it," Willow replied, rolling her eyes at his movements, as her hands swiftly grabbed his hands and put them on top of the table with his palms against the woods. And then, as quickly as she done it, she retrieved her hands. What if someone walked in and saw her touching his hands? She could not allow that to happen. "I'm sure you will have no trouble finding someone eager enough to have your heart." How corny that sounded. But corny or not, it was probably true.

. . . Talking to Evolette? "Not since the train. I do see her in classes, but I haven't really talked to her since." Almost gracefully, the girl shrugged, hoping that this would be last question pertinent to this subject. She was not his private investigator, or anything like that. "I guess it grew over the summer? I don't know, Terry. I don't really care about my hair; it is naturally perfect." Lies. Well, the first part was, anyway, as Willow did believe her hair was perfect.

Egomaniac, murmured the same voice inside her head. This time, Willow ignored it.

"Tall, with brown hair and handsome," answered Willow instantly, making emphasis on the brown hair and handsome part, so he would know it was not him. She was teasing, of course--about the last one, that is; Terry, as obnoxious as he was, was a fairly handsome boy. "And someone with a brain is also preferable." Cue the smug smirk in his direction. "And light eyes, too. . . " And then she caught herself. No, she did not want someone tall, with brown hair, smart, light eyes. . . No, sir. Because if she did, that would mean that-- "Nevermind, Terry. Just forget what I said, okay?" She shook her head. He'd better forget what she had said, if he knew what was good for him, "To summarize everything I just said, you are not my type. Period." She didn't even have a type, for crying out loud!

Riiiight.

'Hrrrm, and so the girls adds only more to her Mystery Woman persona,' Terry muttered more to himself than anyone else, and tucked the note away for future reference. He WAS one day going to find out exactly why she didn't like them. Who on earth could resist animals? Apart from miserable old hags...actually no, scratch that. Women who never got married and grew tres old and bitter still lived with a million and one cats. ...so what was he missing here?

Swallowing a grin at her blatant show of her annoyance with him, his eyes followed her up to the ceiling before piping up lazily, 'Ahhh, I see they've re-done the plastering this year. Good thing too, actually. Last term, the whole tiling was covered in gum some idiotic boys had seen fit to chuck up into the air.' NO WAY was he telling her who those dudes were. Seeing as how he had been one of them. He grinned at her sheepishly, '...it doesn't. I'm not even sure who came up with the word, one thing I do know though, it's FANTABULOUS.' Right, so he'd just used a word to describe itself. He hastily decided to change the subject.

'Particularly painful memories?' Terry echoed, finding himself extremely pleased with himself at that thought. 'I find some myself still intensely satisfied that I happen to have wormed my way into your thoughts at all. And that my lovely, is step ONE of my plan.' He leered at her comically, waggling his eyebrows in exaggeration.

'I. DUN. CARE. You must see him, pleasepleaseplease?' Terry waved a hand about as he got himself worked up. 'C'mon Willow. Surely it'll be less effort for you to see Mr. RAWR than sit her arguing with me? Besides, think of it this way,' Looking downcast at his folded hands, he peeked up at her through his hair, 'The sooner you get rid of me?'

Terry let out a tiny scream, looking in complete shock at his squashed hands against the table. 'Did you just ...squish my heart, Willow?' His voice slipped out in a shaken whisper. ...and then suddenly he was already over his initial shock. She. had. touched. his. hands. He snatched her hand back, placed a teeny tiny kiss on it, then settled it back in front of her on the table, looking as though absolutely unusual in the world had happened between them. He instead pressed a hand dramatically to his forehead with a flourish, 'Oh, there are plenty girls eager enough for my heart, make no mistake about it. The only trouble comes when thinking about someone worthy enough to both gain AND keep my frantically beating heart.' Le siiiiigh.

'Naturally perfect?' Quipped Terry, letting his gaze draw to her hair again as he nodded emphatically in agreement, he'd heard it only once before. from himself. '...Like mine then,'

'Tall? Mhmm. Dark hair, mhmm.' He counted off her list, scribbling crazily away onto his notepad, nibbling on his lower head in thought. 'Brains, I see? 'Course to keep up with your sharp tongue, it'd be entirely appropiate.' Light eyes, hokai. That went down too, until he hands froze across his paper abruptly. Several painstaking seconds crawled by. And finally his blue gaze dragged slowly back up to hers. '...I have no idea whether to ask you if you're feeling quite alright in the head. The only other alternative I can come up with is to,' and here he smirked at her smugly, 'scream 'GOTCHA' at the top of my lungs. Your call, which is it going to be?'

'I'm not your type?' Terry asked, playing along with her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. 'Who exactly were you describing just then?'

Upon entering the library, Keefer immediately ceased his humming and assumed a hushed, almost reverent demeanor. In his opinion, the library was a sacred place, but not for the reason most people would guess. The library was a place that held great mysteries to be solved, untold adventures, and who knows what else, that is true. But Keefer revered it because some of the greatest musicians in the world could have read the same books. I wonder if Mozart was a wizard..? Or any other great composer, for that matter. The most likely is definitely Haydn. His work is definitely the most playful..

Bringing himself back to the normal person's reality, he set about finding a table. Setting down his bookbag, he opened it up to reveal several parchments, most of which had rows of black lines interspersed with round dots with sticks, otherwise known as music notes. Rifling through the bag, he eventually discovered a quill and his favorite color-changing ink. Plunging his arm back in, he discovered his notes from History of Magic.

Hefting A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot from his bag, he opened it and began to reread the section on propaganda. He had never really been introduced to the subject, yet he found it fascinating. As he read, he could be seen jotting supplementary notes and illustrations onto his already-written class notes.

After wandering around the library, Brandon sat down at a table. He opened a book about Quidditch and began to read, without really taking in and understanding any of what the book was meaning.

Miranda sighed at all the homework spread out in front of her. It wasn't that any of it was TOO hard, there just seemed to be a lot of it. She pushed the book she was reading away from her and double checked her notes as to what assignment was next.

"Hmm, Charms. I forgot, I'm supposed to lock and unlock something!"

She began digging in her bag for the lock from class. Finding it, she looked around a moment. Not sure what else to do, she shrugged, got down on the floor, locking the chair leg to the table leg. She looked at it for a moment before pointing her wand at it. Flick and "Alohamora!"

The lock didn't open. She frowned and tried again. Quicker flick. "Alohamora!" This time, the lock dropped off. She smiled, relieved. Picking up the lock and sitting back in the chair, she marked off "Charms" on her parchment.

Next was DADA. Two inches. She pulled her textbook out and began reading, stuffing her quill behind her ear.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclipsed

'Hrrrm, and so the girls adds only more to her Mystery Woman persona,' Terry muttered more to himself than anyone else, and tucked the note away for future reference. He WAS one day going to find out exactly why she didn't like them. Who on earth could resist animals? Apart from miserable old hags...actually no, scratch that. Women who never got married and grew tres old and bitter still lived with a million and one cats. ...so what was he missing here?

Swallowing a grin at her blatant show of her annoyance with him, his eyes followed her up to the ceiling before piping up lazily, 'Ahhh, I see they've re-done the plastering this year. Good thing too, actually. Last term, the whole tiling was covered in gum some idiotic boys had seen fit to chuck up into the air.' NO WAY was he telling her who those dudes were. Seeing as how he had been one of them. He grinned at her sheepishly, '...it doesn't. I'm not even sure who came up with the word, one thing I do know though, it's FANTABULOUS.' Right, so he'd just used a word to describe itself. He hastily decided to change the subject.

'Particularly painful memories?' Terry echoed, finding himself extremely pleased with himself at that thought. 'I find some myself still intensely satisfied that I happen to have wormed my way into your thoughts at all. And that my lovely, is step ONE of my plan.' He leered at her comically, waggling his eyebrows in exaggeration.

'I. DUN. CARE. You must see him, pleasepleaseplease?' Terry waved a hand about as he got himself worked up. 'C'mon Willow. Surely it'll be less effort for you to see Mr. RAWR than sit her arguing with me? Besides, think of it this way,' Looking downcast at his folded hands, he peeked up at her through his hair, 'The sooner you get rid of me?'

Terry let out a tiny scream, looking in complete shock at his squashed hands against the table. 'Did you just ...squish my heart, Willow?' His voice slipped out in a shaken whisper. ...and then suddenly he was already over his initial shock. She. had. touched. his. hands. He snatched her hand back, placed a teeny tiny kiss on it, then settled it back in front of her on the table, looking as though absolutely unusual in the world had happened between them. He instead pressed a hand dramatically to his forehead with a flourish, 'Oh, there are plenty girls eager enough for my heart, make no mistake about it. The only trouble comes when thinking about someone worthy enough to both gain AND keep my frantically beating heart.' Le siiiiigh.

'Naturally perfect?' Quipped Terry, letting his gaze draw to her hair again as he nodded emphatically in agreement, he'd heard it only once before. from himself. '...Like mine then,'

'Tall? Mhmm. Dark hair, mhmm.' He counted off her list, scribbling crazily away onto his notepad, nibbling on his lower head in thought. 'Brains, I see? 'Course to keep up with your sharp tongue, it'd be entirely appropiate.' Light eyes, hokai. That went down too, until he hands froze across his paper abruptly. Several painstaking seconds crawled by. And finally his blue gaze dragged slowly back up to hers. '...I have no idea whether to ask you if you're feeling quite alright in the head. The only other alternative I can come up with is to,' and here he smirked at her smugly, 'scream 'GOTCHA' at the top of my lungs. Your call, which is it going to be?'

'I'm not your type?' Terry asked, playing along with her, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. 'Who exactly were you describing just then?'

Terry was never going to give up. It was practically silly the way he seemed to be wanting to figure her out; no one figured her out. Had he not learned, after one long year of knowing each other, that this was not going to happen? Willow Kovac was not the type that opened up easily, and yet, he just kept insisting. But as much as Saunders insisted, the girl was certain he was going to fail.

Well, she hoped he enjoyed his dissapointment, because as far as she was concerned, the conversation about animals was completely over.

"That is simply disgusting," muttered the girl to his comment. Idiotic boys. That did not surprise Willow one bit, for all the boys were idiotic. Well, not all of them, but the big majority of them certainly were. "That word does not exist. It is not in the dictionary." Hmph. Making up words. . . ruining the language, that's what they were doing. Honestly, fantabulous. . .

. . . Why did he sound so darned pleased? This was the part where he was supposed to complain, and wail like a girl because his ridiculously large ego had gotten injured! Grrrrrrr. "Pray tell, Terry, what exactly is this plan you are talking about?" Said the girl sweetly, and yet somehow, managing to sound dangerous.

"I am NOT going to meet your ludicrous pet, Saunders. Now, drop it," snapped Willow, finally losing it. "Trust me, Terry, I will get rid off you soon enough without the need of having to see your Pygmy-puff." Oh, and she will. He'd better have no doubt about that.

Rolling his eyes at his dramatics, and thinking that she was definitely NOT a Drama Queen in comparision to this one, the girl rolled his forest green eyes at him. "Yes, Terry, I just squished your heart," mused the girl, sarcasm flooding thickly on her tongue. How stupid. If she had squished his heart, he would be dead by now. But if Willow had been feeling annoyed by his mere presence earlier, it was nothing compared to how she was feeling now. Not only was Terry Saunders was being his usual self, but he had also the nerve to kiss her hand!

Taking deep breaths to control herself the girl slowly stood up and gathered all her belongings mechanically, concentrating only on her breathing, and not on the fact that Terry Saunders had just kissed her hand, and trying to convince herself that what had just happened was just product of her imagination—of some nightmare.It was the only way she would not end up slapping him. Had they been in another place, the girl would have, but Willow, as upset as she was, could remember well how strict Madam Kohan could be.

Done packing her parchment, ink, Ancient Runes book, stuff for her Quill article, and a book she had found about Magical Creatures that she would be needing for that final exam project fiasco, the girl slung her back on her shoulder, before meeting the boy’s gaze at last. And then, because her hands were practically demanding her to do it, the girl smacked his arm as hard as she possibly could.

“This is the last time you or any part of your body touch me, Terry Saunders,” Hissed the girl under her breath, “Because if you know what is best for you, and if you value your sanity, you will not do it again. You’ve been warned.” And with one last scornful look at him, she flipped her curtain of dark hair to the back, and went to take seat in another table far, far away from Terry.

'Well, of course it's disgusting,' Terry murmured simply, shrugging as he threw a cheeky look her way, 'We're boys. We're meant to disgusting. It's practically written in our genetic code.'

Seeing Willow was getting incredibly worked up, he held his tongue. for about the freaking first time in his entire existence. But only because he had set limits to how far he could push her. Too far and she'd run away so far she'd be completely out of her range to saunter after and annoy again.

He glanced at her steadily instead from under his dark hair, not saying a word. Belatedly, he realised this might just annoy her more. Haha. He would still get the Ravenclaw and Mr. RAWR to see one another ONE DAY. She couldn't kill him for thinking the thought, could she? For it weren't as though the girl was a mind-reader or anything, right? ...RIGHT?!

Terry cradled his squished organ, rocking it in his arms as he surveyed Willow in disappointment. 'I should probably never forgive you for this, you know? Probably never talk to you again after this. Only being all too aware of your ...certain infatuation with me, I think it might be too hazardous for your health if I weren't to talk to you even for one day, don't you think? And seeing as how the world would suffer SUCH a loss in your absence ....?'

Oopsies. He'd gone just slightly overboard there in annoying her. Eyeing her as she packed up her stuff, clearly agitated, his eyes widened as the girl drew her arm back to beat him up senseless twack him. Several seconds later he was blatantly staring at her in disbelief. 'Willow Kovac. You should be ashamed of yourself! Do you have any idea how dead you are if you were to ever be tackled over by a bunch of rampaging fanboys?' Her 'hit' could have been a stoopid breeze on his arm for all he knew! Or had she purposely gone easy on him just because it would pain her so to see any part of perfect him blemished? Hokai, he was exaggerating there a teeny bit, but still! Terry implored her instead, a tiny twinkle in his blue eyes, 'I am never going to wash this arm again, do you know?' He wondered briefly if he should consider framing that particular. It was evidence right that he could rile her up enough to undergo violence just for him? He was special. End of. ...only the framing idea might be taking things a little far. Accusations might fly instead about his stalker-ishness towards a certain Ravenclaw captain. Oops.

He'd forgotten Willow was now sitting like TEN tables away from him. Slanting a gaze at her, he whispered from behind a cupped hand, 'That last time, are you kidding? I'm not done with driving you around the bend just yet. And that automatically means you'll resort to more hits on me. ...although that could also be an excuse of yours to get your little hands on me and my hawt body.' Hrrrm. He'd never thought of that. It was certainly an interesting concept and he slouched in his seat, just smirking evilly at her.

As Etney wandered the corridors, he couldn't help but feel a bit empty inside. He hasn't seen any one of his friends in forever, but that was probably because he hasn't been around much. He was still homeisck and was dying to go back to Iceland, but as much as he pestered his family, they told him to tough it off and wait. And that made him annoyed.

Coming up to the library, Etney stuck his head in and looked around. He had nothing better to do and was trying to decided if he should stop and go read or something. Spotting Willow - he remembered her from last term. They got into a big of an arguement, if he remembered correctly, but that was as far as the memory went, since he didn't know quite what the arguement was about.

She looked annoyed at someone - probably the kid that was next to her and talking. Getting a grin on his face, Etney decided to go in an bug her some more - it couldn't hurt to kikll some of his boredom. She probably didn't even remember him anyway. Sauntering over, Etney slide into a seat next to her, then turned and stared. He made it in time to hear her warn the kid about not touching her. "Ew, icky. That doesn't seem to be very appropriate," Etney tilted his head and smiled innocently. "Hi. Remember me?" He grinned.

Terry Saunders was. . . the biggest idiot that had ever set a foot in Hogwarts, Willow was certain. It was beyond belief the way the boy just kept insisting on annoying, and annoying her, and annoying her some more.

Such a ridiculous kid. And to think he had the nerve to say she was infatuated with him. Preposterous! He wished she was. But unfortunately for him, Willow's taste could not be more peculiar than it already was. Not to mention that Terry Saunders was lacking in two things that Willow valued a lot: Brains, and the ability to behave like a normal person.

Harsh, that probably sounded, but that's what she thought.

Glaring violently at him, and deciding that keeping her mouth shut was the best thing she could do -Willow did not even want to think what she would have told him if she had opened to mouth to speak- the girl opened her History of Magic book, determined to do homework again.

Or not.

Looking up at the sound of another voice -a male voice, at that, ugh- the fifteen year old found herself staring at a boy that looked somehow familiar. Right. Whomping Willow kid that wanted her to buy him a drink. Perfect. Just what she needed. "It is very inaappropiate, yes," mused Willow, sounding rather impatient, "Which is why I don't like." Unfortunately, Terry failed to grasp that concept. Well, at least there was a boy that agreed with her on that--shocking. "Yes, I do." Except that I don't remember your name. "Did you finally realize that you don't need to buy drinks here? That you can get them for free?"

Etney glanced over at the other boy at the table - Terry - then wrinkled his nose as he looked away. Gross. Competition. Putting his attention back on Willow, he looked thoughtful. "Your name.. it's some type of.. plant. Right?" He nodded enthusiastically, adding, "Fern, right? No.. no wait, that's not right. It sounds more.. willow-y.. like a tree name, right?"

Fiddling with the binding on her books - he was never the one to sit still - he glanced up and blinked, aiming his hazel eyes in her direction. "Drinks?" He repeated, narrowing his eyes as he struggled to remember. Oh! "Ooooh," he breathed. "Like, water. No, no, you misunderstood me," Etney shook his head. "I just bought a drink the other day. They're not free," he frowned, silently accusing her of lying to him. Puffing out his cheeks in frusteration, he leaned back in his chair. "Though now that you brought it up, I am mighty thirsty. And you know the school better than me. Would you help a poor, foreign lad out?" He smiled sweetly at her - completely joking, of course.

Upon noticing the look that the boy offered to Terry, Willow could not help but to smirk. Just a little. Really, when the corners of her mouth started to twitch to allow her smirk to appear, there was nothing she could to stop it.

And then the smirk dissapear quickly, and her rosy lips pursed. Annoyance took over her expression at once. It was just her luck that her parents had decided to name her Willow, considering how much she detested plants. "My name is Willow. Not Fern." Fern. Honestly, who had that name?

Watching with the corner of her eye as he played -for she couldn't think of any other word to describe it- with her books, she tilted her head to one side, listening to him speak. "You bought a drink? Here? At Hogwarts?" After blinking her forest green eyes a few times, her dark, long eyebrows pulled together. "If someone really sold you a drink, well. . . I am sad to tell you that they pretty much robbed you." Sad? Pfft. She didn't even know the kid that well, "Drinks here are for free."

Raising his eyebrows at him, Willow replied, "See, I am quite busy right now, so if you want a drink, tell him," she gestured towards Terry, looking annoyed again, "To tell you where to get it. You would be doing me a favour if you do that, you know?" Not to mention that he was not really new anymore. He had been at Hogwarts since last term, for crying out loud.

"Willow!" Etney's eyes lit up as he let out what most would call a yell. "I knew it," he said, in a quieter voice. "You little tree-plant you," he cooed at her, grinning.

As she told him that someone robbed him, Etney shook his head. "No way," he denied, his eyes narrowing as he, for the second time, didn't believe her. Pausing as he reconsidered what she said, he shook his head and smiled. "Oh, oh, no. I was completely joking," he glanced away and bit his lip. "I get water for free.." Lie.

Folding his arms across his chest, he glanced at Terry. "No way! I don't want to go anywhere with him," he frowned. "And I definitively wouldn't want to do you any favors," he paused and looked at her smugly. "I doubt you even remember my name."

EH. So it was going to be the silent treatment from her then, was it? Whatevs. He wasn't apologising. He hadn't even done anything wrong here. Temperamental females, that's what the whole lot were. Rolling his eyes at the whole stoopid unfairness of the situation, he visibly cringed when a very clearly-uttered 'NMGGGG. I'm ....sorry if any, or ahh, most of the things I said earlier offended you, Willow. It won't,' ...major gulp on part. '...happen again.'

Squeezing his blue eyes shut, he contemplated sidling innocuously out of the darned place and NEVER set foot in here again only to instantly turn to stare as a guy (OUT OF COMPLETE THIN AIR, might he add) sauntered right over to Willow and sidled into a seat next to her. And he had the audacity to sit there and poke fun at him.

'Me? Please, I have better things to do then get,' jerking a thumb in the blatantly unwanted newcomer's direction, 'Scammed Drinks Boy here any beverages, thanks,' And the feeling certainly was mutual. Terry was in no mood to suddenly become bosom-besties with the guy, he didn't even know drinks at Hogwarts didn't cost a single penny, for Merlin's sake!

Turning to gaze at his robes hem in apt fascination, he couldn't resist throwing in a sideways, 'No, she really probably doesn't. Not after you and your brilliant stab at 'Fern' there, Genius.'

Miranda returned to her study table spot with another few books. Astronomy homework, check, now Herbology...and DADA. She still hadn't finished that. She chewed absently on the end of her quill as she re-read her Herbology notes, comparing them to the book now in front of her.

It was still snowing, making it impossible for Daphne Hopton to step foot outside. Technically, it wasn't impossible for her. She could go outside while it was snowing. There wasn't an invisible force keeping the doors blocked, however, Daphne didn't walk in snow.

She just didn't.

Taking a seat, she placed the small jewelry box, meticulously decorated with a pastel blue and creme printed wrapping paper. Above it, was a small beige bow. Drumming her fingers on the table, her free hand held up her chin. Daphne had made a date with Celandine today. If the clock above the library shelves was right, Daphne was early by 10 minutes.

This was going to take a while.

"It's snowing outside!" Celandine told Daphne happily, as if this was the most amazing news ever. It wasn't. It had been snowing choppily since December had started, but to Cela-- who had clearly just come from outside-- it was fantastic news. Grinning, she took a seat across from Daphne so that she wouldn't accidentally shock her.

She placed a fairly large, heavily and excessively wrapped package in front of her and peeked at Daphne from behind the indistinguishable lump. The paper was... interesting. It was pink with the gryffindor crest redone in pink rather than red, alternating with snowmen that waved at Daphne cheerfully. One slightly faulty snowman leered at Daffy from under its prime spot in the shadow of a ridiculously large and sparkly pink bow.

"Next year, I promise I'll actually give you your present ON christmas day instead of as a new years gift, okay?"

"Hmm," hummed Daphne in response, a small smile on her fleshy lips. She didn't trust herself to speak and declare the snow a pest, a wet and cold pest much to Celandine's dismay. "Lovely," she finally said her hazel eyes falling on the gift Celandine had brought.

The wrapping paper was bright and--unique. The snowmen waved at her cheerfully as if seeking her approval of their round snowy figures. Daphne Hopton, most definitely did not approve. The twitch on her right eyebrow told them so. Glaring at the angst filled ice man underneath the bow, Daphne reached out daringly and prodded it forcefully pretending to stab it right through it's frozen heart.

"No worries, Celandine," quipped Daphne stabbing the snowman repeatedly, ignoring the sparkly bow at the moment which had made her eyes go wonky for a while. "You can always make it up to me by visiting me during the summer."

She needed Celandine to visit during the summer or she couldn't possibly survive her Mother's latest bouts of insanity.

Celandine practically bubbled with enthusiasm at what she took as a set-in-stone invitation, "Ooooh Daffy! I'd love to! So much! And I'd be allowed to as well because you are a good influence and stuff! And not a boy like most of my other friends!" Cela immediately began planning all the things they could do together over the summer, "We can paint each others nails! And eat icecream straight from the tub while wearing our pajamas! And we can dress up! And we can climb trees! And we can go shopping!" Cela grinned, "And Plymouth is going to take me to a carnival since he's a carnie and can show me all the neat behind the scenes stuff!"

"Uhh," Daphne hesitated, immediately seeing some flaws with Celandine's plans. First of all, if Mrs. Hopton caught her eating out of the ice cream tub that would mean four laps around the artificial pond. Instead of thinking what her punishment would be for climbing a tree, Daphne focused on Celandine's last confession. "He's really a carnie?" she questioned with a small laugh. "I thought he was joking..."

A carnie? Really? Unable to control herself, Daphne went into a fit of giggles.

"He told me he was!" Celandine agreed, thinking that Daphne found this precisely as awesome as she did. "I bet he knows all the tricks for winning the best giant pink teddy bears!" Cela enthused, pushing Daphne's present to one side so that she could clearly see her friend.

"But... you really mean it, right? I can visit in the summer? Will I have to..." Cela straightened up and adjusted herself so that she was sitting more lady-like, "...behave?"

Pressing the back of her hand delicately against her mouth, Daphne continued to titter nonstop. Yes, Celandine was speaking to her and very honestly at that too but she couldn't help it! Morgan! A Carnie!

Oh, it was enough to put a stitch on her side. Stopping for breath, she held her ribcage with one hand, fiddling with the small wrapped jewelry box with the other. "Of course I mean it!" declared Daphne with a blush, not daring to look up at Celandine, frightful that she'd see that right now she was starting to think the entire plan over. Celandine was marvelous, but her Mother might not approve of some things although--considering Celandine's family she was sure Mrs. Hopton was willing to turn a blind eye to some questionable behavior.

But not all. "Probably," whispered Daphne finally as in fear of being overheard. "Well, yes, most definitely--at least in front of Mother. Father is never home and Davis doesn't really care," finished the girl with an artful roll of her eyes.

Davis was happy as long as they were breathing and in one piece.

"Oh thats great! We will have soooooo much fun! Even if we have to behave-- and I can, watch!" Cela stood up and disappeared behind some shelves for a moment before making a re-entry...

... hands clasped in front of her, eyes slightly downcast with a pretty little blush on her cheeks. It looked quite like one could place a book, or even a stack of books on Cela's head and they would stay perfectly balanced.

She sat down again, not throwing herself haphazardly into the seat, rather she sat down and adjusted the seat being all... mannersy. Cela giggled inwardly. Mannersy could be fun, though sometimes it was automatic.

"So... presents?" Celandine abandoned her little show and tucked her feet under herself on the chair.

Daphne watched silently, straight in her own chair as Celandine disappeared. "Celly?" called out Miss Hopton softly, well aware she was in the library. Celandine made her appearance, very much a demure version of her bubbly energetic self.

Unable to control it, Daphne laughed, the corners of her eyes crinkling with mirth. She began to wonder why she had worried about Celandine in the first place. Mother would love her, maybe even more than her.

"I can't wait," added Daphne pushing her gift towards Celandine gently. "I'll write home and have Davis plan everything. You first!" finished Daphne tapping the beige bow decorating the wrapped jewelry box.

"Neither!" Celandine agreed happily, still mentally listing all the fun things they could do over the summer. Cela reached for the present as Daphne nudged it to her and examined the pretty and classly wrap for a moment before slowly tearing the paper off. She examined the jewellery box for a moment before opening it and giving a little exclamation, "Oh! Daphne its so pretty!" super duper carefully, Celandine reached out her finger and stroked the locket, "Oh thank you, Daffy!"

She beamed at her friend before shoving the monstrosity on the table toward her, complete with the leering snowman, "Mine is a bit different. And I figure you probably have a set, but I charmed these especially-- with a little bit of help-- to resist and repel dirt and ick," Cela explained before gesturing to the present.