"We can do that. I really do like Hogwarts as well but we have a home to get to, though", she told to Courtney with a smile. Hogwarts was like a home to everyone, a second home or an actual home to some people. "Did he win any races?", she asked her. "I know he did fight but...", she said but she couldn't finish her sentence off.

"Yes we do. This place is like a second home to me, or my only home where I feel welcome" replied Courtney. She looked inside her bag and tipped out all the make-up that was inside and threw most of it away. "Yeah he did, he won about 10 races. Uncle Marcus has the medals and trophies at home" she replied. Court narrowed her eyes slightly as Ginny said something but never finished it. "But what?"

"It's a second home to me too. It's the only other place where it feels just like home and we're I'm welcomed into", she said to Courtney. Ginny saw Courtney throw all of her make-up from her bag onto the ground. She had know idea why she was doing it. "10 races! His dad must be really proud of him", she said. Then she looked up at her. "I don't want to say it anymore", she answered her.

Trix had told her about that scary tree when they were by the lake, but she'd never been nearer than that to it so today she'd decided she was gonna sit near to it. Not so near that it injured her. That'd be bad. EEEP. She stood quite far away from the tree. But it was near enough for her. Looking around she shrugged, eyeing the tree some more.

"Cal-if-orn-ia." Jimmy practically sneaked up on her, nudging her in the small of her back. "Didn't take you as someone who got into... you know.... staring at trees, or whatever it is you're doin'."

He solemnly moved around to stand beside her and look at the tree too.

actually, he kinda liked trees

"Hows it goin', Callie? Haven't really seen you around much."

EEEP! Phew, it was just someone creeping up on her.

And there was her name. Not just her name. Her full name. There was only 3 people that knew her full name who went to Hogwarts, Jack, Melissa and James. It obviously wasn't Melissa cus she was a girl. She looked around and spotted James. "Ja-mes. Im checking the tree isn't going to hurt me silly."

She looked to her side and smiled at him.

"Its...going Okay. I suppose. How's it goin' with you ? Yeah, Ditto."

"It won't hurt you unless you do something stupid." Jim pointed out. "Besides, you know... the immobulus charm? You can turn the whompers off if you need to." He grinned and eyed the tree. The tree whomped a branch nearby and James flipped it off. Yeah you can't reach me, tree.

"Pshhh. You know." He paused. "I guess... I kinda miss home a bit." Shifty looks. "Not my parents or whatever, but being able to do whatever I want. Not that I don't do whatever I want but yeah, they check up on you in this place and all, and I'm not really a fan of being locked in behind these gates."

"Oh well thats fine then. I never do stupid things." So she liked to think. "Um yeah I do. Really ? Shouldn't there be a sign that tells you that in case someone stupid that does stupid things is in danger ?" Trix never mentioned being able to turn them off. She watched as tree branch near James. EEEP.

She knew ? Awww, he missed home. She snickered. "Admit it James, you miss your mommy and daddy." He missed not being able to do what he wanted but he was doing what he wanted anyways ? tehee. "Ooooh rebellious aren't we ?" she smirked. "So how've you beeen then ?"

"I do, all the time." Jim admitted with a goofy sort of grin. No big. He shrugged it off and continued ignoring the tree when it kept whomping at them. It couldn't reach so whatevs. Silly tree. Kind of like a two year old trying to get your attention. He turned his back on it and could actually feel the breeze from the branches as they tried to squish him. Too far away mizz tree. Grow a little why dontcha?

"Naw, because this here tree is a good way of getting rid of stupid people. Survival of the fittest you know?" He waggled his eyebrows. "Theres a knot hole." He turned around and pointed at it. It was only juuuust visible from where they stood. If you hit that, it'll actually stop the whompers too."

Raising his eyebrows at her snicker James shook his head. "Meh. Hardly saw them anyway. They work for the International Confederation of Wizards, they're magical patent inspectors and they spend most of the time going all around the world checking out inventions and boring things like that. I do miss driving away the tutors I used to get though. Fireworks and pranks and all. That was entertainment." Heh.

"Only a teeny bit rebellious. No detentions yet." Grin.

"Atleast your honest." she replied. Giggling at his goofy grin. Honest, one thing Callie wasn't fond of. She didn't tell lies though, she told truths with missed details. Or that was how Callie liked to think of her lies. Callie turned just as James did so they weren't facing the tree. But Whatif it could move and then it moved and then attacked 'em. "Um...James. Im..um..Scared..sorta."

"So could It like kill me if I went and threw rocks at it ?" she was too young and pretty to die. "Oooh. So if you went and threw rocks and it and then I went and threw rocks at it...I'd have more chance of being injured by it than you would ?" She wasn't gonna test that theory.

She listened to James' story. People seemed to like telling stories round here. "So you were like home alone ?" Eeep. Actually, the thought of being home alone with no parents sounded fun. "My parents travelled alot too. I dunno what they do, but I travelled with them. All round America and then I moved in with my brother and came here." ..Story of her life, not that it was too interesting. Fireworks ? tehe. They were pretteh and colourful.

"Emphasis on the yet."

"Haha. Sure." Honest? Misleading more than honest. Jimmy knew he was smart, he just preferred people not knowing so they wouldn't heap all those expectations on him. He preferred just scraping by, not having to get high grades, or do well at things because people knew or thought he should or could. That way too, it was a surprise when he could be bothered with things, and then he could just shrug it off and blame it on luck.

"Scared? Aww don't be scared, Callie.I got your back." True. He patted her back for emphasis.

"I dunno how likely that is." He thought about her question. "If it happened to knock a rock back at you, and it just happened to hit you right here," He gently brushed the hair away from her temple, "Then it might kill you. But its REALLY unlikely. Its a tree, not a beater. I bet its aim is crap." He looked over his shoulder at the tree and flipped it off again. Pshhh. The tree was old anyway. Senile tree.

"Really, anyone who is stupid enough to throw rocks at a tree, or stand nearby someone who is throwing rocks is more likely to die than someone who isn't. But again, chances aren't that high, so it depends on if you like a little danger." Why. Would. You. Throw. Rocks. At. A. Tree?

"Nahhh. Had a tutor. And we had a cook and a gardener too. But you know, they just did their jobs and whatever. But pretty much could do what I wanted." He listened as she explained about her parents. "Did you like travelling with them?" Man. He got bored when he traveled with his parents. While they spoiled him and he got away with a lot. There was an awful lot of sitting down and shutting up. Not his bag.

"Haha yeah? You expect I'll land myself a detention at some point?"

She smiled. Still eyeing the tree in all its scarehness. She looked to Jimmy and bit her lip. He looked so...so Calm. There was a tree over there that could possible injury them very servely and he was just..just standing there like it wasn't even there. He was a brave boy, or he was good at putting on a brave face. One of the two, she was sure. She looked back to the tree, sideways glancing to James to see if he secretly freaked out while she wasn't looking.

He didnt.

"Bit late im already scared." She bit her lip. "Just a little bit though."

She listened, eyeing James closely as he spoke. IF IT HIT A ROCK BACK AT HER ?! eeeeep. She shifted so she was standing behind James, well infront of him seen as he was facing away from the tree. Covering her temples after he brushed her hair away she smiled slightly. "If it throws a rock at us you have to protect me though, right ?" It could be a beater. "You bet that but you never know."

"Oookay then. I wont throw any rocks at the tree and then you wont throw any rocks at the tree and then we'll both be perfectly safe but just incase someone else does you have to promise to protect me. Hows that sound ?" she thought it was a good plan.

"So..Um, You were like alone in your house with a Tutor, a gardener and a cleaner ? That sounds awesome." Living with James was pretty cool, he was usually at work and when he wasn't he was totally out of her way. She thought about his question. "Nope. I didn't like it. I hated it. It was boring, and I didnt have any real friends. I made friends we moved, then I made new friends and we moved and the cycle goes on."

"Yeah I do. Maybe i'll see you there." So she wasn't trying to not have detention but she was pretty sure she was gonna.

He grinned at her. "If you're scared Callie, why're you out here for? You like facing down your fears?" He smiled at her while she moved, meaning for it to be comforting. He was nice like that, see? "Yeah, of course I will. But not if it means I'm gonna die." haha.

"We'll just both not die. I'm good with that idea. And yeah, I'll just shield us or something, it'll be fine. I'm sure we'll see a potential rock-thrower coming before they start anyway, you know?" He waggled his eyebrows at her teasingly. Teehee.He would though. Jump in and play hero if it came down to it. Not that anyone needed to KNOW that. Pshaaaw.

"Pretty much." He agreed. "It was okay most of the time. Most of my friends lived nearby or were home-schooled too so we got to hang out on weekends. Shared a tutor a few times as well so I didn't get lonely or whatever." Much.

"Yeah I bet that sucked. Would have kind of been like, why bother getting to know anyone at all if you were just going to have to move again. So its kind of good for you to be here and all huh? You're staying to finish out your education, or do you have to move again?"

The slytherin returned her grin. "Because. I um. I dunno. Wait yes I do. Because I am awesome and I am pretty so if I was inside all the time like in the Common Room and such it wouldn't be fair on all the other houses, because like they wouldn't get to see my prettiness." PFT. Big headed Much Callie ? "Good." she smiled again.

"Yeah staying alive sounds like a brill' plan to me." She didn't wanna die especially not because of a vicious tree. "Ookays then, Ill keep my eyes peeled. What if they're super sneaky and we dont see 'em though ?" she just had to be difficult in situations like this, Well actually she had to be difficult in most situations.

"Wow. Thats awesome." she replied. "But like y'know in like...'class' if you can call it class. Didn't you have to answer all the questions because no one else was there too ?" That would suck. But the part of being at home would be awesome.

"It did. Muchly. Yeah it was pretty much like that. But if I didn't get to know people then I'd be like the loner of the school and that'd be even worse than leaving my friends after i'd made friends with them. Yeah its pretty awesome down here, 'sept its cold." she paused she fake shiver. "Im staying here, My parents are back in America but im staying with my brother in like summer break and all that."

"Well yeah, I'm appreciating the whole pretty thing right now." Jimmy told her smiling back. Hah. He liked ego. It was funny. Made him feel right at home. He couldn't really stand it when people were down on themselves and pretty much required compliments all the time. Compliment your own damn self. He preferred his compliments coming because he wanted to give them and not because he was expected to. Just like everything else. Life was a whim.

"Ehh, we'll see them. Besides, its alright to live dangerously once in a while." He grinned. Dangerously.

"Mmm nahh." He laughed. "You seen me in class at all?" Jimmy was kind of.... smart but also a joker of sorts. Smart mouth. He never took things too seriously even when he did volunteer an answer. "I could just tell my parents they sucked if they got on my case anyway." He added. A benefit of having awol parents was that they tended to get guilty and do what he wanted.

"Thats cool that you're sticking around, means I won't get my wittle heart all broken when my new friend moves on and all." He grinned at her.

"Good. You should be, 'Cus y'know like I said Im being super generous risking my life to share my prettiness with the whole of hogwarts." she said making a worldy shape with her hands as she said 'the whole of hogwarts' cus liak hogwarts was a biiiiig place. Was she supposed to compliment him now ? "Do I have to compliment you now ?" She said with a small smile.

"If you're sure. I suppose, but Im not entirely sure but I think theres a difference between living dangerously and being killed my a tree hitting me with rocks."

She giggled as he laughed. Um seen him in class ?"Um. I think I might've. Ive seen you around, and I must now your name from somewhere so um Yeah I guess I have. Im not the most observant person in the world but I think I have. Why'd you ask ?" Tell his parents they sucked ? She laughed again a little. "But then wouldnt they say something to you for saying they sucked ?" Hers would, she thought they would anyways.

"Yeah it is I guess, Aww. I promise not to break your heart." she winked.

Courtney smiled at Ginny. "Exactly. A lot of people see Hogwarts like that" she replied. Well people that she knew anyways. She put her half empty make-up bag away and put the rest of the make-up in a seperate bag to throw in the bin. "Yeah, Uncle Marcus is proud of him" she replied. Most of the family was proud of him. Her included in that. "Ok" she said and forgot about it totally.

"Naww. I don't need compliments to know I'm awesome." Jimmy answered casually. True statement. He winked at her and the tree WHOMPED the ground behind them, hard enough to shake through their feet. Jimmy ignored it.

"True, but right now there are no rocks." He pointed out. "We're good."

He laughed at her reply. Yeah yeah. Probably a stupid question. But still.

"Because how I am in classes here is pretty much what it was like at home. Entertain myself by commenting on whatever, maybe give a half decent answer every now and then. No big. If I didn't learn things, it was the tutor's fault, not mine."

James put his hand over his heart and put on a tortured look. "Aww pinky promise?" Ha.

He was unbreakable.

...

ish.

"Alright then. You keep complimenting yourself then dude." She said winking at him. Callie's face dropped as the tree whomped the ground and her feet shoook. She made a small squee sound before looking up at Jimmy. "Are you sure we're safe here ?"

"But people could find some and bring them with them purposly to try kill us because were too awesome." she said with a firm nod.

Not that people knew they were there, unless they were stalking them. Ew. Creepy.

"Oooh. I'll have to pay more attention to you in class next time I see you in class then wont I." She didn't really care what James was like at home because if he was the same in school she didn't need to know but she may aswell sound interested while they were here.

Callie giggled as he mimicked being hurt. Why did everyone do that ? "Pinky promise."

"You're the one who chose this spot." He pointed out mildly. But yes. He was sure. You could see the tree couldn't quite reach them.

"I'm awesome enough that I can overpower the non-awesomes." He told her with a completely straight face. "Are all Slytherins this paranoid or just you?" At least he had an answer for everything right? No matter how ridiculous. The boy was glib.

"You should pay more attention to me all the time." He countered. And then held out his hand, pinky extended, to make good on the promise. hah.

"Fine then I choose that we move." she said taking hold of his hand and pulling him a few stpes backwards before letting go off his hand again. "There we go."

"Surely you only need to be the tiniest bit awesome to overpower people that aren't at all awesome." She said with a nod. "I dunno. But I presume all normal people would be paranoid if there was a possibility they could be killed by a tree." she replied shaking her head at him.

"Oh should I now. Whys that then ?" she said raising her eyebrow. Extending her pinky she raised her hand and linked her pinky with him giving a small laugh as she did so. "There now its official."

He laughed and let her pull him a few steps out of the way of the tree. "Whatever helps you sleep at night." Heehe. Tree nightmares. Woooooo. Scary.

he was probably gonna have tree nightmares now

"No point doing things by halves, my dad always says that. But then, who said I'd use all my awesome at once?" He'd be awesome in stages. Rawr. Heh. Someone was in a goofy mood today.

He shook her pinky and grinned at her. "Why should you? Because whats the point of life if you can't appreciate all the good things in it? Besides. I'm kind of... self explanatory." He even turned around slowly so she could get a good look.

He wasn't completely serious. More confident and cocky than truly vain. But yep. Goofy mood meant a playful James.

Sapphinelle walked towards the Whomping Willow, she thought the huge deathly tree was actually kind of adorable! Naturally, she had already finished all her homework, so she came here to get some fresh air. She took a deep breath and decided to take some alone time. She really needed it, but she wouldn't mind if one of her friends just happened to walk by...

mmmmmmkay, so Rubiey wasn't sure why she was back at this deathtrap of a tree, but she had wanted to clear her head, and ended up here. Niiiice.

Looking around, she spotted a brown haired girl admiring the tree. Smiling, she walked up to her. "Hey Saph! Long time no see!" She said, giving her friend a hug.

Catch-up time! *griiiiiiiiiiin*

Sapphinelle was so glad to see fall turning right at her eyes. She loved fall. The warm colors of the leaves, the nice cool air, and the mysteriousness of it all. She didn't feel like dressing up today, so she dressed in one of her favorite out-of the box outfits. She heard a familiar voice call her name, and turned to see- RUBIEY! Her fellow studious companion. Someone who matched her level of intelligence, that's hwy she loved her so much. "RUBES!" she exclaimed, hugging her back.
"How's Gryffindor?" she said with a little laugh.