Sammy couldn't help but roll her eyes at her cousin. "I don't think Auntie Lorraine would appreciate much, you pushing sweet Legend into the lake." she smiled innocently. Katie was bound to love that comment. For some reason the two argued more than an old married couple. Married couple, hmmmmm...

Jeeze. This girl had an attitude! "Dude, there are so many people in our family. I can't keep track. There very well may be another Katie." she retorted. How Vannah dealt with her, Sam would never know. She listened as the Hufflepuff began to explain why she wasn't talking to Legend. But she didn't seem to know herself. "So you can't actually pinpoint why you're not talking to him? You're just not talking to him because he did something that you can't even remember?" she raised an eyebrow at her. First years. They were a weird bunch this term.

And the girl was at it again. "Dude! Who taught you to be so sarcastic?" She scowled. "I rather you not sneak up on me at all! Especially when I have have an open bottle of ink laying around." Brat.

Then she remembered William was standing a few inches away from them. He was probably the only boy...what was she thinking? William is the only boy Katie got along with. Besides Jae, but then again the only thing you can get in argument with that boy was Gaelic Football. She was going to have to ask him how she could get along with the girl.

Glancing at the spider in the "cage", Sam tried to remain calm. "It's looking at me. Why is it looking at me? Wait...no it really is looking at me. Crap!" Taking her eyes off the "thing", she turned her attention back to William. "No I'm not scared." she lied. She was flipping terrified! "You named it Goldie?" It sure wasn't a gold fish.

She then rolled her eyes. Of course Katie had a remark. "Thank you for your brilliance Mae. I never would have guessed it was a tarantula." The girl was pushing her patience. Patience she didn't have. Maybe it was time Katie went into the lake.

Noticing something fall from William's pocket, Sam reached down to pick it up. "Hey Will, you dropped something." she said. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed it was a picture of a man. A man that looked strangely familiar. "Who is that?" she asked curiously.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ama

"Well, that's reassuring!" exclaimed Daphne rolling her eyes even underneath the dark fabric threatening to go up her nostrils and suffocate her. She heard something drop and roll down the steps they had come up from. Her feet glided against the floor and Hopton attempted to put on as much weight on her legs as possible.

Maybe the Flying Pants would stop now, except, they didn't even as they passed two familiar voices; Wand! Oh, Wand! If only, her wrists weren't attached to one of the pants legs. Struggling, she managed to peek her eyes out. "Plymouth! My waaand! It's in my pocket!"

Plymouth mournfully watched his wand until it was out of sight. He was kind of FAILING at being Super Plymouth. Professor V would be SO disappointed! Plymouth was disappointed too. He didn't want to fail Daphne. He didn't want the pants to eat her face.

He liked her face.

So, with new fervor, Plymouth went on a search for Daphne's wand. In her pocket. Pocket. SHE HAD MANY POCKETS. ThudThudThud. Swiftly, Plymouth searched each pocket meticulously. He tossed out tissue, a bottle of something or another, lots of random pieces of papers....

... thank Merlin she didn't have that blasted duck in a pocket like someone else he knew would...


"AHA! WAND!" Plymouth found the booty and held it up high! SUCCESS!!! "You okay, Daphadil??? HANG ON!"

Samantha was anything BUT innocent. Katie glared up at her, not even attempting to hide her obvious annoyance. "No she wouldn't. Who says she would find out?" Better yet, who said Katie cared? Because she didn't. Not at all. Legend may just be a sweet kid, just another boy, as far as her mother was concerned - but that doesn't mean she was going to play along. Ohhh no. "I doubt Rae would mind. Surely she would understand," the little girl murmured thoughtfully, pondering over how Chosen's awesomely awesome step-mother would think of her pushing Legend into the lake.

"Hmmph!" Crossing her arms, 'that' look never left her face. She did not find Sam to be amusing in the least, she was losing her touch for sure. Must come with the old age. Silent, she resisted the smirk that tried creeping up. "There isn't unless someone went and had another kid that I don't know of," which wasn't all that crazy, in truth. The little Mae hadn't written home in quite a while, that involved going to the Owlery where the owls stayed. All there, staring at her with those little beady EVIL eyes, some with their heads turned all the way around. . SHUDDER. "Ye- No! Why does it matter that I'm not talking to Legend? It's not as if HE has tried talking to me either!" Defensive? Oh no, not at allllll.

An eyebrow raised, her scowl washed away by seriousness. The first year stared at the older brunette for a moment, debating with herself on whether to answer that or if it was unnecessary. Slowly, a smile appeared, her tone overly sweet. "I learned from the best," Katie nodded at her, as if to say 'YOU! DUH.' Sammy should be so proud. But she was asking too much now, "Uhuh, I'll keep that in mind." She lied, twirling a dark curl around her index finger.

"You're the one that asked!" Came the abrupt reminder in response to her cousin's sarcasm. HMMPH. She shook her head, looking to William with a slight flush of her cheeks. She very rarely blushed, but this was one of those moments. Her expression became apologetic, aware that both she and the seventh year had gotten a bit carried away bickering. "Sorry." Dark eyes found the picture in the Gryffindor's hand; curiousity caused her to step closer for a better look.

William turned his head from Sammy to Katie and back again, watching and listening to their nickering with a growing smile on his face. his blue eyes twinkled with unshed laughter as he listened, finally opening his mouth and chuckling heartily. They remined him of Ari and him and a moment of sadness overcame him as he thought of her, happy with no worries. Yeah she didn't have to worry, not with him around. Clearing the thought from his mind he kept on chuckling, finally breaking out into a fit of laughter. holding his sides in he wiped a tear saying, "sorry, you guys remind me of me and Ari." as the laughter finally wore down.

"Yes, his name is Goldie and he's the best pet I have." ok sure he was the only creepy pet he had but still he was the best, besides his owl and cat. not even realizing he had dropped anything he looked up frowning as Sammy picked up what looked to be a picture. It wasn't until Sammy asked him about the photo he had dropped without realizing it that he calmed down, a look of sadness over coming him. "That's my father Timothy." He replied to her question, staring at the photo as he edged closer to her.

he never knew his father, having died when he was young. It was a rather sad topic for him to get into, finding himself on the verge of tears whenever the topic came up. Not wanting to show how it affected him he smiled a brave smile and thought of Ziella, He wondered what she was doing right now, probably sleeping or eating he thought. That's all she ever did now, was sleep or eat. It worried him a bit and if she kept at it he'd have no choice but to tell professor Morgan about it.

Snapping out of his thoughts he looked up at Sammy and Katie. Now wasn't the time to be thinking of that, not when so many other things were going wrong. Like the lack of food now. Not that Hogwarts would ever run out of food but what if they did?

This girl was unbelievable! How can one little girl have that much attitude? How did Auntie Lorraine put up with it? Sheesh! And people said she was bad. Sam shook her head, not responding to the Rae comment. Alexis' step-mom was pretty cool, but she didn't see her being all that happy with her step-son being thrown into the water with a giant squid. A piece of her reddish brown hair fell into her eyes, it being down for the day. She had broke her last good ponytail holder. Stupid thick hair.

Sam couldn't help but laugh at the little Hufflepuff as she grew defensive. "It's ok, Mae. I'm sure you two will make up eventually. All married couples do." she snorted, patting her on the head like a little kid. Wait, she was a little kid! Sam chuckled again at the joke inside her head.

Her humor dropped when Katie said she learned from the best. It sounded like she was trying to imply that she, Sammy Edwards has an attitude. She did not have an attitude. That little brat! It was time for her to go in the lake!...Ok, maybe she did have an attitude. "Touche." the Gryffindor muttered, turning to the sound of laughter.

William seemed to find their little spat hilarious, as he held his sides in laughter. She could've gotten mad, and said this isn't a laughing matter, but William looked so adorable. She decided to let it slide.

Her attention was brought back to the photo. The more she looked at the more familiar it seemed to get. Then it clicked. "Dude, Katie. Doesn't he sorta look like Aunt Tracy?" she said, tilting her head. It still stung slightly talking about her aunt who had died a long time ago. She then began to wonder if Katie knew who she was talking about. After all, Aunt Tracy had died well before Katie was even born. The only reason why Sam knew what she looked like at all was from the pictures Samuel brought when he came to live with them.

MARRIED COUPLES?! The phrase 'If looks could kill' came to mind, and probably would for anyone whom seen the look on the little girl's face. To her, that was possibly the furthest thing from funny; Legend didn't have a chance with her. Not only did she not plan to date for MANY years but even by that point, because she was sure he'd still be around, he would need a miracle. Hypothetically, this depended on whether or not he actually made it to his teenage years. Katie couldn't guarantee that. "You are IMPOSSIBLE! I am ELEVEN years old! I haven't even been kissed by a boy! And I would rather spend the rest of my life with the giant SQUID over LEGEND CHOSEN! -- NOT even if he was the last boy on the face of this earth." Kaitlynnh raised her voice and emphasized the right words here and there, otherwise speaking in a dangerously low tone, eyes blazing. She knew it wasn't a wise idea to shout if she wished to stay out of trouble, and it was definitely not okay to yell at her older cousin, but something just broke inside her. Perhaps it was her patience. Maybe she was taking the comment too seriously, maybe she was being far too defensive and maybe she should chill out. But Katie was a sensitive, strong-willed preteen girl that refused to be paired up with a boy. Especially a boy she could hardly get along with for merlins sake!

Never had she been THIS angry with a family member! ... okay, that was a lie, the Houdini twins constantly set her off; it not because they couldn't stay out of HER stuff, it was over something else equally annoying. William brought her mind back to earth and out of the clouds, he was in a fit of laughter. Why? She had no idea, until he explained. "Really?" Kaitlynnh asked, somehow honestly surprised. Ari always seemed so calm to her, ever since as far as she could remember being around her older sister and cousins dear friend.

Katie, refusing above all else to think about HIM or what Sam would have to say about it, had wound back down for the most part. Her cheeks were warm, reddened with unwanted heat. Dark eyes gave nothing away, except maybe a little bit of curiousity towards the photograph held in the Seventh year's hand. She inched forward again, looking up at Will, "I can see the resemblance." the small girl said, feeling uncertain at the Ravenclaw's quietness. He had never mentioned his family before, something she hadn't given a second thought to being odd even though she knew of her other friends families. It had just never come up, Katie reasoned. But now, she was curious, dark eyes waiting to meet the soft blue ones that belonged to William.

Until, of course, Sammy asked her a question. Puzzled, the girl looked inquiringly over Sam's arm, at the photo of William's father Timothy. Lucky for Sam, though she had never gotten to meet her, Katie knew of Aunt Tracy. Grandma Angelina had pictures of the entire family around her house, which was where she had come to recognize her Uncle Adrian's late wife. She frowned, saying slowly, "Yeah, he does. Look at the eyes, and nose." the attitude vanished, for now. Studying the picture, Katie added "I think their cheekbones are similar too," recalling the family photograph from when Samuel was a mere baby from her memory. "Weird!"

William watched with growing curiosity as they both took a good look at the picture, turning to look at him then back again. He couldn't understand what was so interesting about an old picture of his father, it was just the only one he had. He looked at it again, his eyes sad. "He died when I was very young. Like before I was three; so I don't know much about him." He explained, feeling a bit uncomfortable with this line of thought he coughed a bit before hearing a familiar name.

"Tracy?" He asked suddenly, frowning as he tried to remember the name. He swore it sounded familiar to him, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it from or if it was just a random name. Now was the time when he wished he had remembered when his mother had told him about their family and their history. Of course he had been too busy to pay attention. He made a vow to pay more attention.

Looking back up to Katie and Sammy, the weird look still in his face as he shuffled his feet. Pulling out a chain from under his robes he fingered the old sparkling rock between his thumb and forefinger before showing it to them. "This is the only thing I have besides the picture of his." he said his voice now back to normal.

"Then again sometimes not knowing them would be better. Their family is so complicated and unfeeling. Almost like zombies really. They have money but they have no emotions and treat their children like chess pieces." Reid confided while remembering his times with Sakura's family. It was so strange being there, feeling like an outsider years after he'd known them. He knew Sakura, Mei Lin and Sasuke felt the same as he did but could do nothing about it.

"Cool or ghastly, either way you can play it up." Reid said, giving her a warm smile. He knew what she was trying to do by changing the topic and was glad that she had. The story really was depressing and the only reason he could talk about it in such a dispassionate way was because he'd never known the twins, not really, and because he'd had enough time to become emotionless when it came to people he didn't know.

Shaking his head Reid had a small debate with himself before slowly and inconspicuously raising his arm. Should he or shouldn't he? He barely thought about the answer to his own question before slowly wrapping his arm around Rachel's waist. It was a light touch barely there and he hoped she wouldn't shrug him off.

A sneaky grin fell onto the Gryffindor's face at Katie's reaction. This what Sam lived for. Pushing other people's buttons. Katie looked so livid her button must have broke, much to Sammy's amusement. Her face was turning red! How she was holding in her laughter was the question. It was taking everything she had not to laugh in the little girl's presence. Oh the wonderfulness of her spit fire temper.

"You better not have kissed any boys, Kaitlynnh Mae." she eyed the girl. Way too be young to be dating. Any boy that "looks" at her cousin will feel her wrath. She then laughed at her next comment. "That's what they all say." she mumbled. Look at a certain recently graduated couple. Denial, denial, denial. Then BAM. They finally got together. From what she heard the Candy Queen and Monkey Boy were very happy together. Denial. What an amusing concept.

Her humorous expression quickly changed at William's words. She bit her lip, hoping she hadn't make him sad. "Our Aunt Tracy passed away when I was young too." she smiled softly. Aunt tracy had a brother didn't she? What was his name? She picked her brain but couldn't place the name. If she owled home she could probably get some answers. But why did she feel it was so important to find out his name?

Noting how his voice went back to it's bubbly self, she looked at necklace. "It's very beautiful Will. I'm glad you have something of your dad." she smiled, hoping to cheer him up.

Her gaze shifted from the picture, choosing to watch the Ravenclaw instead. Katie could sense the tension, the change of his tone and that sort of wounded puppy trying to pretend everything was just fine look. Instinct took over at the sight of her friend; the little girl reached out and slipped her small hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. Her smile sympathetic. "I'm sure he knows everything about you, though; I'm sure he's very proud of you." She spoke barely above a whisper, for it seemed fitting. While she was only eleven, and even she was aware of how she must come off to others, Katie had a heart. She tended to ache when she knew full well one of her friends was hurting too, even if she never said it outloud.

Dark eyes flickered to up slightly to meet those of the short girl's, the warmth in her cheeks hadn't a chance to cool down but now it was for a new reason; Sammy bringing up what Anna had kept insisting about: teenage stuff, like boys and kissing. "And why would it matter if I did?" Katie, despite wanting to vomit at the thought of it, challenged Sam on the subject anyway. Because she could. Caught off guard at her remark, the young Hufflepuff gaped. "WHO says that about Legend besides me?" Kaitlynnh demanded, fiercely. It was one thing for her to say it, that was okay; but it became a whole nother issue if anyone else insulted ANY of her boys. Only SHE was allowed to do that!

Still focused on getting names and ages on whoever had the nerve to mess with her friends, Katie gave a slight absent nod when Sammy explained who Tracy was. Silent for a moment, she then pointed out a random thought. "They both start with T. Timothy and Tracy."

Feeling himself loose control of his emotions, William pulled himself back to normal putting the necklace back into his robes. Feeling it against his chest reminded him that his dad really was there for him, even though he couldn't. Wiping his eyes quickly he smiled sadly at Sammy, "I'm sorry."

WAIT! William frowned as a deep memory came back to him. It was old, old enough to be before he could really understand what everything was about, but he specifically remembered a name. "Treviso" he muttered to himself but loud enough for others to hear. Why did that name sound familiar to him? He didn't know if it was a first or last name, not knowing what his fathers last name was. But he specifically remembered his mother crying over the flo network to his aunt Emily about it. Frowning, his little face scrunching up in confusion he shook his head.

Getting back into the swing of things so to speak he looked up just as Katie said that both names started with 'T'. He smiled slightly, a small chuckle escaping him. "Very astute Katie." he giggled. Reaching into his pocket he took out another chocolate frog and ripped the package open, popping it into his mouth.

Crap. She made a little kid cry. She made the wrong little cry that is. "Oh William. I'm sorry! Don't cry." she said, awkwardly placing hand on his shoulder. What else do you say to a grieving child? She silently swore to herself when she couldn't think of anything else to say. "Don't be sorry." she said lamely. She was the one to make cry after all. Why should he be sorry?

She held her tongue at Katie's question. Of course she had a comeback, but she didn't want to argue with her in front William. "We'll talk later Rugrat." she whispered over to her. Brat. Then she began to grow defensive over Legend. The girl was just giving her evidence now. She should write it down and hit it her with it when she least expected it.

Treviso? Did he just say Treviso? "How do you know that name Will?" she asked curiously. This was getting weird now. What was the coincidence that her aunt and his dad shared the last name? Maybe he was just...No. What the heck? How did he know Aunt Tracy's last name?

"That's ok, I believe in inner beauty" she smiled at the girl, she was so sweet and glad that they was going to be friends.

Diane got out from the Ancient Runes spare classroom wearing a backpack bigger than as half her body, and of similar weight. The others could not be long behind. She stopped and turned to them, "Pardon me, but isn't this the floor of the Prefect's toilets? Maybe we should check that one first."

"Maybe we should re-consider splitting," she said. "I suggest pairs. Anna is prefect and can let in another girl. Same with Jack and another boy. I will go to the girl's toilets in the third floor with whoever wants to join me - if you don't feel comfortable with either option, Cam, you can go to the lake with Selena." She paused. "That or, we can wait outside."

A few seconds later, Anna stepped out into the fifth floor corridor, as well. She jumped back upon seeing Diane, for she nearly had a run-in with the girl's huge backpack, but she'd managed to get away in time. "Yup, this is the floor which houses one of our bathrooms. That's it...just over there," she said, pointing at a doorway down the hall. "I'm a prefect, so as you said, I can go in...and Jack's Quidditch captain, so of course he can, as well."

She shook her head, though, when Diane mentioned bringing another girl and boy into the prefect's bathroom. "I'm afraid only prefects and quidditch captains are allowed in there, Diane. I'm really sorry, but...maybe we won't be long at all." She glanced around at the entire group, taking in Diane's suggestion to reconsider splitting up. "I actually like your idea to reconsider splitting up. What do you think about us staying together and just tackling one location at a time? We can start here, then continue down until we've reached the second floor. If we haven't found Myrtle by then, we'll have to check the lake. That means we'll have to come up here and take the waterslides down."

OOC: Hey, Nadia! Is Diane suggesting not splitting or is she suggesting going in pairs? I may have misunderstood, so I'm sorry if Anna's suggestion contradicted Diane's. Either way is good with me.

As Diane suggested that Selena and Cameron should pair up, the girl felt slightly uncomfortable. She have almost never interacted with boys, well, Alex was way over the prankster period, so he doesn't count. Besides, he's wrapped around Rose's little finger so he's pretty much harmless anyways. Buuuut... Didn't Manami and Rena have to repeat many times that she should make friends as much as possible? Perhaps this will be a good thing, She thought and spoke up. "Pairing up sounds nice enough - let's meet up here after... half an hour, is that alright with you all?" Turning around, she motioned for Cam. "You going with me?"

ooc: I've already posted down at the lake. *beams*

Jack hurried out of the classroom right behind Anna, nearly stepping on her heels as she stopped to talk with the Slytherin girl named Diane. He quickly hurried to her side when Diane suggested they split up into pairs. "Yeah, I agree that me and Anna aren't going to be able to bring anyone else in, unfortunately...but that's a good thing, right? Cause then that leaves more people who are avaliable to search other bathrooms," he said with a head nodd.

"I think that the more ground we cover in a short amount of time, the better," he said when she suggested them waiting outside for them. He then turned to Anna as well. "If we all go in one big group place to place, it might take us longer to find stuff. Maybe we just find a meeting place on this floor, like Selena suggested?"

"Okay, sounds good to me, then," Anna said, watching as Selena headed off down the corridor in route to the lake. "Alright, so Jack and I will cover the prefects' bathrooms here on the fifth floor and on the second floor. It looks like Selena is headed down to the lake, so that just leaves the girl's bathroom." As she talked, Anna started to get more and more excited. Aislynn was right...this felt like such a big adventure...and they were even doing this for the benefit of the entire school!

"Alright, Jack...off we go. I say we just meet in the Potions lab in about an hour. Hopefully by then one of us will have found Myrtle," she said. With a hopeful look on her face, she headed off doing the corridor and pushed open the door to the prefects' bathroom.

"Ok," Jack replied with a big grin, hurrying along to follow Anna down the hallway and towards the prefect's bathroom. Last time he had been in there, the Slytherin girl prefect had ignored him--well, they were on official Hogwarts business today so if she was there, he'd ignore HER back! Haha. That was a plannnn.

Because everybody seemed to agree on and things seemed to get decided on their own, Diane said nothing, and watched the prefects go for the bathrooms and the girl named Selena call Cam as she headed for the slides. Wordlessly, she headed for the stairs to the second floor. The meeting point would be this floor again - she decided on her own that has been implicitedly decided by the group (confusing, isn't it).

Carefully stepping despite her bag weight, she started decending into the nothingness of darkness. This girl she did not know the name of (Grace) that may be heading her way, or the other Gryffindor that liked Medi-Wizarding (Aislynn). Maybe they would follow behind or she would meet them in the Girls' Toilets.

Quote:

Originally Posted by XanaSnape

Professor Kazimeriz burst into a warm, deep laugh. "That sounds just like her!" He smiled, his eyelashes still damp but some of the color coming back into his cheeks. "And she is right... and it was a devil of a prank; she let my imagination get the better of me for the last oh, 80 years or so. I suppose I just always wanted to see her one more time, as she was back then, when we-- well, back then." He smiled wistfully, as though that said it all. "I hope you can forgive an old man... I did not know. Sharp repartee and banter was our shorthand, a kind of way of saying-- well, saying what needed to be said. I presumed that things had not changed. For that, I am quite embarrassed." He shrugged a little, sighing.

What do you even say when a slightly batty and obviously paranoid (but what former Auror isn't?) old man mistakes you for your great grandmother and then realizes his mistake?

In his defence, he was right. She looked identical to every photograph she'd ever seen of her grandmother. And she'd practically been raised by the woman, so who could be surprised their manner was all that similar?

But he was embarrassed and regretful, and she did NOT know what to do with that. So she sat in awkward silence for a very long time."I suppose... given the circumstances, the long odds that I should turn out so much like my Grandmamma and your missing timeturner and all that... I guess it's an easy mistake to make. It could happen to anyone." Anyone a bit off his rocker... "So I really don't hold anything against you to forgive in the first place."

He looked to her, his eyes solemn and yet filled with gratitude. "Thank you, Miss Avalon. You are... most gracious." He patted her hand and then stood, his old joints creaking and snapping like an old, rusty carnival ride. "I should let you go. Thank you for-- for the information. And for understanding." He took a step, then turned back. "Please give you grandmother my heartfelt regards, and ...please tell her I am sorry. For everything that-- for everything." He said simply, lowering his head and walking away down the corridor, stooped over his cane. His posture was somehow older; that of a broken man.

Diane was walking back at a steady pace towards the fifth floor with her backpack still slowing her down (not that she made a lot of effort), with Anna possibly coming behind her. She looked around and saw nobody. She peeked into the lab, and saw no immaterial person. She hummed pensively and returned to the corridors in front of the lab door. "Maybe we should go to the owlery to contact the others," she said out loud but, more to herself than anything. They had roughly been an hour out. It was difficult to tell if that was too long or too little.

Selena ran breathlessly into the corridor. "We managed to find her, and according to my sources, she's in the Spirit Room crying because of Lawson." The girl rolled her eyes. "Where are the boys? I think we would need their presence and a poem right about... now." And where in the world was Cameron Karsten?

Anna made her way from the second floor back up to the fifth. When she arrived, she noticed that Diane and Selena had already made it. Oh, good! Selena was back, too...maybe she had some news about Myrtle! Anna opened her mouth to inquire about that, but Selena had already started explaining. She listened carefully, happy to hear that the lake group had indeed located Myrtle. "Oh, Selena, that's great! I'm glad you managed to find her," she remarked. The ghost, however, was in the Spirit Room...crying?

"...but she's crying? In the Spirit Room?" she questioned. Wonder what had happened between the time they'd located Myrtle and the time the poor ghost had started her track up to the castle? "I say we head to the Spirit Room then! We can't enter, because there's some weird barrier making it to where we can't, but maybe we can call out to her and see if we can help her in some way. You two can come with me if you'd like..." Anna motioned for both girls to follow, then took off in the direction of the Spirit Room.