He placed a cup of tea down on the coffee table in front of her and then moved to sit down on the couch. She was here to thank him? "For what," he asked, peering at her with a puzzled look over the rim of his mug.

Then there was a knock on the door.

"Uh...hold on to that thought. Excuse me." He stood up and crossed over to where the door was, pulling it open. "Hel-Ah, Mr. Montgomery....Why, pray tell, are you dripping all over my steps?"

He was sure he was quite a sight, but he was barely noticing all the water he was dripping all over the place. "Well, Mr. Masterson, I did what you asked me to do, I talked to my Head of House, and she told me that I had to follow my passions, which is what I am doing. And then, I decided I wanted to see things from a different perspective, so I decided that I was going to go see if I could find the giant Squid, so I went swimming," he explained.

He took a couple deep breaths to calm himself down. In and out, slowly. "I saw him, Mr. Masterson," Ryder exclaimed!

Okay... maybe he didn't remember what had happened. After all, it had been a couple of years. Should she explain or just make up some lame reason as to why she was thanking him? She should explain... that was the right thing to do.

Cadence was just about to answer his question when there was a knock on the door and Mr. Masterson went to answer it to reveal a fellow Huffie, soaking wet, standing in the doorway.

A fairly attractive, older fellow Huffie.

He had gone swimming?! In the lake?! For the giant squid?!

This boy was either very brave or very stupid. Cady would give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Wow! Really?" she said to him, wide-eyed.

Having finished flying class and finding her kitten, Arya finally headed up to one of the many huts she had seen from the air. She walked down the path as Perseus walked near her chasing a butterfly. As she got closer she wondered what the hut could be used for. It seemed like more than just a storage area, it looked like someone lived here. Stoping infront of the door she knocked before bending down to pick up Perseus.

Darn it! He was certain that Shackleton would have been able to get this boy off his Groundskeeping kick. Blast....wait. Did he just say that he went for a swim...to find the Giant Squid!?

"Don't encourage him," Constantine said, looking towards the Hufflepuff girl and then back to Ryder, giving him a incredulous look. "Groundskeepers don't just go for swims looking for giant sea creatures with many arms that contain suction cups! That was dangerous." Which was a lie. Bartholomew was about as dangerous as a rabbit.

"I'm glad you did, but I never want to hear you doing that. That was dangerous and reckless...considering that I wasn't there! I suggest you go up to the castle and dry off, Mr. Montgomery, before you freeze."

Cadence struggled to hold in a laugh, causing her to snort a little, which made her want to laugh even harder. When the professor reprimanded her for encouraging him, the laugh disappeared off her face, though, and she stared down into her cup of tea muttering a, "Sorry, sir."

With a sigh, Neo shut the door of his house. Maybe that would encourage Mr. Montgomery to go dry off.

"I'm sorry, Miss Ballard. What were you saying?" Constantine walked back to the couch and took a seat, returning back to his tea.

Cadence took a very large gulp of hot tea. Oh no, they were back to her. Why couldn't WetGuy have stayed longer? She coughed a little from the burning feeling in her throat. "Well, sir, I... um... I don't know if you remember, but in my first year here, I sort of... um... destroyed the Hufflepuff Common Room, and they told me when I woke up at St. Mungo's that um you were the... one who um... helped me. I don't remember it, but I um... I just wanted to come and um... say... thank you... now that I'm... back." She stared down into her cup of tea, suddenly feeling very shy. She was sure her face had to be the color of a tomato.

Neo took a sip from his mug, looking very thoughtful. "Ahh...yes," he nodded, putting his mug down on the coffee table. "Yes, I do remember...and you're very welcome," he smiled gently. "I'm glad to see that you're back...you do look well. Is your term going good for you so for?"

Cadence smiled at him appreciatively, and was thankful for the subject change. "It's been... interesting. And hard. Weird to go from being pretty much locked up and isolated for two and a half years to being thrown into a school with a bunch of other people my age. Hard to adjust to that..." she said staring into her cup. Why was she opening up to him? She hadn't really been so forthcoming with any other adults here. Maybe it was because there was something about him that made her feel... safe. He had pretty much saved her. He was the only person who seemed to remember her here, besides Melanie and Jake... the latter of which she could have done without remembering her.

Constantine smiled a comforting smile. "I know what you mean...but you'll settle right back into regular routine in no time." He lifted his mug to take another another sip from it.

"Yes, sir..." she said, though not really agreeing with him in the slightest. She thought of the Tyler/Nate drama. And then there was the Lucy/Cadence issue. And what about the Nate/Ella break-up that was all her fault! How had she caused so much trouble already?! No, things would never be "regular" or "routine" with Cadence. Cadence would always be different, always cause issues. Maybe it was just time for her to accept that. Or maybe she should just go back to her grandparents'. She could feel the tears swimming into her eyes. Sitting her mug down and standing up abruptly. "Thank you for the tea, Mr. Masterson, but I should..." Sniff.Sniff. "...be going now."

Constantine looked surprised as Cadence's abrupt stand up. Go? "Oh...oh, okay." He knew he should ask what was wrong...but he wasn't very good at the whole Dr. Phil business. "Oh..oh, wait! Here...take this..." He started rummaging through some sheet music on his coffee table, finally pulling out...



"I have them laying around..I haven't a clue what to do with them. You'll find a better use for it than me."

"Th-thanks..." she stammered, and as she felt the first tear fall from her eye, she bolted out the door and across the school grounds. Though where she was going, she wasn't quite sure. All she wanted was to be alone with Nate. Everything was fine when it was just her and Nate.

Sidney makes her way to the groundkeeper's hut. She heads for the door when she sees a picket fence around a part of the yard. Keeping her distance, Sidney looks over the fence. What she sees both delights and scares her. I've never seen a dog that big. I didn't know dogs got that big. Oooh, I'd love to play with him or her, but maybe I'd better check with the groundskeeper first. The dog probably belongs to him. Sidney starts walking back to the hut. She notices a small garden on one side. Darn I was hoping he didn't have any flowers. I'm itching to try my hand at transfiguring bedding plants. I think I'm getting pretty good at transfiguring cut flowers. Sidney walks up the steps and knocks on the door. She hopes she's not disturbing the groundskeeper.

It was Barrys last year and he wanted to reconnect with people. That included teachers. So after two days of hunting down acorns in the grounds he had assembled a bag of acorns. He thought he liked acorns, he`d given the groundskeeper some in his third year, hadn`t he?

Barry walked up to the door and knocked on it. Oh and maybe he knew where he could find some animals to give some flowers to.

Arya turned around when she heard two other students coming up behind her. Still holding Perseus she smiled at them. Noticing on of the students staring at somthing she followed her gaze and noticed a big dog. Ohh, a dog... She loved dogs but didn't want to go over without asking whoever lived in the hut.

Sidney looks over at the girl's robes. Small world another Hufflepuff. Sidney smiles back. "I like dogs too. I've never seen one that big. I wonder if he's part wolf?"

"I don't think so...looks like a German Shepard. I love dogs, have one back home."Arya stroked Perseus while staring at the dog. Looking at him(or her) reminded her of Paul Anka, her border collie back home. She had wanted to bring him but her dad said he was to big to go. Turning to the girl she noticed she was a fellow Hufflepuff. "Hey, I'm Arya."

Sidney smiles. "Nice to meet you Anya. Yeah, I wanted to bring my crup, but my dad said they aren't allowed her. Her name is Joy. A German shepard, I've never seen one of them. My mother's family all have Dachshunds. My grandfather calls them sausage dogs. They're cute with their short legs and long bodies."

Constantine opened the door to his hut; he could have sworn he heard lots of voices. He paused at the sight at the number of children coming to see him at the same time. Wow.

"Er...can I help you all in any way?"

"Really? We've only had big dogs. Little dogs don't do good on a ranch."Arya turned from the girl, whose name she just realized was unknown to her, when the door opened. She looked back into the brown eyes of the tall man who had just opened the door. The man from the playground, she thought. "Hi, I'm Arya. I was just wondering what the hut was for."She didn't think him a professor but couldn't figure what his job was at Hogwarts. She glanced at the dog, before looking back to the man.

It felt like she had a knot in her stomach and it was either cry or go all crazy 'kick-your-butt' at anything that would benefit from being destroyed. Like...like... throwing dinner plates at a wall, or...ripping paper... or something else. Anything that would help her get rid of her frustration.

And so Miranda was here, hoping Masterson could help her. Hoping he had anything that needed breaking. But there were so many students already there... Bah! Flap it all! She'd wait. If there was something to rip, shred or tear, it would be worth it.

And so she started to pace infront of the door, close to the little group of kids, and tried to breathe calmly. Patiently waiting her turn.

Constantine opened his mouth to responded the inquiring young mind when his eyes noticed Miranda approach the hut. And then she was pacing and looked like if she was given a cute, cuddly teddy bear, she would strip the head right from the poor stuffed animal's shoulders. Hmm.

"Nice to meet you, Ayra," he responded to her, throwing a small smile and taking the occasional glance at Miranda. "This hut? It's my home."

Stupid knot. Breathe in and out.
Oh! Maybe Masterson had one of those boxing things. She heard that was good to get your anger out on. Just pull one those ginormous gloves and start punching the big bag thingy.

Miranda kept pacing, unaware of the looks the Groundskeeper was throwing her way. And when were those kids going to be finished? She wanted to aaaaask hiiiiiiiim. Gah!

Or maybe some root pulling! That could probably be helpful.
She'd go practice with a bat and a bludger, but Professor Vindictus would surely not be pleased with that. Maybe she could ask him?

Meh! She'd wait here. Pacing, and biting her thumb nail.