Had Kurumi ever been up to this area of the castle before? Kurumi wasn't sure she had considering she wasn't sure who the statues were supposed to represent. Not to mention, what was up with the swamp? Perhaps there was something written in Hogwarts, A History. She made a mental note to look that up later when she had returned to the dormitory and was snuggled up warm in her bed.

"Kurumi!" Alexa said as she rushed to the figure. "Is it you?"

"Alexa! Hey!" Kurumi smiled waving at the girl. She hadn't seen her since Diagon Alley well before term had begun. "How are you? Where did you end up being sorted?" Kurumi took a good look at her for the first time. Ah, green robes. That said it all.

Trina skipped down the hall when two statues caught her attention. She slowed, and looked up at their unmoving stone faces, wondering if these would be figures that she recognized or whether they were from the history here instead of America. She sighed, there were so many differences...

Suddenly, she walked into a rope and realized that there was a swam just past it. "What is a swamp doing here?" she wondered aloud, skittering back from the muck.

Walk, walk, walk. That's all he seemed to do around here. He couldn't believe he was lost. Again. This was the second time this week. He'd need to find out if there was a way to get around that did not involve malicious moving staircases.

Parke sigh, power walking through the corridors. Hopefully he'd recognize something that would help him figure out where in Merlin's great, big, bushy beard he was.

He noticed two statues as he walked past a particularly confusing section of the corridor. What was it with this place and odd statues. He focused his attention back to the area in front of him - Oh no. He was walking rather fast forward, a girl was skittering backwards... he tried to stop, but his feet were not complying and... CRASH!!

Trina was backing up when suddenly, she found herself flipping in the other direction. She yelped in surprise and landed hard on the ground- except for her feet. They had somehow landed in part of the swamp.

"Ewwww..." she muttered, but she wasn't able to say much else- the fall had knocked the wind out of her. "What hit me?"

Oh, his head. Some undeniable law of physics had caused Parke to rebound backwards. He'd flown to the ground and hit his head with quite a thud.

He got up quickly and started brushing off his robes. Ugh, he was filthy. He looked down to check his shoes and - What was that sound? Oh Merlin no! The girl. She was one the ground. He'd completely forgotten about her.

He found himself with one foot in the swamp, picking up the girl. His legs buckled slightly under her weight and he wished he was stronger. She seemed to be breathing. "Miss. Miss! Can. You. Hear. Me?" He spoke each word slowly, but loudly. Perhaps he should shake her a bit?

Trina groaned and tried to take in a breath, but found it was harder than she initially thought. However, her body needed the oxygen. She tried again and succeeded, trying to get enough breath in order to try and stand up.

Suddenly, her body was leaving the ground. She gasped in surprise, but felt arms under her and she looked up at the person holding her. "Yes... yes, I can hear you," she said wincing and resisting the urge to put her hands over her ears. He didn't have to speak so loudly.

"What happened?" she asked, doing her best to get more oxygen into her lungs. "I think you can put me down..." she said, glancing down on the floor. "Or... at least on a ledge," she said, not sure if she could hold herself up yet. Her legs felt a bit shaky.

Oh thank Circe! She was speaking. He willed himself to calm down. Breathe deeply. In. Out. In. Out.

"I was... distracted, and I'm afraid I walked right into you", he said softly. It was an almost unbearably embarrassing thing to admit. "I'm terribly sorry. I'll do whatever you need me to do to make this up to you. You don't need to go to the hospital, do you?"

The muscles in his arm twitched then. He was getting a work out, at least. He didn't want to put her on a ledge. How filthy. Though her feet had been in that swamp. Oh. No. His feet had been in that swamp! He looked down at them, shuddering in revulsion at the slime on his left shoe. He would need to - Ugh, right. Back to the matter at hand.

"I'll put you down, but I'll keep my arms around you in case you need further assistance, alright?" He hoped it was alright because his arms weren't going to wait for an answer. He carefully lowered his right arm so she could get her feet on the ground, and maneuvered himself so that he was directly to the left of her, his right arm around her waist, just in case. He tried to focus on helping her and not on how weird it was to have his arm around a girl's waist. It didn't worked. He flushed a brilliant shade of red anyway.

She was working on getting her lungs into working order again. Getting the wind knocked out of her was quite a surprise and so she was trying to recover normal breathing. Soon, her body relaxed and it was much easier to breathe.

Trina looked up at the boy who was still holding her. "Oh well... it happens," she said with her best attempt at a shrug. "I think we'll both just have to look out better next time," she said, wincing as she tried to move some of her limbs. She was going to be sore from that fall tomorrow- and probably very bruised.

"Umm... I don't think so," she said, but she would have a better idea once she could move things either, or put weight on her legs. If there was pain, she might need his help still. She tried wiggling her toes and winced as she heard her shoes squish. She had forgotten about landing in the swamp. "Well, this stinks," she said, not able to see her feet. At least she was good at cleaning spells.

She nodded at his proposition. "Sounds good to me," she told him. She gently touched the ground, preparing for the worst. However, there was only a soft throb of pain. She would have bruises, but it didn't feel like anything was broken. She was so focused on the function of her body that she didn't notice the boy's blush... at first. Looking up, she cocked her head in confusion. "Everything alright?" she asked.

Parke was impressed. And that not a common occurrence when it came to him. He'd braced himself for a bit of a screaming at, especially after that last incident... But no. This young woman was clearly quite dignified.

He watched anxiously as her feet touched the ground. Her shoes were worse off than his. If only he was good at household type charms. She seemed alright.

Huh? Oh. "Yes, just a bit concerned about you", he mumbled. It was true. He did want to make sure she was alright. He was NOT, however, telling her that he was embarrassed about - well, you know. Which reminded him. He was still... He quickly pulled his arm from around her, staring at his manicured hands. They were looking a bit worn, actually...

He shook his head, bringing his thoughts back to the present situation. " I can buy you some new shoes", he offered. It was his fault they were ruined anyway. "I'm..." He bit his lip, making a decision. "Parke. With an 'e'. Parke Ives." If anyone could call him by his first name, she could. He'd thrown her into a swamp, after all. Now what exactly a swamp was doing in the castle was another matter entirely.

Trina was still doing a mental check of her body. It seemed that everything was alright. Or, at least as far as she could tell. She might not be able to get out of bed tomorrow, but who knew?

As she was righted once more, she winced at the squish of her shoes. SHe was definitely going to have to fix that. Luckily, when she had arrived, her mother had taught her a few tricks- not that she could try them, but she had once she arrived at school they had worked just fine.

She looked up and smiled at him. "Well, thank you," she said, moving out of his arms slightly in order to test moving her feet. Her ankles seemed to be fine with movement along with bending her knees. That was a relief. However, as he quickly pulled an arm away, she wobbled- but caught herself on the nearby statue. "Warn a girl, will you?" she growled, and took a breath. "Sorry, I didn't mean that," she said with a weak smile. She didn't like being off balance.

Trina waved off his offer. "I can spell them clean- and yours as well- as soon as I get a chance to sit," she told him with a warm smile. "No need to waste good shoes!" She nodded and after a moment released the statue, standing on her own now. She extended a hand. "Nice to meet you Parke," she said. "I'm Trina... short for Katrina, but I'll jinx you if you call me that," she told him good-naturedly. He had been helping her, the least she could do was give her full name- as much as she hated it.

She saw his glance over to the swamp. "So, do you know why that's there?" she asked.

He winced as she wobbled slightly. Where had his manners gone. He should have made sure she had proper balance before letting her go. "I'm so sorry", he said, cringing. Women were scary when they were scolding you. "It's quite alright", he said good naturedly. "I should have been more careful."

Ah. It seemed one of them was adept at household charms. Well good. And oh yes, sitting sounded wonderful at the moment. "It's nice to meet you, Trina", he said warmly, extending his own hand in order to shake hers. "Ill be sure to stick with Trina then. Though I do find Katrina to be a beautiful name." He couldn't imagine giving himself a nickname.

He glanced at the floor. So filthy. He was going to have to take a shower anyways, he decided. He took off his cloak and folded it in half twice. "Sitting is something I'd love to do right now." That said, he practically plopped down on the floor, making sure to move away from that dreadful swamp, of course. He put his cloak down next to him and patted it. "Have a seat", he asked, putting on a hopefully endearing smile. He couldn't be sure though. He didn't smile much.

He glanced over at the swamp. "I haven't a clue, to be honest. I was just wondering the same."

Trina just focused on getting her feet under her once more. Finally there, she sighed happily. She hadn't meant to scold Parke- she had just reacted out of discomfort. "It's alright," she assured him. "It just scared me a little," she added with a shrug. "I like to have my feet under me," she looked down and laughed softly as she saw the layer of much from the swamp on them. "Whether I can see them or not!"

She liked his handshake- she had always been able to tell a lot from a person by it. She felt her cheeks warm at his compliment so she quickly pressed on. "Yes, I would say that is best. My friends from home..." she trailed off as she thought of her old school. "My friends from America found out the hard way- although I didn't know much spell work back then," she said with a lopsided grin.

"Yes, I quite agree," she said, and quickly cast a spell that would banish some of the dirt from where Parke was about to put his cloak. She moved over to the cloak gingerly, still testing her limbs for injury before settling down onto the cloak softly. "Thank you," she said with a warm smile. She liked how his smile lit up his face, she was always a fan of smiles. "You should smile more- it really warms up your face!" she told him cheerfully as she set to work examining her shoes.

She looked up at the swamp and shook her head. "It seems strange... but I'm sure someone has an explanation... or a book," she said, partially regretting not finish Hogwarts, A History now.

Parke noticed the light flush that spread across her face and felt...triumphant? No, that wasn't right. Erm... well, he wasn't sure how to describe the strange pleasure he felt. He supposed it could have been a little bit of triumph. He'd never made anyone...well... do that before. And Relief. Yes. He was usually the one with redness spreading across his nose and cheeks.

"You're from America, you say?" He felt excitement well up inside of him. He hadn't met anyone from America yet. "Whereabouts? I grew up in New York myself. It's my first year here", he said a bit wistfully. It was strange. The people here, thus far at least, made for much better company, but alas, he was still homesick.

He watched her sit down next to him, pushing back the awkwardness he always felt when women were in close proximity to him. He kept as still as absolutely possible lest they brush shoulders or something and instead concentrated on their conversation. Which didn't help much. "Yes, well...", he mumbled lightly, a familiar blush creeping across his face. Dang! "I'm not really supposed to smile." He looked over at the swamp again, just so he wouldn't have to look at Trina. Oh, woe was him.

"So, um, when did you start here? Oh, and I'm sorry, which year is this for you?" That would be helpful information. "I'm in my 5th", he added as an afterthought.

Trina looked up, picking up on the excitement that was in his voice. "Yes, my Dad's from America," she explained. "My mom's from England. I've been staying with my Dad and going to school there... until now," she said with a grin, for the information was obvious. "Well, we travelled a lot when I was younger," she told him. "But once I started school, we settled in New Hampshire."

She blinked in surprise at the detail. "This is your first year?" she asked him, excitement bubbling within her. However, the conversation shifted and she forgot to continue. "Why can't you smile?" she asked, curious. She had never heard anyone say that before. She pretended not to see his blush, although she could tell she was in dangerous waters. "Does it hurt or did a mean witch put a curse on you?" she teased gently, hoping that it would help to take his mind off it.

Oh, that's what she had been about to say. "This is actually my first year too!" she told him, bouncing up and down gently before she realized that it hurt. She took a breath and stopped, grinning sheepishly. "I'm a..." she took a moment to count. "I'm a Fourth year," she told him with a smile. "The grades here are different here than in the U.S.- well, at least the name of them are," she said with a grin.

Parke listened as she spoke, nodding every so often. "New Hampshire. I've been there. It's beautiful in the winter time", he recalled. He shifted slightly as he stretched his legs out. They'd always had a nasty habit of falling asleep.

He blinked at her, confused, taking her teasing literally. "No, it doesn't hurt at all." Was it supposed to? Was smiling actually physically painful to some people? "And I most certainly didn't get cursed. Even if I had been, I'm quite sure I would have been able to remove it." Where did these crazy ideas of hers come from? Perhaps she went around cursing people out of their smiles...
"It's not that I can't. I just... I went to a smaller school in the rural area of upstate New York. They took study very seriously. No smiling, no laughing, no frivolity. My father has raised me in much of the same manner", he explained, staring intently at Trina. He hoped to be able to gauge her reaction. "I thought it to be normal. At least until I came here..." He shrugged a little and pretended to examine his robes.

He perked up a bit as the conversation shifted back towards school. This, at least, was a topic he was comfortable with. "Yes, I know what you mean. I'm still getting used to the differences. I must say, I'm utterly perplexed by this...house type system they have. I was greeted with quite a bit of hostility by a boy who disliked the house I'm in the other day. Had quite a time with him", he said lightly.

Ah, a fourth year. Just one year below him then. "Brilliant. Do you have a favorite class?" It was early in the term, but maybe she had one from old school.

Trina nodded as she continued to inspect the grime on her shoes. For the most part, they just seemed wet, although the coloring of parts of her shoes hinted at more. She looked up at his comment. "I love the fall- with the leaves changing and the smell in the air," she sighed and looked back down at her shoes. She would have to do the spell in two parts. She would dry them out first and then clean them. She did so, first on one foot, and then the other. Then, she turned to Parke. "Would you like me to take care of your shoe?" she asked him, indicating his swampy foot. She normally would have done it without permission- but this time it felt more appropriate to ask.

She raised her eyebrows at his reply, fighting a smile. "Parke... I was only joking," she told him. "I was hoping to get another smile or a laugh at least," she said with a giggle of her own. She became quiet as she listened to his explanation. She frowned as he continued. "Well, that doesn't sound like any fun," she said, shaking her head. "Did you get to do anything for fun?" she pressed. However, as he continued, she decided not to ask any more questions. It looked like he was uncomfortable. So, swallowing them, she moved on to the next topic.

"Yes, the houses are strange," she said, nodding as she smoothed her hand over her badge. "I mean, they are fun in some ways, but from what I hear about the rivalries, it seems brutal in others," she replied. As he continued, she raised her eyebrows. "Had quite a time?" she pressed gently. "What house was he from?"

She smiled mysteriously. "Transfiguration. I've always had a knack for it- I would love to do the animagus spell one day," she said with a smile. "How about yourself?"

"Yes, the fall is lovely as well." Fall was nice enough, but he liked the blinding white of snow. He watched her clean and dry her shoes and momentarily debated asking her to show him how to do it. Maybe it would be useful to know while he was here at school. He wouldn't have use for it after that. Oooooh, but then she offered. To clean his shoe! Merlin, he was in love! Or at least he would have been if he'd believed in such a thing. "I would appreciate it ever so much if you did!"

A joke? Oh. Pranks and jokes and so much difference. Maybe he'd never get used to it. He started to frown, but then she giggled and he felt his lips twitch upward involuntarily. He graced her with a small smile and an ever-so-slightly-almost chuckle. And that was a feat in itself. He hadn't a conscious memory of himself laughing.

Fun. There was that word again. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling anxious suddenly. "Well, if we were ahead in our studies, we were permitted to study extracurricular topics. We were also allowed evening passes to go dining in town, so I suppose that's what I did for... for enjoyment."

Aaaah. Brutal? The last thing he wanted to be a part of was brutality. It was so...so... plebeian. He placed his hands in his lap. He didn't really know what to do with them at the moment. Or rather, they wanted to do strange things...that. he. would. NOT. allow. Women sure had a strange effect on him. Maybe he was allergic.

She was speaking again. He liked the sound of her voice, he decided then. "I think it was the blue one. I can't be sure though. Maybe the yellow?" He tried to think back. "Yes, the yellow one. Huffiepuffs or something. I had a right time putting him his place", he explained, haughtiness creeping into his voice.

Transfiguration. A respectable subject. He nodded his approval, and then tried to find something to look at. His eyes had decided they wanted to look at her, but he would not stare at her like some kind of dolt. "I'm quite fond of potions and arithmancy myself. I have a hard time choosing which I prefer. I'm horrible at charms though. And I won't even talk about what an utter failure I am at anything muggle related."

Trina looked over at Parke. "Lovely?" she asked him, fighting a smile. She lost the battle. "Please tell me that you have jumped in a pile of leaves," she begged slightly. "Sat by a bonfire? Roasted marshmellows? Gone trick-or-treating?" Trina watched the boy closely. She wanted to be able to read both his body language along with his answer.

She smiled and raised her wand, glancing over at Parke to see him watching her. Focusing on the shoe again, she quickly performed both spells. "Better?" she asked him with a warm smile. She wasn't gloating- she truly wanted to know how his shoe was.

However, as she looked up at him again, she saw his lips twitch and a small sound escape his lips. A laugh, she realized. Her face lit up and she smiled up at him. She couldn't believe that she had caused him to laugh.

As he talked about his old school once more, she felt slightly inferior. So much studying, and more studying. Her friends had hung around, talked and just had some good fun at her old school. Trina looked up once more as he spoke about his opponent. "Huh, that's interesting," she replied softly. "I thought the Hufflepuffs were the least likely to do something like that." Well, you never know.

"Potions?" she asked him, shaking her head slightly. "My worst subject. I don't know why, but I can never seem to get the procedure right," she said with a sigh. She looked up as Parke mentioned Charms. That was another one of her favorites. "My Dad's a muggle," she told him with a small smile. "So, I was immersed in it," she said with a wry smile.

"Yes, lovely. Is there something wrong with that particular word", he asked curiously. Personally, he thought it was a wonderful word. And then she was going on about leaves and marshmallows, and...treketeating? He tilted his head to the side, eyes widened. Had she gone mad?! Maybe the fall had given her brain damage! Quickly, he put his hand on her face to hold it still and leaned in towards her. He inspected each pupil. Equally sized and reactive. She seemed okay physically, at least.

"Goodness no. Of course I've never jumped in leaves. I'd get ridiculously dirty. I'm not exactly sure what a bonfire is, and I've never even heard of this treketeating." He'd decided to answer her. Maybe she'd then reveal what such madness was all about. "Sorry to disappoint you." He'd said it lightly, but now he thought about it. What if she was disappointed. What if she decided she'd rather not speak to him anymore? For some unknown reason, the thought unsettled him.

"My feet are better", he said sincerely, wriggling his toes inside his shoes, just to double check. "Very impressive, Miss Trina." And her dad was a muggle. Interesting. He hadn't been allowed to have friends with muggle parents. Her mother had always been worried they'd do something unpleasant to him. Silly woman. "What was it like? Growing up with both magic and muggle experiences?"

"No, nothing's wrong with the word," she said, frowning slightly. "I just... don't think it best describes the season," she explained. She hoped that made sense. He didn't sound offended that she had criticized his description, she just would have picked something else. 'Amazing, awesome, the BOMB' were a few examples. However, Trina didn't think that any words like 'the BOMB' would ever leave Parke's lips. She was just about the share her descriptions when suddenly his hands were on her face. She looked at him, eyes wide with surprise as he looked at her, and she couldn't help it as her cheeks warmed ever so slightly as he got SO close.

Then, he was away and replying. She fought her gape as he continued to list the fall experiences that he had not been a part of. Laughing, she shook her head. "You're supposed to get dirty from jumping in leaves! If half of them aren't on you by the time you're done, you haven't done it right!" she told him with a laugh. She shook her head as he continued. "Well, my friend-" could she call him that? "I intend to expose you to a few of these events- if you'll let me," she told him with a smile that was both kind and slightly mischievous. "And, it's Trick OR Treating," she told him slowly. "Its when you dress up and ask for candy from all the neighbors."

"Good!" she said with a satisfied smile. "If you'd like, I can teach you the charm- it's not too hard," she reassured him, remembering his difficulty with Charms. However, as he complimented her she found herself smiling a bit more. She liked his praise... although it was strange to hear a Miss before her name. "You can just call me Trina," she assured him. "Just not Katrina!" she added with a laugh.

Trina looked up at his question and shrugged. "Well..." How to begin? "My parents split when I was young. My mother wanted me to stay with her, but my Dad insisted. I basically lived a muggle life until the few months before I got the acceptance letter," she explained softly. He Father hadn't been happy. "After that, I don't know... it was interesting," she said with a wry smile. "I'm guessing both of your parents are magic?" she asked quickly.

Supposed to get dirty?! "Why on earth would you want to get dirty", he blurted out. People around here really had some strange ideas about what exactly constituted a good time. A bemused expression set itself up on his face as she addressed him in what was clearly a highly inappro - wait? She considered him her friend? Already? Wow. He must really be something. And cue smugness. "I don't know", he said warily. "Are any of these things going to cause me grievous physical or mental anguish?" It sure sounded like they might.

Hadn't he called her Trina? He rubbed his chin, thinking. He was quite sure that's what he'd just said. "Of course, Miss Trina. I remember. No using 'Katrina'." Of course he remembered. She'd only just told him that 10 minutes ago. "Perhaps. I warn you though. I'm quite atrocious at charms of any sort.", he said in response to her offer. It would be nice to be able to sanitize his surrounding whenever he desired and scourgify only did so much.

Wow, a muggle life. He couldn't imagine it. No magic, no house elves. It sounded horrible. "Yes, both magic. And they love their magic. I don't think mother has ever done anything the muggle way. Father either, for that matter. In some ways it's nice. Everything gets done a lot faster. But the house elves frightened me something vicious when I was smaller." He leaned his head against the wall, surprised at how relaxed he felt. This was... nice.

At his response, Trina could only grin wider. This boy was going to get quite a shock when he jumped in his first pile of leaves... a good shock, she hoped. "You don't even notice until you're done," she assured him. "I am usually having too much fun to notice!" She watched his reaction to her calling him a friend to some surprising results. He seemed quite happy to have the title. "Well, depends on how extreme you are. I personally wouldn't go for the physical anguish on your first run with leaves. And both roasting marshmellows and trick-or-treating will do no such thing," she assured him. Mental anguish... that was a different story.

She frowned as he attached the title to her name again. "Yes..." she said, looking at him strangely. Finally, she decided to ask. "Why are you calling me Miss? There's no need to be formal," she assured him. "I won't be offended." As he spoke of his charms, she grinned. "Well, luckily for you, I happen to be a pretty good teacher," she said with a grin. She didn't know how true that was- she had taught her friends some tricks back at school, like knitting and some of her other hobbies, and even a few spells. Perhaps she could do it.

Trina listened quietly, trying to put herself in his shoes for a moment. Parents that were together... it would certainly be different than bouncing between the two. She shook herself of those thoughts and resumed listening. "I would imagine!" she said with a warm smile. "There were times I wish I could use spells for chores... but being underage certainly prevented that!" Not to mention what her father would have done. She giggled. "The House Elves?" she asked with a warm, and not mocking, smile. "How did they frighten you?"