Seeeeee! "Yeah. Me. Strong." He repeated what he'd said a few moments back. Gosh, she really wasn't going to let him have any say in what he was, or what he wasn't. Or even in what he might or might not be. "I'm a big growly American, what did you expect?" Okay, so now he was playing along, which probably wouldn't help him get his point across, it would probably seem more like he was taking the mick out of himself. Which, in a way he was, but it wasn't earning him any cool points with Shana. Was it actually possible to get cool-points with this girl at all? Maybe it was just a little lifeline that his mind was throwing him.

ARGH! "If you want me to, then I will." He finally sighed, giving in to all hope of credibility or anything of that sorts. "And that hurtss!" He moaned, quickly letting go of one of her legs and swatting her hand away, just to quickly grab the leg and readjust her on his back before she fell off. When she pointed, he looked up at her hand, and followed where she was pointing with his eyes until they rested on... "NOWAI?!" He almost squealed, "You fancy someone with pink hair?!" The laughter was already out of his mouth before he could stop it, whilst he was sniggering away, a random thought came to his head, "Does he like you too?"

Sneaking a look at the card she'd gotten, the Hufflepuff was glad to see that it was a card he already had. Or else he would have had to wrestle Daphne for it... even after he'd promised she could have it. He stuck his tongue out at her comment, "You can try to deny it, Daff," he said, looking at her through the corner of his eyes and smiling, "But you've gotta admit that you'd 'ave fun at a Secret Midnight party, innit?"

Shana giggled.Yeah In your dreams. she scoffed.She was only joking of corse,she smiled and then hugged Ashtons neck,He was awesome at times.Orr he could be,she'd only seen him twice and he was already her fake brother?! Wow.She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

Then he said he'd agree to liking Reese.I KNEW IT! I KNEW YOU LIKED REESE! She shouted at the top of her voice,Ooops.Okay so mabye everyone heard but she didn't mean for everyone to hear.It was toterly honestly accidently.I'm Sorry Ashton. she shut up for a slight second then frowned.Shut up! Do you have to be so loud,You nimrod ? she sighed and glared at the back of his head.Dunno,I don't think so.I mean when Lima told him last year,he thought it meant I wanted to crush him so yeah,I think he gets it now but I try an Avoid him now just in case you know.

She smiled, "Of course she'll fall for it...just bat those big eyelashes and she'll be like mud in your hands...or something like that." she didn't think she had said that right but it kind of made sense.

"Well, we will def have to keep in touch over the term through owl...just in case I have to make a flying trip up to your house and break down the door to get you out...Hogwarts would absolutely suck without you and I won't let you go back to homeschooling...I'm sure Jenn would help me bust you out, too." she could only imagine her sneaking up to Kel's house on her broom all dressed in black and the image made her giggle a little bit..."That would be a funny site Jenn and I coming to bust you out like you were a criminal..." she paused with the picture in her head. As she though she grabbed a marshmellow and gave it to Gemma who was sitting in her lap enjoying being under the stars....then she pinched off a little bit of hers and offered it to Kel's pygmy puff.

"O, our cruise...we're starting in Florida and going up the East coast...I can't wait to see all of the lighthouses!...my parents owled me to say that it was a magic cruise only so maybe I'll get to meet some more students from here and the other schools." secretly she hoped she could meet a lot more students then she had here at Hogwarts...I mean she was a social butterfly but here she hadn't found her niche yet...she acted older than the other firsties but the older students, well other than Kel and the Gryffie Prefect, looked at her as a firstie...maybe next year would be different...

Mari watched as Cayden and Elizabeth walked away finally and turning towards Robert, she smiled alittle bit a William. " Do you have any cake for me then?" She asked, reminding him of how she'd first met him and teasing him a bit about it. He looked a little uncomfortable so she gave him a little smile again. " So." She said, sort of playing with some of her hair as she tried to think of something. She glanced at William, thinking he was lucky to be so young and therefore not have as many issues as the rest of them did. Hopefully he'd stay that way, he was quite a nice boy and Mari really didn't want him to have to deal with anything like she had had to deal with. " Robert, Elizabeth will be fine. Trust me," She said, picking up on his tenseness easily. She might not be dating him anymore, but she knew how to read him well enough still. " How have you been?" She said finally, now trying to make the conversation normal again.

Daphne squinted at the card through the darkness, the small letters blurring in front of her eyes. Right, she was still pretending she didn't need reading glasses. She'd just have to read...big things of course. Pocketing the card, she blushed at his comment. "Well...I suppose...perhaps."

Her eyes ventured to his face briefly before she coughed and looked away. She would not be having those kind of thoughts about Garret Crocker anytime soon if she had anything to say about it.

Then...what were they doing in her head? "You'd have more fun with Lyra Noir though, wouldn't you?"

HMPH.

Kevin really just wanted to cry this camp-out thing was fun but what was the point in spending it all alone he really wanted some company and like now

Looking across the campfire once again to where Lyra sat, Garret shrugged, "Of course, she's Lyra, innit?" he grinned over at Daphne, as if expecting her to join in his admiration for the beautiful Lyra Noir. She did look a bit huffy still though, and he couldn't be sure... he could never be sure what caused Daphne's moods to swing so violently, but he tried to cheer her up a bit, "But I'd still want you there, cos I wouldn't be able to 'ave fun wivvout you, ya know wot I mean?" he looked at Cope with the same expectant smile, "And Cope and Cela, of course."

"Just because she's Lyra doesn't entitle her to an 'of course'," replied Daphne almost immediately, all of it coming out in one single rushed angry breath. He was delusional! DE LOO SHE OH NALL. And he was adding her to the same equation as Copernicus Kettleburn.

OH. BURN!

Taking a deep breath, Daphne whipped out the card she had pocketed and started ripping it up into equal parts. "Fun?" she squeaked. "Fun? Do you consider calling me prissy and generally getting your germs on me fun?!"

Okay, okay, maybe the germs thing was out of order so as if to apologize she stuck her tongue out at him. "At least you smell rather nice lately."

It appeared that whatever he had said in his attempt to cheer her up had backfired completely. Maybe she was just bitter because things seemed to be going well between him and Lyra, but if he had heard correctly... she and Plymouth weren't exactly planning their wedding.

He pouted at the shreds of Chocolate Frog card on the blanket between them, "You could've just given it to me, innit?" he frowned up at her, "Wot's got your knickers in a twist, anyway? The fact that I smell nice? Or the fact that other girls noticed I smell nice before you did?"

"It was mine. You said I could have it so therefore I can do whatever I want with it," spoke Daphne in a rush, red-faced, nose and brows crinkled.

OH. SHE. WAS. SO. ANNOYED. "And don't say knickers! It's improper! And I could care less what other girls notice before me. I don't care! Go at it! Have all the girls sniff you see if Iiiii care. Snog them too! You're not even all that pretty and lastly, again, I DON'T CARE!"

And as if to prove her point she picked up all the ripped pieces of the Chocolate Frog Card and sprinkled them over Garret's head. "And you don't even smell all that nice."

CONTRADICTIONS! EAAAAH!

Taken aback at this display of a mood hurricane, Garret just sat there stupidly watching the torn bits of the card as she sprinkled them over his head. He sent a pleading look in Cope's direction, but when it became apparent that the Ravenclaw was too distracted to help him, he turned back to Daphne with a bit of a pout.

"Now you're just being mean." He rose up to his knees and before he could properly think his plan though (as was normal for Garret), he tackled her to the ground and hugged her close, "I dare ya to say I smell bad! GO ON!"

Okay, so this would probably only anger her more. But at least he'd have fun doing it.

That pout wasn't going to work. NUH UH! Sticking her nose up in the air, Daphne allowed Garret to observe the very prestigious (and pretty) side of her face. YOU. TAKE THAT. SHUNNING.

Except--Garret was pinning her to ground and wrapping his arms around and her getting her scent on her. "Merlin, Garret! Have you completely lost your miiiiiind?!"

SQUEEEEEEAAAAAAK.

It was Lyra Noir. She did this to Garret! She probably rattled his brain when she kissed him and now he was all kiss crazy and most likely wanted to kiss her too! OH. Merlin. It was another Varius Incident, minus the loo. "Nuuuuu!" She was NOT going to smell him no matter how nice he smelled and she was NOT going to contradict herself YET again.

Maybe she should just play dead. "Garret. Garret. Garret," she repeated her name each time her voice becoming more threatening. "I'll have you know. Since two summers ago, Davis has been teaching me Tae Kwon Do. What do you think about that?"

All of this, of course, was said with her eyes shut. His face was far too near for her comfort--she didn't want to look at his freckles. They were distracting.

This time, Kel snorted. When was his mother ever mud - was that the right word? Oh well, Kel was goin' with it - in his hands? Like, never. And Kel wouldn't dare 'bat his big eyelashes'...his mother would think he was crazy and send him straigh to St. Mungo's, of that he had no doubt.

"Yeah, definately. I'm pretty sure my mother won't care if I send letters. She's not mental enough to think that I haven't made friends..." he shrugged. And even if by chance he wasn't allowed to, he would anyway. So whatever. When she mentioned her and Jenn breaking him out of his house, he grinned. "Now wouldn't that be funny? Get my house-elf in on the act, and it'll be hilarious." he said with a chuckle. And Ginly would help, he was sure. She sometimes seemed more human to Kel than his mother or father did.

"But I don't think you'd have to do a lot of work to get me out. Just fly up to my window and I'll be able to get out easily. I do it myself all the time." he told her. Yes, he'd perfected the art of climbing down his tree and sneaking through the bushes by the time he was eight years old.

Kel smiled as Neige took the bit of marshmellow, and squeaked happily. "Oh really? That's really cool! I wish I could go on a cruise..." he mused. Especially an all-wizard cruise. It would be awesome to meet wizards from all over the world. "Florida, huh? I've never been to the USA."

This term was probably the best term ever. Not only was Miles doing well in his NEWTs and went to a garden party (even if it was a pinkfest), but there was now a camp out?! One of Miles' favourite things to do! It was like his last term here was going to go out with a big bang with all of this stuff. He felt sorry for Lima who had left before all of this, she would have liked it.

Carrying his sleeping bag which he used nearly all the time to camp out with his sister and Hugo, if he had come over, Miles walked down to wear Mr Masterson had kindly made a clearing for them all to look up at the stars and chat. Though he had an idea that this was a good time for girls to gossip. Weird. Atleast he could relax tonight though. Spotting Vannie with a group of friends which included Torin, Lyra, and a dude he didn't know, Miles made his way towards them. "Isn't this mega or what? I love doin' campig and stuff." He smiled as he sat down next to Vannie. "Hi, by the way."

Livvy looked from between Rachel and her boyfriend.. then to Cam and the little accent boy. She decided she'd have to talk to the boys first since their attention span was quite short and well...... they were boys. So what could you expect?

She snorted and rolled her eyes as Cam went on and ooonnn and ooooooooooooonnnnnnnn about his theories of Santa and how he was in the disguise of Nurse Avalon. In the middle of June. Wait till the accent boy got a load of Cam's theory of how the Apocalypse would occur. Yes.... the Hobo Extinction. He should totally just pitch that on the Muggle news. See how they would react.

Whuuu? Why was Cam putting his hand on her shoulder... looking so delightful and sneaky? Wha-wha-WHAT DID HE SAAAYYYY?! Her comment was supposed to offend this kid! This kid was like repellent to all her insults. But Livvy just forced a smile and nodded her head. Yeah yeah. Whatever.

Livvy decided she couldn't fight with this kid no longer. It was impossible to try to reason with him... so why bother at all? She was sure that Cam had been deprived as a child. And because of that, he has chosen to cling to childish delusions and has fallen away from the rest of the world.

"Alriiiight. Santa is in the disguise... as Nurse Avalon..." Livvy said, caving in. He seemed so happy with such a complete FAKE story... that she couldn't try to change it anymore. "How about you go ask Santa for some cookies or something, eh?" she asked, patting him on the shoulder.

She turned to the other boy and said, "You too... uhm... uhm..." ???

Livvy turned away from the boy and turned to face her BEST FRIEND! Whooo... didn't seem so happy. Uh-oh. What'd she do? Did she see her picking on Cam earlier and thought it unjustly and wanted to take points away from their house? Oh noooooo.... please don't Rachie-Poo.

Wait.

She seemed rather red. Was she.... was she blushing? Holy crud. Rachel can BLUSH?! Wooooooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww...

"Well.. uhm... to say 'hi' of course? Did I just commit a crime?" Livvy asked, a small nervous smile on her lips as she watched anxiously as Rachel's hand seemed to be searching for something... for her wand? NO WAY! Rachel was gonna hex her?! What was the world coming to? AHHHHHHH!!!

The Ravenclaw laughed nervously as she reached out to pull Rachel's hands away from her pockets and clasp them together, quite relieved that she saw no wand. Then Livvy actually noticed the boy that stood next to Rachel. And then her eyes widened.

OH.

"Uhhh.... did I interrupt something?" she asked, smiling nervously, as she smoothly and inconspicuously tiptoed backwards. Livvy made a note to herself to tell Cam and lil' Aussie boy, NEVER to come between two lovebirds, unless they're asking for an early death.

For all that Plymouth was very touchy feely... no one had ever tackled him before. Well, Cela had, but it had been a charming thing and not an angry thing. And Plymouth was awfully friendly and had limited boundaries, but he would NEVER jump on a girl.

Which is why when Garret pounced on Daphne, Cope dropped the chocolate frog he was eating and just STARED. The remaining chocolate leg hit the ground and kicked weakly in a circle before the spell finally ran out.

"Now... this isn't how we settle things. You can't just... and she's a lady, Crocker. And Daphne..." Whoa. He reached over and attempted to hoist Garret off Daphne.

Oh! It wasn't paralized! Wesley let out a deep breath and slightly smiled as Jake moved his fingers. Thank goodness.

But her smile soon vanished as she heard about how he had been slapped.

I didn't do that did I? she questioned. At this point, Wesley wouldn't have been surprised if any and every injury to Jake Upstead had been caused by her and by her alone. But...she was farely certain she hadn't slapped him. She hadn't even talked to him, and he had used the word today, and it was technically already tonight, so surely it hadn't been her.

Biting her lip, the first year took a closer look at his face. Sure enough, one of his cheeks was bright red. It didn't look like it would bruise, but if it was hurting him, and it had happened a while, then that couldn't be good. He really did need medical attention.

Watching Jake nibble at his marshmallow coated hand, the Hufflepuff couldn't help but think that wasn't very safe. After all, she had been roasting it on a random stick. She didn't know where it had come from, what had happened to it. And also, how did she know that the water produced with Aguamenti was clean? Didn't water usually have to be treated first? But she before she could state her opinions, he was already done. Well, a little couldn't hurt, could it? It's not like it could kill him, she thought to herself, trying to comfort her increasing dread.

As he began to deny visiting the hospital wing, Wesley opened her mouth to contradict him. But then she remembered that when she had fainted he had been the only one who had wanted to do what she wanted to do. Instead of telling her, insisting on her to visit the nurse, he had helped her over to the sofa. He had worked with her. So Wesley was going to go with Jake wanted to do. Maybe she'd get him some cold drink he could hold. There had to be something like that in the picnic baskets, right?

And then, he twitched.

Like, not just there's a fly by my ear, and I'm twitching to get rid of it, more like: I'm having a seizure and am going to die twitch.

Wesley stared, wide eyed. That wasn't...natural.

"Jake! Are you okay!?" she exclaimed, trying to figure what was wrong. Mentally hitting herself in the head, she realized what a stupid question she had asked. Obviously he wasn't okay! Trying to ask a more constructive question, she questioned, "What's wrong?"

Was it the burn? The slap? The water? Stress due to finals? The contaminated marshmallow?

"Oh yeah?" Garret asked, laughing and really getting into the whole wrestling thing (Merlin, sometimes he missed his kid brother/monster/butt lemur), "Did he teach you how to get your face out of a pit?"

But just before he could Pit her, Cope decided to shake himself out of his chocolate coma and try to save Daphne. Trying to pit someone while another, bigger person had his arms around your waist and attempting to pull you off was really not very easy. Garret held on fast to Daphne though, making the three of them look quite... comical, "Cope, lets find out if Daff has a giggle button!"

Okay. The sugar had arrived in his blood.

Never had Daphne been so glad to have Copernicus Kettleburn in her side. She even was willing to pretend he was doing this out of the kindness of his heart and still not trying to get into her good graces. "Kettleburn!" she squeaked and wheezed. "Saaaave meee!" EEEEEEEEK!!

Eyes as round as saucers, Daphne finally looked at Garret in the eyes. "You wouldn't," she threatened and squirmed in his grasp. NUUUUU! "NO GIGGLE BUTTON!" Except, the idea alone of being tickled was already making her ticklish.

So. So. SO. She giggled. "Don't doooo iiiit Garrreeeet" WHEEEZE.

"Well..my grandmother is a stickler for cleanliness. I swear...her entire house SQUEAKS it's so clean!"
And then Pietro was dropping his S'more and kinda talking WAAY too loud. Quickly assembling another S'more she handed that to him before saying,

"Calm down...I don't think that they would let Mafia people into Hogwarts. I mean...that wouldn't be very safe would it? "

This kid was a leeetle bit crazy...

"So...I like fire..how about you?"

"My aunt and your grandmother need to have lunch. They sound like they would get along." Pie thought of this girl's grandmother and his aunt grabbing lunch while glaring at each other. His aunt would try to intimidate her and her grandmother would probably try a similar tactic. He grew sad when he saw that he had dropped his yummy little s'more. Time to fix another one. He was about to start that when Hayley handed him another s'more. "Thank you very much! I don't think Hogwarts would let the Mafia in. Of course...it's sort of been done before. I've heard rumors of professors being involved in sketchy things so I wouldn't be surprised if at least ONE of them was involved in criminal activities." Yes tell her that you heard that as a rumor, not that you SAW IT FOR YOURSELF PIETRO. When the conversation turned to fire, Pietro quickly jumped in with this. "I love fire! I'm not allowed to play with it at home but every time I see it, I'm just...drawn to it. I dunno why though."

"You will NOT tickle Daphne Hopton if she says she does not want it," Copernicus got sort of Papa Bear and thundery as he jerked harder at Garret's belt loops in an attempt to get him off of Daphne.

This was extremely improper!

He latched his fingers through the loops and gave one extra hard tug. "Crocker! I insist that you remove yourself from her person. And... oops." The belt-loop-tugging turned into pants-removal.

GAAAAAAAAAAAASP!

Garret leaped off Daphne, tripped over his trousers that were looped around his knees and crashed on top of Copernicus Kettleburn. The very person who was responsible for having Garret's threadbare Martin Miggs the Mad Muggle underpants exposed to the population of Hogwarts.

The Hufflepuff was so shocked, so horrified... so... so... embarrassed that he really could not say or do anything. So he just sat on Cope, wishing that it would all end or somebody would throw a blanket on him or he could just... Obliviate everyone.

Merlin, Circe, Trelawney of the Not-So-All-Seeing-Eye!

Why did these things keep happening to her? Mortified, Daphne attempted to shut her eyes as soon as she saw Garret's trousers slip but her eyes seemed glued to his scrawny pale legs, in particular his incredibly knobbly knees. A wail of grief escaped her even as she turned over her stomach, hands flying to her face.

HER EYES. THEY WERE FAR TOO YOUNG FOR THIS!

Scrambling on her knees, Daphne seized the nearest blanket and instead of covering Garret up, she hid underneath it. She didn't see anything. She didn't see anything. She. Didn't. See.