She was on a hunt. An important one too.

Mildred could've SWORN she'd spotted some lavender down here by the front gate.. but nope. She waddled around, fingers wriggling excitedly, but she just couldn't see ANY.

Sigh.

The front gate of the school loomed in front of him and Samuel tugged on the little blond's arm as he practically dragged her up to the gate.

Only problem was he hadn't actually thought about he was going to get into the school, it wasn't like they had a doorbell. But as luck would have it there was a little old woman walking around.

Samuel relaxed his hold on the girl and made it look as though he was holding her carefully. He cleared his throat and straightened himself up some. "Excuse me Miss" he said in a smooth voice, very different from the grunt he usually spoke with.

Cela's eyes were dull and quite expressionless. She let herself be tugged without reacting in any way except to follow along without complaint. There was something about her though that suggested had she been left to her own devices, she'd not have moved at all.

She was in her school uniform, surprisingly clean though it was torn in places. Of course there was no sign of her badge.

Her lips were pressed firmly together, like she had something she was trying very hard not to say.

Lavender was all she needed. Just to add that nice finishing touch to her office. Of course, she could just conjure some.. but that wasn't nearly as fulfilling as getting a little snippet and watching it GROOOWW. Right before your eyes!

She was inspecting the foliage of a nearby hedge when she heard a voice and very nearly toppled over with shock.

"Oh, you gave me a fright," Mildred gasped, clutching at her chest as her beady eyes turned to the handsome young fella behind the gate. "You shouldn't sneak around like that young man!" But.. wait. "Is that a student? Oh, whatever happened to her!?"

Samuel looked down at the young girl and gave her a sweet smile. The poor little thing looked so miserable, it just broke your heart to see it.

Pulling the blond a little closer to him as though he was a caring parental figure, Samuel gave the old woman a broad smile. "My apologizes Mildred, I didn't mean to scare you." He gave her another dazzling smile. Did she not recognize him?

He turned his head towards blondie and his face took on a concerned expression. "I do believe she is a student, she's wearing the robes you see. I found her wandering the streets of Hogsmeade and I immediately brought her up here."

"He immediately brought me here." Celandine's mouth agreed with the man, though she sounded less than convinced herself. How long had it been really? A week? A month? She'd lost track of time and almost of herself.

Three weeks. A little voice in her mind told her and Celandine sighed, her lips gluing themselves together once more as she swayed in the grip of the pretender.

The dashing young man knew her name!?

Mildred had never been good with remembering names or faces these days.. y'know, bad memory and all that. But if this polite man knew her name, then she must've known him! From... somewhere.

But that didn't matter right now. She was more concerned about the young girl who was looking a little worse for wear. Poor little dear. It looked like she was in need of a strong cup of Milly's special cocoa.

"Well, don't just hang around out there," the Professor flapped a little, drawing her wand and deactivating the special charms which kept the gate locked. With a creak, they slowly swung open.

"Come on then! We haven't got all day! Bring her in!"

Samuel was tempted to give the blond a warning look but knew the old goat was watching and just because she was as nutty as a fruitcake didn't mean she didn't have good eyesight.

He instead gave her a warm smile and turned back to Mildred and his smile grew even wider when she opened the gate for them.

Too easy!

"Certainly Mildred" he said, taking a step towards the gate and pulling the girl with him. As he passed through the gates he took in a deep breath, "Ah Hogwarts. It has been many years since I was here last" he stated looking over to Mildred.

Was she even going to ask how he knew her?

"...No!" Celandine almost shrieked when Professor Pilliwickle opened the gate, her cry was cut off by one of pain though and she swayed on her feet, almost doubling over and clutching her stomach and her throat.

At the warning look she went dead eyed again and allowed herself to be dragged through the gates.

Now they were all safe and sound. HEHEHE.

And she had made a new friend! Mildred didn't notice ANYTHING suspicious. At all.

"We should get straight up to the castle," she ordered, turning all mother hen as she began to lead the way - after securing the gate of course, "missy here needs some new robes and a cup of hot chocolate. She'll be right as rain then."

"Yes she does look a little worse for wear doesn't she? I wonder what she has been up to? Little scallywag probably sneaked out to visit her boyfriend or something."

Samuel smirked behind Mildred's back as he followed her up the path towards the castle.

Oh, this had been so much easier than he had thought it was going to be. And really, who was gonna stop him now since he had been invited in by one of the Professor's?

He patted the little blond on the head as they got closer to the castle, best 22 galleons he had ever spent.

If only she had been visiting Copernicus! Cela blinked away stinging little tears and found she couldn't even glare at the man. It was his fault. It was. All of it.

And still she couldn't say a thing. Her feet followed without her say so, though she did drag them as best she could, and that was a huge struggle. She grit her teeth, futiley trying to just... not.

It had been a long walk from the fifth floor to the front gate. Ili's contractions were getting closer together and they had to stop every time she had one and Neo looked like he was ready to pass out.

Marcus was extremely stressed out at this point. The school was under attack and he was leaving. He felt really bad about that but his wife needed him.

He looked at the two people who were hanging onto his arms and took a deep breath, "Are you two ready to go? Ili, do you think you can hold on just a little bit longer?"

He was going to be a father!!!

Marcus looked at Neo and he eyed the man with concern, "Dude, do you think you're up for this?"

Iliana nodded her head and smiled. This was certainly not the way she had planned it.. and she was crazy nervous now... but they were about to have a baby!

"I'll be just fine," she said, putting on a happy face even though the pain was threatening to rip through her again. "As long as I have my men there with me; everything will be JUST fine." She smiled at the both of them and squeeezed her husband's arm tight.

Marie sat there on a huge rock near the front gate. She was staring off not really looking at anything. Term was almost over and she had a lot going through her mind. She was missing Evan terribly and didn't know when she would see him again. She hadn't heard from him in a couple of months so she didn't know how he was doing or if he was even coming back to school next term.

Then there was Carter who has been such a great friend to her. He helped her look for her friends when they were missing, which included Evan who had failed to tell her why he wasn't around all the time. He stood by her during the battle and he even helped her out in classes.... Like when she couldn't see the Thestral in CoMC. He was fun to be around and she really liked spending time with him. There was just one small problem now. She was starting to like him as more than a friend.

She was so confused, she didn't know what she was going to do.

She pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees as she felt a tear run down her cheek.

Why did it seem like every time Destiny took a step outside the castle she was on a mission?

Oh, that's right. Because she was on a mission.

She was sitting in the common room, when her cat, Sly, decided to run off. Seeing as he always got into something, Destiny went out and chased him. She did not want to bring him back next term..

Carrying his harness in one hand, Destiny held a bag of treats in the other and occasionally shook it. She swore she saw the little ball of fluff run towards the front gate, so that was were she was now. 'Slyyyyy, you stupid cat..' she called out hoping he would come out.

Of course he didn't, and she wasn't really too comfortable staying at the front gate. Memories filled her head, and she didn't want to be there. Turning around to head back to the castle, she stopped when she saw Marie sitting on a rock. 'Marie? What are you doing out here?' Well, duh..she was sitting on a rock. 'And have you seen my cat?'

Oh Merlin! Was Marie crying?

Marie was brought out of her trance when she heard someone talking to her. Looking up she seen Destiny standing there. She quickly wiped the tears from her face hoping her friend didn't notice she was crying. Like that would be possible. She could already feel that her eyes were a little swollen which meant they were probably red too.

"Um no, I haven't seen him, sorry." Truth is he could have been sitting right in front of her and she wouldn't have noticed him.

What was she doing there, good question, even she wasn't sure what she was doing there, besides feeling all kinds of confused. "Oh I was just thinking." ......and crying.

Merlin! Marie was crying. Destiny knew when someone was crying, because she has been doing a lot of it herself. Not even a few hours ago, she looked just like her friend. She just wouldn't tell anyone she cried..or do it outside. Well, no. She has done it outside.

And Marie hasn't seen her cat. Whatever, there was more important things to do, like find the jerk that made Marie cry. Rex.. It was the first person she thought of when she heard the word jerk.

Destiny took a seat next to Marie on the big rock. Her cat could come back when he was hungry, or he would just stay here over the summer. Her owl had done that.. 'Thinking huh? Do you..ugh..want to talk about it?' If it made Marie cry, it couldn't be good.

Marie sat up a little when Destiny sat next to her. Maybe it would help to talk about how she was feeling. But would Destiny understand? She knew that Destiny still thought boys had cooties so she was a little hesitant about telling her. She didn't want her to laugh at her or anything. Then again....Destiny was her friend and she did feel comfortable talking to her.

"I was just thinking about Evan," she said. "I haven't heard from him in a couple of months and I don't even know if he is coming back next term. I really miss him a lot." It was all Lawson's fault he was gone. Maybe she should go find him and kick him for convincing her boyfriend to leave school.

Oh.

Boys.

That's what Marie was thinking about. Destiny really had no experience with them, except for the little cootie infested one in the common room. But that wasn't such a good experience, and it surely would not help Marie out right now. If she would have just stayed away from boys, she would not be here crying on a rock.

But that would not be the right thing to say. 'Perhaps he is just too busy to write to you.' Wait..where was he anyway? Destiny had no idea, but she would just play like she knew he was gone. 'I'm sure he is thinking about you right now!' Unless he found another girl..then he wouldn't be thinking about you..

It was a good thing she thought that last part instead of blurting it out. That would just give Marie another reason to cry, and then Destiny would cry..and she didn't think she had any tears left. 'They say that when people are in loo..' *shiver* The dreaded L word, in looo.., deep breath, you can say the word.. 'love..' There we go! '..they know when they are being thought about.'

And unless Marie was thinking about someone else, then Evan should know.

Too busy to write, was she serious? Marie had written to him several times since he had left..... well once she found out where he was that is, and he couldn't even take the time to write back a simple I'm thinking about you or I miss you too. "Come on Destiny, it's not like he's busy every waking minute of his day. I mean I know he's busy with practice and home schooling but he does have time off I'm sure." Time off that he can spend with other girls.

"Well I don't feel like he is thinking about me at all anymore. I think about him all the time but it doesn't seem to matter, I still don't hear from him."

Then again lately he isn't the only one she has been thinking about. It seems she can't keep Carter out of her thoughts either. Was that why she didn't hear from him, could he sense that she was thinking about Carter a lot too?

"Do you think he would know if I was thinking about someone else?" She started to bite her lower lip as she looked down at the ground.

Ehh.

Now that Destiny knew where Evan was, she could probably help a little more. Apparently he was practicing something and being home schooled. What he was practicing, she did not know, but it had to be painful..right? 'Well, he could be so sore from this practicing, that it hurts to lift up a quill! I know when my brother was practicing for Quidditch every single day, he couldn't even lift a fork to eat.' But deep down, Destiny knew it was just an excuse to be feed by their mother. Wiping those horrible memories from her head, she had come up with an IDEA! 'Maybe there is another way to get in touch with him!?' What was that muggle way?

Destiny didn't know. She was hoping Marie would..

Hmm. How to answer to that? 'I am SURE he is thinking about you. He doesn't seem like the type to just forget about someone..' Not that Destiny knew different types of people. She just heard that on the muggle box, and she thought it worked for this conversation.

Destiny's jaw literally dropped, and she turned to face Marie. 'Well..I don't know..' she mumbled as she fiddled with the cat harness in her hand. 'Is there someone else you are thinking about?'

Destiny should have just let her cat go. She should have never followed him..

"I don't think he's that sore," she said. "I know football can be a tough sport but it's nothing like quidditch." No, she was convinced he just didn't want to write to her now. There was no other explanation for it in her mind. "What other way could there be? I've sent him owls and we can't use the floo." If there was another way to get ahold of him she didn't know what it was.

"He doesn't seem like the type to forget? Yeah, right. He didn't even remember my thirteenth birthday. How could he forget that? My birthday is only three days after his." Thirteen was a pretty important birthday for a girl and for her boyfriend to forget it, well that just hurt.

Marie could hear the shock in Destiny's voice when she mentioned she may be thinking of someone else. "Well umm, sort of," she said not sure if she should say anymore than that. What if Destiny thought she was a bad person for thinking about another boy when she had just been complaining about not hearing from Evan. Oh well, might as well tell her, she'll probably just keep asking anyway. "Well......I sort of think about Carter sometimes." Hah, that was an understatement. She seemed to be thinking about him all the time. Between thinking about Evan and Carter she hardly ever thought about anything else. No wonder she was behind on her school work.

Football?

Ewww! Evan liked that game they played in Muggle Studies? What a weirdo. How can someone like something that involves moving your feet? Like Evelyn. How could she enjoy running? Freaks. This school was full of freaks.

'Do you remember when we were in Muggle Studies, and we all played football? Well, after that one single class, I was sore for a week!' Pffft, more like a month, but who was counting? 'I had to roll out of bed every morning. Like really roll!' Which only made the pain worse when she fell on the hard floor. And it seemed Marie didn't know anything about muggle communication either. 'Maybe you could visit him over the summer. Find out where he practices and such.' They could be like secret spies, and SPY on him!

So. Evan was a forgetter. And to forget when their birthdays are so close together..that wasn't good. 'Well..umm..maybeeee..maybe he didn't have money to buy you a gift,' she shrugged, 'so he thought it was easier to just forget your birthday.' Yeah, she had no idea what to say to that.

Destiny really wanted to hear the answer to the question. And there it was. 'Oh?' she asked with an eyebrow raised. She didn't know whether or not to ask who she was thinking about, but one thing was for sure; if Marie said she was thinking about Rex, Destiny was going to slap her friend right in the face. She placed the cat harness behind her on the rock to get ready for the slap, but Marie had not said Rex. Destiny let out a sigh of relief when Marie said she sometimes thinks about Carter, 'Well of course you would think about him. You are friends.

It may have taken her a little longer to absorb what Marie was really saying.. 'By Jove! You have a crush on Carter!'

Oh yeah, she remembered that class. It was one she actually had fun in. Evan had been teaching her how to play football already so she kind of knew what she was doing when they played in class. Now though she wished they would have never had that class. It was that stupid class that got Evan talking to Lawson about playing football professionaly. It was because of that class....and Man Lawson that her Evan was gone.

Marie couldn't help but laugh when Destiny said she had to roll out of bed after ploying football. "It's not like that for him," she said still laughing. "He's been playing football every since he was a little kid. He's use to all th practicing and everything that goes with it. It would take a lot to make him sore from palying." Then again what did she realy know, she had never trained for something like that so maybe he was in pain.

Crud

Now she was going to worry about if he was hurt. Thanks Destiny.

"I doubt if I will get to visit him. They are the only wizarding family in a muggle community. There is no way my parents or grandparents will let me go to his house." Well she might be able to convince her father but it would take a lot to work on her mother. "Maybe I will see him in Diagon Alley." She knew she would be going there a lot, that was the one place her parents always let her go. Oh, but she was suppose to meet Carter there too. That's okay though, Carter was just her friend, nothing more......right?

She thought he forgogt her birthday because he didn't have money to buy a present. That was very doubtful. "I don't care if he could buy me anything. He doesn't have to buy me presents to make me happy. It would have just been nice to hear from him and know that he is doing okay." Obviously that was too much to ask for though.

Oh, Destiny thought she was thinking about Carter because they were friends. Maybe she would just leave it at that then....you know not tell her that she is confused about how she is really feeling.

Oops, too late, she figured it out. "Weeelllll I don't know if I would call it a crush," she said biting her lip again. "But I do like being with him and well... I don't think about Evan as much as I use to when I'm around Carter." Sure in the beginning of their friendship she did nothing but think about Evan all the time. Now sometimes she doesn't even think about him at all until after she is away from Carter. "I'm really confused now," she said. She hugged her knees closer to her and could feel the tears coming again. she took a deep breeath and held them back, she was not going to cry again. At least not right now. "I still want to be Evan's girlfriend but I think I am also starting to like Carter." If only Evan wold have stayed at school things would be so much different right now.

Stupid Lawson and his stupid football.