That was something that Trina understood. They had OWLs and NEWTS back at her old school too. "Yes, students were always so burnt out after those tests at my old school," she said shaking her head. She had one more year until her OWLs... and she was already dreading them. "What's your best subject?" she asked, curious.

She couldn't help but grin as Ella thanked her and mentioned being lucky. "Just think, you wouldn't have gotten to play in that giant treehouse," she said with a laugh, slightly depressed that she had missed it. She noticed something pass through Ella's eyes, but didn't ask.

Trina shook her head. "I mean, I've seen a bunch of trees... some of them willows, is it one of them?" Her eyes widened as Ella described the giant tree. "That sounds insane!" she whispered. "Have people actually been killed?" She didn't know if she wanted to see it if there was a chance of being killed.

Man! MAN! Could the bag be any heavier? Probably... If she had a gang of gnomes hanging out in there. Lexi grunted a bit and tossed her head to one side trying to move her hair from her line of sight. Meh!!

Finally she reached her desired location: Stained glass window WAYYYY away from everyone else. Her bag dropped on the seat with a small THUD and she groaned. Really? Were they trying to drive her MAD? She was trying her hardest to keep up with the work. And failing.

Looking up at the pretty stained glass she flexed her wrist, sending her wand into her hand, and pointed it toward the bag full of booooks. With a look of deep concentration she cast a nonverbal levitation spell and tried with all of her might to keep it in the air. Sighs. Sabel needed to hurry up. She was BORED.

It was the rather loud thud a few bookshelves down that had him poking his head about the corner and peering at the stain-glass window. If someone else was stealing his seat that he had reserved than by goodness sake he was going to drag a brush through Merlin's beard.

Seeing as how he couldn't really get a good handle on visual contact, he moved back to gather the few books he had picked out from the shelf. Arranging them in his arms and a thin one between his teeth, he started back towards his seat, realizing as he got in view that speaking to said intruder may be difficult with a binding between his lips. There was a great deal of relief then, when he realized it was Lexi, with an overabundance of books.

"Eyv en urkping ah narf zehn?" He muttered around the book as he moved to the table, blinking at the levitating books. There were...a lot of them.

Her eyebrow quirked and she took her eyes off of the books for one moment to look at Sabel with a smirk on her face. Letting her books come to rest on the table she watched the boy come to join her. "Did you just say narf? Interesting. Are you speaking troll then?" she asked in her library voice.

She was CLEARLY not savvy to said mumbo jumbo so she folded her hands in her lap and waited.

...

"Hey. I can do some nonverbals now. Someone helped me," she said with a smile. Not someone she would say her name. But SOMEONE. Gah. Bott and Denver... could they BE friends eventually. Interesting question.

With a grin, Sabel put the rest of his books on the table and then retrieved the one from his mouth. He gave an inquisitive examination to where he had gripped it with his teeth and proceeded to wipe it on his pantleg, just in case. "No, it was book talk for asking if they've been dumping a lot on you lately." He gave a nod to her stack of books as he plopped down in the seat opposite her. "You could probably build the Eiffel tower with those, then knock them down with your non-verbals."

A small giggle escaped Lexi as she watched Sabel extract the book from his mouth and then speak. "Ohhhh. See, I was confused. Thank you for clarifying. And YES. Ugh. I want to crawl in a hole. This work is so overwhelming. Thank you for meeting me to study," she said as she pointed her wand at HIS books and summoned one forward. Not the slobbered one though. That was gross.

"Think I could charm the book tower to flash lights like the Eiffel Tower. Oh man. Did I should you my pictures from France? I did didn't I. Oh yeah...," she rambled for a moment. Then heaving a small sigh she grabbed her Runes textbook and gave Sabel a LOOK. Runes. They might be the death of her. "Going to help me with Potions too?"

"I guess he doesn't need his wand to fly." Jim said after thinking about it for a minute. Though, could they take someone's captaincy for sucking academically? Because in that case, not having a wand would be a definite problem.

Brows. Good move waving? What was WITH everyone today? Jim didn't comment.

"Why would Marie care who my friends are?" Or actually and more specifically, why would he let what she thought about people he chose to spend time with effect his opinions of them? Lexi was a prime example.

He grinned at the purple thing. "I'm so sure theres got to be more to it, you'll have to tell me later though."

More brows. He grinned a bit teasingly. "Trust me, Satine, if it was a date, you'd know."

Jimmy half waved goodbye and turned to walk away. "Catch you later." He threw over his shoulder with a friendly wink.

"Hey babe, where do you wanna go?" Privacy remember? Jim grinned at Finn and Mia and then offered Marie his hand.

Sabel watched with an arched eyebrow as one of his books made it's way to Lexi. "Not a problem." Leaning forward, he flipped open one of his books and peered through the pages. "We could probably try the Eiffel Tower lights for a study break. I think I saw a few of your pictures last year, if I remember correctly. They were nice."

His eyes flicked up as she mentioned Runes, his head tilting and leaning down a little to peer at the spine of the book innocently. "What's wrong with Runes?"

Oh. What was she supposed to say to that?

Now see if it had of been Mia, she would have just gone on over there and started talking to the girl as well but obviously Marie was different. She glanced back at Jimmy and the purple haired girl and then shrugged her shoulders.

"Boys will be boys, Marie. They just can't seem to help themselves when there are girls around." Her gaze travelled to Finn who was walking back over to them. There was a fine example. "Don't stress so much. He's probably just trying to get a reaction out of you."

Oh thank Merlin, Finn was back. Mia breathed a sigh of relief and gave him a 'please help me' smile. She wanted to help Marie but she just didn't know how. She was too laid back for this kind of thing.

Finn had been around. He would know. "Hey. Welcome back." She said with a grin and gave him a nudge with her shoulder.

Before she could do anything else, Jimmy was standing there and again Mia breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully everything would be alright now. She returned Jimmy's grin and then looked at Finlay. "Do you wanna keep studying?" Not that they had actually been studying...but whatever.

He was actually going to make her study wasn't he? Bugger. She would rather practice NV's all day. Yeah she showed him the pictures. Sighs. Nothing else to distract him?

She flicked her wand at the book she had summoned forward, causing it to levitate above them, spinning slowly. Giggles. "Yeah, we should make the books light up," she said as she watched the spinning book.

"Where do I start?... All of it confuses me. I mean. Galdr and Furthrak.. or whatever they are. Even the words make my head go wonky. I guess I understood a little bit from class, but it all makes me so confused," she muttered as she made the book stop spinning and land softly back on the table in front of Sabel.

"Well for one," Reaching forward to the book that dropped back onto the table, he flipped through a few pages before finding the rune listing. "Galdr is the incantation for carving a rune without a wand. On the other hand Furthrak refers to the Runic alphabet. Make sense?"

Placing his book beside the one open he cast a small smile up at her. "And for two we can't have a break until we've actually done work."

Lexi gave a dramatic sort of sigh and propped her chin in her hand on the table. Nodding her head at Sabel as he spoke she kind of got it. "Soooo... the Runic Alphabet is that stuff we said after the... Intaglio incantation?" She might be WAY off base on that. She wasn't sure. She skimmed at best.

Then her cute little face dropped and she poked her bottom lip out slightly. "You mean to tell me I have to WORK before I can play? Why not do both at the same time, Sabel?" she nearly WHINED at him. Mean boy making her work.

"Exactly." Flipping another page he tapped a few runic symbols with his index finger. "Except the Intaglio is different from the Galdr. The Intaglio carves the runes by use of the wand, the Gladr requires actual physical force and carving to get the rune down."

His grin only widened as he looked up at Lexi. "And I don't think we can do both because I don't think the librarian would be very pleased with us carving runes into her desks."

"I don't DO manual labor, Sabel. That was too hard. Carving it by hand. Gave me a blister. See it?" she said in an agitated tone as she extended her hand across the table and put it too close to his face. Distractions, Sabel Dakest. Distractions.

"Uh. No. I like Madame Donovan and I plan to NOT behave poorly in here. My brother made that mistake... Not me though. I am the good child," she said off handedly as she cast furtive glances around them to see if she was nearby. Hmmm.

A frown worked it's way across his lips as Lexi's hand was shoved in his face. It took him a moment to adjust his eyes to the close proximity of her skin, but when he did his frown only increased. Reaching up, he took hold of her wrist gently and drew his wand out. "Perhaps because you don't do manual labor you get these. Practice wears them out."

Pausing a moment, he held his hand up in front of himself, holding his wand between his fingers as his palm faced hers. Lots of manual labor and time outside had made them rough and tough and not so prone to blisters as she had. "But even so, you should take care of the blister if you can, right away. Hurts less later and leaves less hard skin to heal over it."

Boys will be boys. Yeah, yeah. Whatever.

Huh?

"But why would he want to get a reaction out of me? I've never done anything to him to try and make him jealous." Heck she hadn't even so much as looked at another boy since she had been dating James. Sure she had talked to some, like Evan and Patroclus... and maybe a few others, but they were just friends and in no way did she do anything that could be mistaken for flirting.

Before Mia had a chance to answer though Jimmy was back standing next to her.

She felt herself relax just a tiny bit with James standing next to her again. She knew deep down that she was probably over reacting to what had just happened but she couldn't help it. Seeing Jimmy lean over that girl and whisper in her ear brought back unpleasant memories of another boy snogging her best friend. She never wanted to feel that hurt again and well...

She didn't want to think about it anymore. Jimmy was back there with her now, that's all that mattered right now. They would talk later, she would make sure of it. Besides, they were in the library and she didn't want Madame Donovan to overhear anything she may end up saying.

Lacing her fingers with his she smiled at him. "Anywhere but here. Just as long as it's just us there." she said winking at him. Sure she was all sorts of jealous right now but that didn't stop her from wanting to be alone with him.

Smiling over at Finn and Mia she whispered, "Thanks you guys." They may not realize it but they really had been a big help here. If it wasn't for them she probably would have done something stupid that she would totally regret later.

"Ready to go?" She asked giving Jimmy's hand a little squeeze. She knew she was.

"Why would I want to do manual labor?" she asked in an utterly confused tone. She thought back to the article she had recently read about the former Head Girl she had come to IDOLIZE. Yeah. Her mantra was now WWEMD? Yeah. What WOULD Evolette McKenna do? Not manual labor. THAT she was sure of.

Awww. Lookit his hands. Using her free hand she lightly traced her finger across a rough patch of skin on Sabel's hand and gave a frown to match his. "Will you fix it? I have honestly never had one before. I wear dragonhide gloves during quidditch even... so no blisters," she said softly.

Chuckling Sabel nodded, flicking his wand back to a proper hold. "I wouldn't have my wand out if I didn't intend to do so." Touching the end of the wood to her blister gently, he let the silent incantation of episkey run from his mind, through his wand and into her hand, healing up the offended skin. "Episkey. A good spell to learn. See? All better."

Releasing her wrist he folded his arms across one another, his wand resting across his forearm. "And you'd be surprised what you can accomplish with a bit of physical labor."

"I find that healing magic is a bit more difficult for me, really. I suppose it isn't what my wand was made for," she muttered. REally. She lacked proper concentration for healing magic. Like... really badly. Besides- WWEMD? Not heal herself. Surely she had someone else to do it FOR her.

Turning her hand back to inspect she smiled softly. "Thanks, Sabel. Good as new," she agreed.

"Seriously... I can perform magic... I don't have to do physical labor. It is not like I am lazy and out of shape or anything, but... I just don't see the point when I can whip out my wand and do it," she muttered.

"Runes? Can you explain to me how just the chanting makes the Rune carving magical? Is it like... something that activates it?" she asked.

"There are a lot of people, who share that opinion." He let his eyes trail along the length of his wand as he spoke in a rather somber matter. "But, being from a muggle community, where hands is all we had, I can honestly tell you there is something rewarding about using them. Magic is beautiful and it's wonderful, don't get me wrong. But there's something.... fulfilling about putting your back behind something. In climbing a stone face when you could easily fly over it. In erecting a tent when you could use Leviosa. In building things with your bare hands that can last through the ages."

Letting out a small breath, he turned his eyes out the window to their side, gazing over the color of the stain glass. "In some ways, I hope humans don't find magic because of it. Because then the value, the reward of it seems to decrease. Or maybe I'm just wonky."

With a shake of his head he turned his attention back to Lexi, blinking a little as if just remembering she asked him something. "Sorry. Right...Runes...They are magical. So, from what I understand, the chanting adds that magical property to the runes, but I think a lot of that has to do with the intention. It might give it a boost, trap some of the magical energy in the carving, infuse it if you will. For the Intaglio incantation however, that's actually to carve the Rune."

"I know I must sound ignorant, but I grew up in Godric's Hollow. I never really witnessed anyone in my family do anything by hand that they could use a wand for," she said with a slight furrow between her brows.

...

Ewwww. Why would anyone climb a pogrebin's face? Rock demons are not our friends Sabel. No. Lexi, not really knowing what to say, simply nodded her head. Sure. Building stuff with their hands. Fun. Not.

"Whatchu mean? You hope that the statute stays in place then? But Sabel, think about what our kind could do for the Muggles. Cure disease, fix the ecosystem... the possiblities are endless when magic is involved," she basically whispered at him. SOME people in the school disagreed. The Pureblood maniacs no doubt.

She then waved off the stuff about Runes. "Did you go talk to Mr. Ikenna, Sabel?" she asked, her eyes showing her concentration on THIS matter.

"I'm not judging you Lexi. Just...like it's the way you grew up, it's the way I grew up. And I didn't say that." With a slightly frustrated sigh, he ran his hands back through his hair, frowning at the books in front of him. "I don't know about the statue Lexi, I really don't." His brow furrowed deeply as he locked his gaze onto the binding of the Runes book, realizing how quickly raw emotions were coming to the surface. "I...can see why it would be bad, should the Statue fall. Humans aren't exactly the most welcoming of species. Not all the time. And wizards are a part of that. There is the possibility that there will be a struggle for the power we hold, for dominance, for research, for rights, for any number of things. But then..."

He let one hand drop to slowly trace along the book binding, his voice constricting. "What we could do...to save people. To help them. You know, I wouldn't give that chance up, not for the world. Not to stop what happened again from repeating ---"

Realizing where his words were taking him, he cut the thought short, drawing his head up and leaning back in his seat as he cleared his throat. "I did speak to Mr. Gevrik. I still can't say I'm on the same page as you about him."

Holding up her hands she said, "I wasn't insinuating that you did judge me. I know, though, that it is very ignorant of we wizarding folk not to know how the other half live, Sabel. I am a half blood and I still don't really know. I live in a Muggle area now. I can't leave the house to wander around for fear that I will say or do something they might find odd." She got what he was saying loud and clear.

"The Statute of Secrecy is antiquated, though. Think about the way Muggles view us now... there are books written about us, films made, a whole genre of media devoted to the supernatural or whatever it is they call us. Also, there was also a study done that said Obliviation could be linked to the early onset of dementia. Imagine how many Muggles have been Obliviated, Sabel. Think about what the abolition of the Statute would mean for us all. And you're right. People tend to not be tolerant, but we are humans too. We just have magic in us and they don't." Surely that would be something that wizardingkind could prove with no problem.

Then her face fell at what he said next. "Yes, think about what could change. Medical advances..." she trailed off. "We could help them."

It wasn't working, diverting the topic to Ikenna, anywhere away from the implications they were trailing towards in their conversation. And when Lexi mentioned the medical advances again, he had to turn his head away and blink rather furiously to try and keep himself in check; to appear strong.

"I don't know Lexi. I've lived with muggles all my life, and though they read about magic, make movies of it, it is still a fantasy to them. Imagine what it would be like if one of your greatest and most terrifying fantasies came to life. You may be ecstatic to welcome it, or you may try to bury it for all you are worth. I'm not saying the Statue should remain and I'm not saying it should fall, I just...can see both sides and I can't...decide."

With a slow breath out, he ran his fingers over his eyes, just as much out of the stress of the topic as to remove the few tears that had built up and turned his vision watery. "Perhaps it shouldn't matter. Perhaps what matters is just that we do what's right. Regardless of the Statue or not. If a muggle is injured, help them. If they are dying.....help them..." He couldn't help the slight crack in his voice that had it dropping quietly, had him shifting in his seat uncomfortably as memories flooded his inner eye. "Maybe the Statue should remain, to protect us, but allow us to preform miracles....to save that extra life...if we can....."

Lexi watched Sabel closely and realized that her mention of medical advances may be upsetting him. Reaching across the table she took one of his hands in hers and smiled apologetically.

"I don't know if it should stay or go either. But, let's be honest, we could help and that might be worth it all," she said with a little shrug. She was convinced that they could fix the Muggles problems.

Miracles. It wasn't miraculous to Lexi. It was their life. It was natural that they could perform healing magic... Perhaps Sabel thought of himself as more of a Muggle than a wizard. Interesting.

Releasing his hand she patted it once before diverting her eyes back to the Runes text in front of her. Then with a small sigh she shut that book. "What do you need to study?" she asked quite distractedly. She was always focusing on herself. She needed to stop being so selfish.