There is a difference between ditching and lagging.

Ditching would mean leaving and not coming back. Lagging, on the other hand, was what Destiny was doing. She was taking her time walking behind her MEAN friends, all while shoving the chocolate she had stored in her pockets into her mouth. That's what they get for the burning of the stuff in her bag, the pushing and the just plain meanness of them. Now they had a sugar rushed Destiny on their hands.

She could probably find the rest of the stuff they needed by herself now!

But she wasn't going to do that. RUNNING up the stairs and into the Observatory, Destiny skidded to a halt next to the other She-Snakes and quickly picked up that thing on the ledge. The thing that they needed for the scavenger hunt..whatever it was.

"Where to next, huh? Are we finally going outside? Hopefully it isn't raining because I didn't bring my rain boots. I guess I could try to summon them, but then what if they accidentally hit someone on their way to me? Are we going or whaaaat?"

Time was wasting people!

As Rex looked up to the sky, he could see yet another constellation up there. This one was a little harder for him to identify, but as he peered through his telescope he recognized that it was the constellation known as Bootes. Rex had heard that that was also known as the Plowsman or Herdsman, it must have something to do with cows in some way. The shape of the constellation could have been either a head or a cow, Jason wasn't quite sure, but he made a note in his book anyway.

Hmm, Ev didn't know where Destiny was either. Oh well. She was sure her friend was just off eating more chocolate. Or maybe she had run into Patroclus and decided to ditch them for him. "Oh well, I'm sure she'll find us when she's ready to give up her other quest."

Where to next? "Well we've pretty much searched the whole castle. The only place we haven't been is..." Before she had a chance to finish she was cut off by...

Destiny.

A very hyper Destiny.

Oh sweet Merlin! The girl obviously found chocolate somewhere.

"Geesh Destiny, slow down and take a deep breath already. We're not going outside just yet. We still have one more place to check inside." Throwing her bag over her shoulder she left the observatory. "Well come on you two. We got stuff to find."

It as true. Destiny could find them if she wanted to. Nodding, she folded up her parchment once again and stuck it into her back, as well as the quill, before glancing over to Marie. The only place they haven't checked was what?

What was that rush of wind!?

Blinking in surprise, her gaze finally focused on a rather HYPER Slytherin girl. Ugghhh, her ears were buzzing. Focus Evelyn! Focus on what was being said about...rain...and boots. Eh? OH! Right, they haven't checked in the owlery. Bleh, the owlery. "What?" she muttered, lips barely moving as she watched Marie leave leaving Destiny with...her.

...

MARRIIIIIEEE! WWAAAAAAIT!

SPRINT!

Take a deep breath?

Destiny could do that! In fact, she could do that a FEW times. Which is what she did. Taking a series of deep breaths, she glanced at her friends, waiting to be told where to go next. Merlin! Maybe she shouldn't have taken all those breaths. She was feeling slightly lightheaded.

But she wasn't lightheaded enough where she missed hearing that they weren't going outside. Frowning, she kicked an imaginary stone. "But I wanted to go outside. I'm pretty sure it's not raining and this castle gets SO boring when you're in it ALL the time." And Destiny was in the castle a lot.

Throwing her bag over her shoulder just like Marie had, she, quite quickly, followed them out of the Observatory. "Do you think Professor Lafay will let us keep these bags? It's like..no matter how much stuff you put in it never gets heavy. Think of how much chocolate I could carry!"

And she wasn't going to stop talking..

Well, since he sort of found one item not too far away, Treyen didn't believe he'll be finding something here, but, it didn't hurt to check, right?

Plus, he actually liked the Observatory very much, except that one time when Emmy was too close to falling from here.

Er, right. He had to look for stuff, no?

After spending an amount of almost ten minutes while searching between the telescopes, the boy decided to clear his mind off by checking out the grounds. Lafay must have hidden something in there too, and here he was wasting precious time by gazing about.

Hidden.

Suddenly he turned around and landed his eyes on the cupboards.

It had seemed like the most obvious place to look for in the first place, but he never thought of it. Once he started to search amongst them he had a HUGE smile on his face.

JACKPOT!

Could he take more than one, though? You know, as a souvenir? Probably not. That's why he took one and bagged it, before running away from the place. Well, he was starting to like this.

Amadeus made his way into the astronomy tower, clothed in a tan, relaxed summer suit with a deep, black v-neck on his torso. Today was a very special occasion. A wicker picnic basket clutched in his left hand was promptly placed on the floor of the empty astronomy tower. It was lucky for him and his guest that NEWTs and OWLs were cancelled this term; if not, many anxious fifth and seventh years would have occupied the observatory with their eyes pressed to their telescopes and their noses pressed to their textbooks. Fishing his wand out of the back pocket of his trousers, Amadeus muttered an incantation and flicked his wand in the general direction of the basket on the stone floor. The top flipped open with a snap and quicker than one could take a step, a checkered blanket had been laid neatly on the floor. On top of the cloth lay a bowl of various fruits along with other food items, a large bottle of butterbeer, a bottle opener for the butterbeer, and two wine glasses for butterscotch-like drink. Amadeus smiled as he gazed on the scene, tucking his wand into his pocket as he admired his handiwork. The setting sun shone on the scene and added a natural perfection to the room that not even magic could bring.

Braeden should be here any minute, He anxiously thought, his blue eyes glancing at his designer watch as he resisted the temptation to pace the floor nervously. When was Amadeus Kipling ever this nervous? Could it be the sweltering summer heat? Not possible, as the breeze that swept through the tower ruffled the blanket at the corners. The seventh year was as close to graduation as ever, summer was nearly in full swing, he had won the quidditch cup, and everything seemed as if it was going to be smooth sailing. Biting his lip, he thought of the friends that he would be leaving as he made his way into the wizarding world. His thoughts rested with Braeden Stonem, his best mate and a boyfriend that he could have never imagined in his wildest dreams. They would go their separate ways and even though there would be letters to write and visits to make, Amadeus couldn't bear the thought of not seeing his friend on an almost daily basis. Noticing that the the skin of his lower lip was at the breaking point from the force of his nervous chewing, Deus forced himself to stop his silly sentimentality. This was why they had arranged this sunset picnic: a final goodbye for them both, until they reunited once more. The problem was, their future reunion was an indefinite event; thus, Amadeus planned to enjoy every moment of this picnic as he could. Forcing his hands into the front pockets of his freshly pressed trousers, he stood facing the tower's entrance, waiting.

Braeden Stonem could not get his heart to be still in his chest; it seemed to be doing jumping jacks and trying to climb up his throat. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this nervous.

This was ridiculous!
What was he, a little boy visiting the doctor for the first time? Calm down, Brae; you're just going to see an old friend, for Melon's Merlin's sake.
But how could he not be nervous? It had, after all, been a while since he'd last really seen his best mate. Sadly for Braeden, he had fallen ill these past couple weeks, and hadn't been able to hang out with Deus as much as he would have liked to; not only that, but his friend was obviously busy himself with the popularity he'd gained over this past year. Suddenly, Brae felt like he might have become a nuisance, some bothersome obstacle to the very popular and handsome Ravenclaw quidditch player. However, when Deus invited him to this picnic, Braeden's insecurities washed away and he knew things hadn't changed - Amadeus Kipling was still his best mate, and he still loved his dorky Gryffindor friend as much, if not more than he did at the beginning of the term.
Braeden had to resist the urge to burst into tears of joy.

All dressed up in a suit with a bow-tie and his hair neatly made, Braeden couldn't help feeling like he was heading over to the prom party of some muggle American high school. And boy, was he excited and nervous to meet his date. And so, after the very short journey from the Gryffindor tower over to the Astronomy tower, Braeden came to an abrupt halt as he caught sight of Deus - looking like a stone figure carved by the gods - standing by the tower's entrance. Braeden's heart did a backflip in his chest and he flashed the Ravenclaw boy one of his goofiest and most lopsided of silly grins, one of those awkward chuckles of his escaping his lips.

"Deus," he spoke as he approached the young man, his brown eyes sparkling.
And it was hard to tell if they sparkled from the sunset light washing over his face or from his childlike excitement to see his best mate again after what felt like years.

"Brae," Amadeus breathed, grinning from ear-to-ear in an unbridled expression of joy, one rarely seen from the normally stoic, serious Ravenclaw. This was the most cleaned-up that Deus had ever seen his friend to be: bowtie, perfectly coiffed hair, and all. He could have wept from the perfection if not for his ever-present gentlemanly manners. Amadeus felt like a slob in comparison, with his v-neck that suited the warm weather and his hair a bit more mussed up than usual, his skin more tan after having been basking in the sun and playing on the quidditch pitch. He attempted to shake off his immature puppy love. It was only Brae and Deus, nothing more. Just in suits and having a lovely picnic. Nothing too out of the ordinary, right? Maybe it was simply their weeks of parting that had caused his swelling of emotion. Taking his hands out of his pockets, Amadeus turned and made a large, sweeping gesture toward the set-up. "Is it to your liking, Lady Stonem?" He smirked mischievously, his age-old nickname for Braeden lightening the mood a bit.

"I wanted to make sure that everything was perfect... as usual." He couldn't help but chuckle at his own admission of his pedantic ways, habits that had been loosened slightly upon his acquaintance with his free-flowing friend. Taking a few steps over to the blanket, he gestured for Brae to take a seat. It was only the proper thing to do, letting the lady sit before the man.

Braeden's goofy grin only widened as Deus breathed his name, his brown eyes looking like he'd just reached the end of the rainbow and found a pot of gold. But, wow… his friend looked dashing. They made a pretty handsome pair - why couldn't girls have walked by then?! Of course, they always had to appear when poor Brae looked his worst, with his stuffy nose and messy hair and tired eyes. But those days were over, he was healthy!Brae again and not all the pretty girls in the world could distract him from having an awesome time with his best mate.

Deus was, after all, graduating.

At this realization, the poor Gryffindor boy's grin faded and that cheery, goofy aura he usually carried around him seemed to slip off him and land on the floor. However, as Deus spoke once more, inviting Braeden in and addressing him as 'Lady Stonem', Braeden had to laugh and return to his dorky ways.

"Well, this isn't what you'd usually catch a lady of my class doing, but I guess I can't complain," started Braeden teasingly as he walked into the room, his brown eyes suddenly widening at the sight of the food on the blanket. "I mean, how often is it that one gets a chance to go on a date with Hogwarts' most wanted bachelor, eh?" he added, elbowing his friend playfully as he said so, his eyebrows going up and down his forehead as he continued with his teases. "Yeah, quidditch players always had a thing for me," he added with a sigh, as if this was a great misfortune, that he had to deal with so many hot quidditch players asking for his hand in marriage (this was of course not true… Merlin).

Braeden laughed as Deus almost teased himself with the comment about making everything perfect. It was true, though. The picture-perfect scene was very typical Deus. As the older boy gestured for him to sit, Brae didn't think about it twice and allowed himself to fall lower to the ground rather… ungracefully. Yeah, he more like threw himself to the floor and nearly crushed his bum.

"Don't tell me you made these sandwiches too, eh?" asked Braeden as he already took one of the sandwiches into his hands, unwrapped it from its plastic wrap, and stuffed about half of it into his mouth.
Yeah, he was kinda hungry.

As Amadeus witnessed Braeden throw himself on the floor and dig into the food, it was hard to keep the relieved smile from his face. See? Things hadn't changed and they most definitely were not going to. "Most wanted bachelor?" Deus spluttered as he lowered himself onto the red-and-white checkered blanket, crossing his legs. "Hardly, my friend." He shook his head, smiling all the while as he reached for the butterbeer with one hand and the bottle opener with the other. Uncorking the drink, the froth nearly spilling all over his hands, Amadeus quickly poured two wine glasses full of the sumptuous drink before setting the bottle to the side. Offering a glass to Brae, whose cheeks were so stuffed that he looked like a squirrel with acorns in its mouth, he answered his inquiry pertaining to the food: "I actually did put some effort into the sandwiches. I gave very specific orders to the house elves in the kitchens to only include the most organic ingredients, the freshest vegetables, and the most succulent meat." That was honestly the most effort Amadeus could put into preparing a meal; he had never prepared a dinner for anyone, including himself, in all of his privileged years of life.

Taking a linen napkin from the wicker basket, Amadeus unfolded it and lay it flat across his lap as he leaned back on one hand, his other hand guiding his drink to his lips. So far, so good. If anyone dared intrude on their picnic, they would most definitely receive a hissy fit from a displeased Ravenclaw. Alas, it seemed like a tantrum wouldn't be necessary tonight. "So," He began, lowering the frothy glass from his mouth, smacking his lips, "What was it that was ailing you? I would have visited more often in the hospital wing, but..." He looked away, a bit flustered, "Quidditch and the stuffy healer, and everything." Deus truly felt horrid about not being able to act as Brae's round-the-clock nurse during his time of illness but alas, life had caught up with the seventh year and had smacked him in the rear end with responsibilities.

Braeden raised his dark eyebrows at Deus and smiled with amusement and gratefulness as Deus explained how he had put effort into preparing their meal. To any other sane person, it would have probably seemed like the Ravenclaw boy had made no effort at all but just bossed a few innocent house-elves around; however, Brae knew Deus. And he understood that in Deus's world, that was making an effort, and that was some serious picnic planning. So he appreciated his friend's efforts, Deus-like as they were.

The Gryffindor boy gulped down the first half of his sandwich before taking a sip from the butterbeer Deus had just served for them (successfully managing to give himself a butterbeer mustache on his upper lip), and listening as his Ravenclaw friend asked what had happened to him these past couple weeks.

"Well… it was my fault, really. I got a cold and I thought I could just prepare a remedy for it," started Braeden with a shrug. "So I went into the potions dungeon while it was empty and prepared my remedy - I followed every step in the book, I swear! I don't know what went wrong, but whatever potion I ended up making actually made my cold about ten times worse…" finished the boy with furrowed brows, his brown eyes staring at the fruit in a bowl as if expecting the fruit to explain to him where he'd gone wrong. But at least he was well now. That was all that mattered.

"Don't worry about it," said Brae as he dismissed the subject with his free hand, a smile on his face as Deus tried to explain himself. "The nurse was nice enough, and the house-elves were even kind enough to bring me everything and anything I wanted fresh from the kitchen - behind the nurse's back, of course. She would have probably purposely made my illness worse if she found out I wasn't sticking to her diet… But she wanted me to have nothing more than soup and a nasty potion that tasted like earwax! Can't blame a growing boy for wanting fish and chips..."

Typical, clumsy Brae. He had probably forgotten to add in an extra eye of next or to stir the potion counterclockwise for every five clockwise turns. Amadeus tipped his glass to his friend. "I could say more on the subject," He began, "But I'm glad that you're well enough. Promise me that you won't go doing something like that when I'm not around to help." He chuckled, his nose and the corners of his eyes crinkling in an expression of humorous glee. Raising his glass and sitting up straight, the blonde cleared his throat and made his expression a bit more serious from the chortling loon he had been moments before. "I propose a toast," He spoke in a stately manner, as if he were presenting Braeden with the Witch Weekly Award for Best Wizarding Feat, "To your renewed health, and to our happiness." His voice nearly faltered at the utterance of the last words, but he kept it together. Tears would only ruin such a happy occasion and lovely reunion.

Memories flooded the Ravenclaw, from when they had first been acquainted thanks to Roderigo De Lacerda, from their first unofficial double date with two ladies at the start of the term in The Three Broomsticks, from their adventures on the island of Ferdinandea, and much more. His eyes sparkled as the sun lowered, the light bouncing off of the still waters of the lake and into the tower. Tears were slowly welling in his blue eyes, but Amadeus forced them to flee. It was getting harder and harder for him to control his emotions.

The situation did seem to amuse her more than it amused him, and the semi-wry smile lingered for just a moment longer, before it left. Jared accepted her statement with a grin, even if he had the feeling that she hadn't said everything that had been on her mind. Did she believe the kitten would, eventually, win him over? He had to admit, even if he did it just a tad grudgingly, that the thing was adorable. Even if he needed to look six feet below to see it/ her.

He inclined his head at her agreement, quite sure that she hadn't accepted his statement on an as-it-is basis - he had pretty much contradicted himself. Her earlier remark - kittens not being dangerous, in general - had, he expected, been a harmless one. But now that they had made a topic out of it [as could be expected. They seemed to pursue the kind of remarks other people would have given the minimum attention], her almost enigmatic comeback made him grin. "That sounds like a roundabout way of saying it isn't a simple, innocent statement," he pointed out.

There was a brief pause, and then it seemed Renée had given a non-committal sort of response. Not that Jared had, knowing her, expected a committal one. Her mention of 'things like that' - her being a legilimens, for one; the phoenix, for another; he guessed - made him return her grin. "I don't suppose those other things have been on the greyer side of the law?" He asked, as Bowie climbed into his lap. There was the faint, teasing implication that they might have been, and she had kept that from him.

That grin told Renée that even if she wasn't correct in her idea that the kitty would win Jared over, at least he had the suspicion she thought it would. The situation truly did amuse her quite a bit, if even just because of their continued teasing about him and dangerous creatures. And the very fact that it almost seemed like they were having a completely nonverbal conversation about said kitten made things even more amusing.

Just as it seemed they were completely unable to keep the discussion simple, and she smiled as he accepted her agreement. Conversations between them never seemed to stay simple, like she imagined other people's would. But then, that was what made them more interesting, and made their encounters more entertaining. She never quite knew what would come next, and that was truly saying something. "Is there truly such a thing?," she asked, feigning innocence before grinning. "Even if it wasn't, I wasn't the first to say it." She might have been the one to bring up the phrasing, but he'd challenged it even before she'd done so.

It didn't seem that he'd picked up on her wondering about why she trusted him, but he had noticed the pause. That wasn't surprising, seeing as such pauses hadn't seemed very common before now. The fact that he seemed perfectly accepting of her noncommittal response was another thing that both did and didn't surprise her, and she couldn't help but grin back as he spoke. "Would I have told you if they were?," she asked, grin going a little softer as she watched her cruppy climb into his lap. That was just too adorable, even as it furthered her thoughts on what made her trust him so much. "Most things are on the straight and narrow," she said with a shrug. Certain people could argue that, but they weren't here. And certain other things really had nothing to do with her, beyond the obvious connection, but she suspected they were, as he put it, 'on the greyer side of the law.' Of course, he didn't know about that yet, which was why she didn't say anything.

Whilst breaking off a piece of bagette and layering on some chorizo, Patroclus nodded at Sophie's ideas of the gossip paper, "Perhaps we will never know why they write it, and in more certainity, we will probably never find out, who it is that writes it!" Now that was the real mystery Patroclus wanted sorted.

As he watched Sophie scan the skies, he took a bite of his bread, and savoured the flavor before swallowing, and answering her question regarding the break, "No big plans as off yet.....but I am sure, Mother and Father will whisk me off, away to some fabulously interesting place, it's kinda what they do!" he laughed, "What about you?"

Rather excited by her cry, the male Prefect jumped up onto his knees and waddled over to the telescope, "Isn't he beautiful!" he smiled, "We totally have the best House Animal Ever!" Leo would totally eat all the other animals!

After adding the Leo spotting to the list, and jotting down some additional notes, Patroclus sat back and grinned, "I think we are all done!" The had mapped the sky for a good hour and had come across some truly wonderful constellations, "now all we have to do, is submit them to Hadley, but that can wait till the morning, for there is still plenty of food, and I am still Hungry!"

And the two Lion Prefects ate until they were full, and until the stars twinkled even brighter, and Leo shone, looking over them both.

All the way up to the astronomy tower. Running, all the way up. He would have preferred to skip it entirely, but really there wasn't much that could be done. It was as fair game as the rest of the school. Just a bloody pain to get to.

With heavy breaths, Sabel staggered into the Astronomy tower, resting his free hand on his knee as he bent over a little. The other one remained held at a horizontal angle with the ground, leech still attached. He was a persistent little thing, and while he was glad to have found him, he would have preferred not having the numbing sensation in his hand. And blood staying in his body. But there wasn't much he could do. Not until he found a way to remove it. It was that or hand over his hand to Lafay, something which he wasn't sure he wanted to do. He trusted her, it was more a concern of the look he might receive.

But that was a concern for later. For now, he had to scour the tower. And scour he did. Up and down and around and beside and over and under. Everywhere and every place. It didn't take too long to find the potion vials, given cupboards were one of the first places to check in a scavenger hunt. Another item checked off the list.

He was about to return it to the bag he had, when he paused, giving the glass a considering glance and then the leech on his hand. With a curious frown, he placed the opening lightly against the back of the creature, testing the diameter of the opening. Leech in a vial; probably not one of the items Lafay wanted, but if it would fit, he would not hesitate in taking that option. To his disappointment however, the vial was too small. Just a fraction, but he didn't exactly want to know what happened when one squeezed a leech that was feeding.

So, he placed the vial in the bag and tilted his head at the leech. Seven floors to search for the remainder of the items, and a remedy to his situation. It was now a double scavenger hunt.

Rex looked up towards the sky and saw another bright constellation, one which almost looked a little like an animal of some sort. He consulted his notes quickly and realized he was observing Virgo, another astrological constellation. "That must be Spica" he said, noticing a particularly bright area. It was lovely to see these heavenly bodies, they were so beautiful to Rex.

Samira tilted her head back as she gazed at the stars. She didn't have her telescope, but was content to just look at the night sky. Her hair was pulled up in a pony tail and stray curls rested on her cheeks. She turned and saw her friend Rex.

"Hello, Rex." she said cheerfully. "What brings you here?"

The remark she had made just now could be counted, once again, as a roundabout yes. Jared grinned, certain the she knew that herself. "Not, it seems, where the mademoiselle is concerned," he said. The feigned, playful innocence was amusing, and he laughed, the sound a tad sudden in all the quietude.

It seemed Bowie had decided the laugh was for him, because the crup looked up, eyes all big and excited. Renée's little pet seemed to possess an inexhaustible supply of energy, and missed no chance of letting everyone know of that. Grinning a little, Jared petted the crup. If someone had walked into the observatory right now, the scene they'd have seen might be a surprising one, given that two professors seemed to be having a relaxed conversation at this hour of the night, one of them petting a crup in his lap. "I can't really say," he grinned, in response to her question. He didn't see Renée as the kind of person that opens up, at once or unnecessarily. That said, he didn't think of her as someone who refused to open up at all, either. It all came down to trust and the right time, perhaps. "Would you have?" he asked, turning her question around.

"The ever-famous most," he grinned lazily. Most things not being on the greyer side of the law, said more than it didn't.

Renée found their conversation too entertaining to resort to simple responses. If that was even possible, but it seemed Jared brought that out in her easier than most others. She wondered if he knew that, but still kept prodding her to continue because he found it amusing as well. She grinned at the laugh, however. Even though its arrival made their little conversation less likely to stay discreet. Most people were probably nowhere near the observatory at this hour anyhow, or at least she hoped so. "That could be turned back on a certain Charms professor as well," she replied wryly. Just because the risk was there didn't mean she wasn't about to continue the amusement.

She'd kept an eye on Bowie, though, as her crup seemed to be making himself comfortable in Jared's lap. Well, until the laughter, at which point the wiggling started up again. She smiled as it elicited pets, once again thinking that the kitten would have no trouble winning him over. Not if her crup managed it. The smile turned into more of an enigmatic grin at his response to her question. It seemed their understanding of each other went further than she'd have thought, but that made things no less interesting. Or made her more likely to change. "Perhaps. It seems we may never find out," she teased, shifting her position on the floor a little. Stone floors were never too comfortable.

As he continued, though, she grinned yet again, before finding her gaze going to the view outside the tower for a moment. "It truly does seem ever-present," she said, feigned thoughtfulness in her tone. At least, most seemed rather ubiquitous when one remained a bit of a mystery. She couldn't quite decide how long they'd been talking from the sky, but then that was why she'd never considered astronomy one of her better subjects. They probably should head down rather soon, anyhow. The attempts at staying quiet seemed to have failed already a little, so if they let time get away from them that would only be made worse.

Braeden couldn't help but flash his best friend one of those dorky smiles of his when the older boy gave him one of those looks that showed just how well he knew him. As Deus spoke, though, asking that the Gryffindork promise him not to do things like that again after he wasn't around to help anymore, Braeden's smile faltered slightly. He knew he was probably just being dramatic for feeling this way, but he couldn't help feeling a little down every time he was reminded of the fact that Deus was leaving. For good. Never coming back to Hogwarts… and Braeden would have to spend the next two years of his schooling without his Ravenclaw best friend. What was he supposed to do in this ginormous castle all by himself?! What if the nasty creatures in the swamp on the fifth floor got him or something… Who would be his knight in shining armor and save the day!? Uwaaaaaaaaa….

But then Amadeus was proposing a toast.
Oh? Braeden's brown eyes, which had fallen to the ground, returned their gaze to his best mate and grinned as the older boy made the toast. "And to promises of visiting your old Gryffindor friend after graduation," Brae added to the toast. Of course he had to make sure Deus wasn't going to just leave and abandon him for life!
If the Ravenclaw even thought of it, it would be him who'd be getting forty-seven owls knocking at his window next time.

Braeden finished up his butterbeer half a second later and wiped the butterbeer mustache off his upper lip with his right sleeve. Only to realize what he'd done a moment later as he looked down at his butterbeer-covered sleeve. "Aw, man…" The dorky boy turned to his friend then, only to find him… teary-eyed? The Amadeus Kipling getting all teary-eyed while on a date with Braeden Stonem, of all people?! No way! At first Brae's brown eyes went wide in shock, but a second later he was elbowing his friend playfully. "Sheesh, mate… I know I'm not the most exciting date to have, but I never realized I was so bad I could make someone burst into tears from boredom… No wonder I can't keep a long-term relationship," he joked with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

Amadeus managed to choke out a genuine laugh, his attempt at hiding his grief failing as a twang of sadness was evident in his tone. "Most definitely Brae." Sniffling for a brief second, able to take control of his tear ducts as they seemed to stop their revolt against his will, he continued as he clinked glasses with his friend. "I wouldn't trust you in a rubber room with a straight jacket strapped over your torso. What makes you think I wouldn't visit?" His eyes twinkling as his joy began to return, he took a deep swig of his drink and grabbed the wine-sized bottle of butterbeer, proceeding to top of his drink. Tonight was sure to be a long one.

Witnessing Braeden's savagery toward the sleeve of his innocent designed suit jacket, Amadeus grabbed a second linen napkin from the wicker picnic basket and tossed it toward the lion boy's lap. Braeden might have been able to change Deus, making him less prudish and hard-hearted, but the same had definitely not occured vice versa. Brae was still his clumsy, silly self and although it was unlikely that he would ever truly grow as mature as his friend, it was heart-warming to know that he put in an effort with his appearance for their picnic. His heart swelled, as if he was a proud father witnessing a son receive a medal of honour. The thoughts that occupied had significantly pushed away the clouds of depression from his psyche and now that night was beginning to overtake day, his mood had changed from morose to jubilant.

"Sheesh?" Amadeus laughed, picking up a vine of purple grapes from the bowl of fruit. "Don't you sheesh me, Lady Stonem." His face conveyed monotonous severity but the Ravenclaw was having a truly hard time keeping the smirk from his face. "I know I might not be the most put-together man," He was definitely bluffing by saying that, "but boredom definitely did not cause my tears. For all you know, they were tears of joy." His eyebrows rose at this rather cheeky remark: "Maybe I was simply overwhelmed at how amazingly put-together you are tonight."

Braeden laughed aloud as the Amadeus he knew, the more playful and teasing one, returned to their little picnic date as the Ravenclaw boy asked the Gryffindor not to 'sheesh' him. Hehehe. Braeden snickered. This was the Deus he liked! Sure, the sentimental one was nice too, but… Braeden wasn't sure he himself could hold back tears if Deus decided to crack his Ice Prince mask. And then who would be 'sheeshing' who?

"Oh?" muttered Braeden with raised eyebrows as he poured some more butterbeer into his glass while Deus explained he might have been growing teary-eyed from joy. "What, joy to leave me? Merlin, you're cruel…" muttered the Gryffindor boy, putting on a face of disappointment before laughing lightly, obviously just teasing his friend. As Deus then continued, the dorky Gryffindor's dark eyebrows shot up to blend in with his hairline.

"Oooohhohohoho!" he let out a deep, amused, slightly overwhelmed chuckle. "Aren't you full of compliments tonight, eh?" he teased his best friend, amusement keeping his eyes bright. "I'm honestly flattered, though," he added more seriously as he looked down at himself all dressed up. "You have no idea how difficult it was to keep this suit wrinkle-free… and this bow-tie! I feel ridiculous! But Mum always said I looked good in bow-ties, and since I was dressing up for a very special date…" he trailed off with another of his goofy chuckles. "It doesn't look too bad, though, does it?" he asked a little more insecurely this time. He wasn't looking like a total clown with that bow-tie, was he? Was he?!

He listened intently, swishing around his drink as Braeden described his attire. It was obvious that he was flustered, almost like a little kid whose mum had always told him how nice it would be for him to eat his vegetables and once he finally did it, he felt peculiar and... icky. But that was what made them so different; Braeden was always the laid-back, calm kid who always had a joke to crack or a rock to trip over while Amadeus was the ever-prim, ever-proper gentleman of the two, holding doors open and burying his nose in a book as often as he could. "Well, you're quite deserving of compliments tonight." Taking a quick look at Braeden's shoes, the blonde admired the shiny, freshly-polished leather. It made his heart swell as the words very special date were spoken. His ego needed no inflating; yet, it had already begun to swell to the point of exploding. "Really, mate, if someone had told me an hour ago that Braeden Stonem would be wearing a suit and tie... not just that, but actually know how to do the tie and lace his dress shoes, I would have laughed and thought they had escaped from St. Mungos. Apparently, they would have proven me wrong." A quick thought occurred to Amadeus; where exactly had he gotten his attire?

"But I must know... have you really had that suit lying around all year? Or... did you get it owled to you from mummy dearest?" He snickered, poking fun and doing what he did best. Plucking a few grapes from their stem, he popped them into his mouth and chewed, waiting for an answer. "But in all seriousness foo', you do look quite dapper. I'm surprised you didn't have any ladies, like Caroline or Charlene, clinging to you on your way here."