Yet another beautiful day, and Renée was taking a break from last-minute work to go for another walk in the grounds. Luckily, after the trip to the observatory several nights before, she'd managed to keep Bowie inside her office. Jared's warnings, even though she'd made light of them around him, had really had an effect on her. She didn't want anything to happen to her or her cruppy, and no matter how much she trusted her friend, she knew even he couldn't protect her all of the time. It was easier to try and keep the crup puppy in her office as much as possible. It made her feel a bit guilty, as she knew her pet would have enjoyed the weather as much as she was, but it was infinitely safer.

Coming within view of the front gates, however, she saw a familiar brunette Slytherin hanging onto the bars of the gate, and found herself slowing. The air between herelf and Rae had never really been anything close to friendly, except for during her last lesson. And she had the sneaking suspicion that hadn't been due to anything like whatever had happened to turn Treyen's attitude toward herself. Either way, she found herself slowing. "Can't wait to get out, or wishing you could stay?," she asked idly, keeping a safe distance between herself and the girl. The possibility that good mood was still around was too slim to risk getting much closer.

It was the end of term and Marie had not been out to sit on her favorite rock by the front gate all term. Not having any homework or studying to do she decided to go for a walk and just happened to end up at the front gate.

Climbing up on top of the rock she sat with her legs criss-crossed. Closing her eyes she thought about how her life had changed over the course of the term. From aparecium, to breaking up with James, to her finally finding someone that actually makes her feel good about herself. now if only that someone would ask her to be his girlfriend

Yeah, she just needed to sit there with the sun shining on her face while relaxing a bit.

Finlay wasn't looking forward to the end of term. He hadn't enjoyed Hogwarts so much when he had first came, but he was graduating at the end of next term, and nhe really didn't want to anymore. Although he knew he'd be going on to do exciting things at the end of next term. Maybe those thoughts alone would be able to get him through. He doubted it, but he would try.

He wandered by the front gates, just wanting to kind of get away for a few moments. Away from the finals, and all the stress that was at the castle. But when he got down there, he saw someone very familar sat up on a rock. Mmm. "Marie..." He called out, as he climbed up onto the rock, sitting next to her.

What the...

Why was someone blocking the sun from getting to her face? She was just about to tell whoever it was to move when she heard his voice.

Finn.

Aww, he could stay and block the sun all he wanted. And now he was sitting next to her.

Opening her eyes she smiled over at him. "Hey Finn. What brings you out here?"

Mmm. It was nice and sunny up here, he could tell already why Marie probably liked it. Finn smiled at her, stretching his legs out infront of him. He'd never really been down here before, but maybe he'd be coming down more often now.

"I was just going for a walk really...." And happened to bump into you, which he was kind of happy about it. It was very nice, and he could get to hang out with her for a while. Yeah, he was happy about that.

"What a coincidence. That's how I ended up out here too. Just went for a walk since I actually didn't have any homework to do." Sure she still had a couple finals to take but she was so over studying this term.

Turning so she was now sitting on the rock facing him she kept her legs crossed. "Congratulations on your team winning the quidditch cup. I kinda didn't get a chance to tell you at the party." Since he was so busy hanging on that other girl. Not that it was really any of her business since he wasn't her boyfriend or anything like that.

Yet.

"Well....isn't that good." Finlay grinned, leaning back on his hands a bit, and letting the sun hit his face. Hmmm. He was so glad that it was warm now. It lifted his mood. "I'm glad we don't have any homework too." Homework sucked. So it was another reason that he was glad the school year was nearly over. Not that he had really done that much homework over the year, but oh well.

Oh. Finlay smirked, turning his head to look at her. "Thanks....it's shame we didn't get to talk to each other." Probably because he'd been too busy celebrating with the team, and dancing with Emily. He felt a bit bad about that, but he didn't dwell on it too much. He was spending time with Marie now, so it was okay.

"Homework? Did you acyually do any this term?" She teased. Okay, she didn't have much room to talk. She herself had taken the lightest class load she could. She didn't want to be loaded down with classes while she studied for OWLs... the exams that weer cancelled.

Yeah, that still made her mad.

"Yeah, total shame. Every time I thought I would go talk to you, you seemed a little... pre-occupied." She didn't know if he had even noticed she was at that stupid party. That stupid party that had him dancing with some other girl... that wasn't her.

"Actually I did Marie unlike you who didn't come to most of the classe." See Finlay was actually quite a good student, even if he only did a few classes. But he didn't really need that many qualifications for flying hopefully. As long as he got that then he would be fine. "We should go more classes next year...." So that they could actually earn some points? Probably would be a good thing considering that he was a prefect.

.... Finn couldn't help but think that she sounded a little sour. About him not seeing her. "Are you mad Marie...?" He asked, watching her carefully. Yeah, they flirted a lot, but nothing was official with them yet, so he had been okay to dance with Emily. Well he thought so anyway.

"Hey. I went to classes. I just chose to go to only my favorite ones this term." And one that wasn't so much her favorite but was taught by her favorite professor. "Um... yeah, more classes next year." Truth was, she would most likely attend more classes and possibly do more homework too. She didn't like not being on the leader board for her house. This was the first time in five terms she wasn't on that board.

Eep. Did she appear to be mad?

"No... I'm not mad." Jealous maybe but not mad. "It's just... the only reason I went to that party was to congratulate you." She paused looking down at her hands as she twisted them together. "When I got there though I seen you were with Jim. I didn't want any problems so I went to talk to Mia. I was just going to wait until you weren't around him, then I was going to go talk to you." Another pause and more hand twisting before she looked back up at him. "Every time I looked over at you though you were pre-occupied. You didn't look like you wanted to be interrupted so I ended up leaving without even saying hi to you."

Sighing once more, Rae leaned her head on the gate near her hands. she inhaled a deep breath, along with the wondrous smells that lingered the grounds. The grass, the trees, the smell of parchment that faintly stained her clothes, even the smell of a sunny day. You could smell the sun at Hogwarts, the smell of real magic. She smiled at the thought, then heard a certain professors voice. Rae's smile dropped, her eyes closed for a brief moment in deciding whether she should just ignore her or not. After turning around, Rae locked her eyes with Professor Bishop's. Could she be trusted? No, Rae didn't trust anyone, with the exception of the two that she shared her home with. Bt with the question asked, Rae saw no reason to ignore her this time. "Neither... Kind of." It wasn't about her this time. It was about him, Fletcher. What if he decided, that school wasn't the only thing he wanted to move on from? What if he moved out of the house? What would happen when Rae came back next year without him? Unanswered questions. All these unanswered questions. Of course she trusted him, but she also worried. Rae once again studied the Divination Professor, like she could be read as clearly as a symbol in a teacup... well as clearly as THAT can be "How did you know what you wanted to do after you graduated? Did you ever.... Leave anyone behind?" Rae shouldn't even be asking this, she should just tell her nevermind and run back to the castle

Well, at least it seemed she wasn't going to get ignored. Renée had caught the brief moment of decision from the way Rae had acted when she'd spoken, but she sent the girl a smile anyhow when it seemed she was to be acknowledged. It seemed the Slytherin's troubles were enough to even get her to talk in this situation. She wasn't about to treat it as lightly as she might under other circumstances, but it was definitely curious. And something to be taken as seriously as possible. She nodded as her question was answered, at least obliquely. "I see." After speaking, she leaned against the gate gently, still keeping the distance between herself and Rae. It seemed the questions were coming, now. Not exactly the ones she would have expected, but it seemed the enmity and jealousy was to be set aside for now. There was something else going on in the girl's head.

It didn't even bother her, the sense of being studied. That was to be expected, even after the whole term. "Honestly? I'm not so certain I really knew what I wanted to do with my life right after graduation," she said with a shrug, still leaning against the gate. That was her reasoning for deciding to travel, which then led to at least the Divination aspect of her career. The other had just sort of fell into place once she'd had the experience. It seemed Rae's troubles weren't entirely career-oriented, however, and she found herself giving the girl another gentle smile. "It seems everyone leaves someone behind. Friends, acquaintances, that sort of thing. Your concern is over quite a different person, though, am I correct?" This type of melancholy didn't coem from the thought of leaving a simple friend behind, or them leaving her behind.

And since he was quite the clever Puff, he would start looking on the farther away place from the Castle. In case his time was up, then all he had to do was keep walking towards the Castle and he could even find some part of the treasure along the way.

It was the perfect plan.

Except. He was kind of tired from all the running, and his breathing hadn't improved in the last couple of minutes.

The boy took a seat by the gate and rested for a while, rereading the parchment one more time. He sighed and closed his eyes, he needed his broomstick to get him to the Castle again, this thing was like one of Melanie's practices and she just exhausted them all.

His eyes were opened again by the sound of some bird standing in the ground. Well, it seemed out of place, but so did THAT.

Huh? He took one of them and eyed them curiously. Was that something on the list? Yeah, Treyen wasn't even sure of that, but he took one anyway, as a bonus to Lafay. He may even took one of the flowers nearby for her. Because all of that was placed inside the bag. A bag he was now carrying as a messenger bag.

It WAS heavy now.

Time was precious, and so he stood up and began walking rather carelessly to the Greenhouses. He was more than certain he'd find something there.

Rae really didn't know what to make of this, she should run, leave, and say nothing more. But her feet didn't move, her legs didn't budge, her eyes stayed focused. Now, this person she didn't trust one bit, and didn't even like, was asking too much of her. Rae didn't share personal information, Rae didn't "open up" and Rae always kept it to herself. It was like she was on auto-pilot, not really wanting to say the things she said, just saying them without meaning. She spoke in more of a mumble.. "It's Fletcher's last year..... He could decide to move out, and its only a few more years when Evelyn might want to move out too. They will both be gone for the summer... I'll be alone in the house." She stopped... Looked down almost ashamed of her next comment.. "Alone was easier to handle without a home." Tis true though. Alone was much easier to deal with when you weren't in an empty house all the time, when all you had was the slab of sidewalk you claimed that night. If they left her... She'd be worse then when she started. And Fletcher? He was her boyfriend, beyond that, he was her very first friend. She was his very first friend also. Even if he promised he wouldn't, Rae kept convincing herself that he was leaving. It was only a matter of time before Evelyn moved out too.

She'd said too much. That was way too far. But the damage was done.. Note to self : Learn that obliviator spell

Now, instead of running, she just sank down to the soft grass and let the emotion set in, because as soon as it was over with, the sooner the old Rae would come back.... No one likes pitiful Rae.

Finlay kind of disregarded the start of their conversation, concentrating more on the other bit. She wasn't mad. That was good. Finn really didn't want her to be mad, especially not because of him. "Oh...." That was the only reason she came to the party? He looked down at her hands, still feeling really bad. Had he been that pre-occupied with celebrating the party that he hadn't even thought about her?

He reached over, taking one of her hands, and interwinding their fingers together. "I'm sorry..." Not that it really meant anything, it couldn't change what had happened. "I was being to bigheaded to notice anyone but the team..." He looked down, away from her. Finlay felt a little guilty. He hadn't meant to do that to Marie. "Can I make it up to you?"

Marie felt her heart skip a beat when Finn grabbed her hand. Without even thinking about it she placed her other hand over his and started rubbing it with her thumb. "Well, your team did just win the quidditch cup. I guess you had a right to feel a bit big headed at the time." She knew if it would have been her house that won she would have been feeling big headed, and she wasn't even on the team. "It's just... when I seen you dancing with that other girl, I sorta felt... jealous. I wanted to be the one you were holding that close." Obviously she wasn't the one he wanted to be holding that night though. It was pretty obvious that he was having a perfectly good time with the girl he was with... team mate or not.

Oh, but he wanted to make it up to her? Well... Looking back up at him she grinned. "Well you can try to make it up. What did you have in mind?"

Finlay couldn't help but smile when he felt her thumb rubbing his hand. It was nice, he liked it. "Yeah....but it didn't mean I should've forgotten about everyone else." Especially Marie. It wasn't fair. What she said next kind of shocked him a little. She was jealous? It was kind of cute. "....I do want you to hold you that close." He really did. Just Emily had kind of got there first. It hadn't been intentional, but it had obviously upset Marie, and get felt bad about it. He would have to be more aware of things next time, or he was going to be constantly hurting people, and that was not good.

Finlay grinned back at her. "I have this in mind." He murmered, before leaning in and kissing her gently. That totally made up for it right? A kiss from Finlay Carmicheal was definetly worth something.

Marie's eyes lit up and a huge smile crossed her face when Finn said he did want to hold her that close. That was nothing though compared to how she felt when he kissed her. Closing her eyes she kissed him back. "Well, that's definitely a start." Yeah, it was going to take more than one little kiss to make up for him not even noticing that she was at that party.

Renée could tell that this entire situation was getting to be too much for Rae, and if it wasn't for her belief that anyone deserved to be listened to, and supported if necessary, she would have thought about leaving the Slytherin to her thoughts. Letting her continue in her dislike, even as it seemed things were destined to go another path. She stayed wher she was as the words spilled out of Rae, just barely able to understand the mumble. She caught enough of it to be sympathetic, however. The demeanor itself would have managed that, as while she knew Rae disliked her, the feeling wasn't entirely mutual. "Mmm," she murmured, as she thought over what she'd discovered. "Alone is easier to deal with when you know someone will come back to you," she observed, wanting to somehow reassure the girl even though she had a feeling any attempt would be pushed away. And she had a feeling her observation was correct anyhow, given the mention of Fletcher. not to mention the discussion of people leaving others behind made a whole lot more sense.

As Rae sank down onto the ground, Renée stopped herself from submitting to the urge to comfort her, but found herself staying at the gates anyhow. Not to mention, speaking again. "I know you don't like me," and as far as she knew the resons for that were entirely ridiculous, especially given the new information, "but you should know you're always welcome to talk. Use me as a sounding board, or just for advice. It doesn't matter to me, and I won't say anything to anyone. Not if you don't want me to." It was the truth. She wasn't about to breathe a word of this to anyone, especially as she could sense the Slytherin wasn't exactly comfortable with being emotional like she was. But then, now that she'd somewhat made her peace, she left Rae to it. Hoping that at least something had gotten through.

First place was the gates. The beginning of every journey at Hogwarts, so it may as well have been the beginning of his journey through the Potions final. Suitable, albeit an uncomfortable reminder of the things to come.

Sabel didn't notice the stack of newspapers immediately, his eyes trailing up the metal gates to their very tip. Hands in his pockets, he frowned at the barbs, not trusting himself to look through. What lay beyond was what was waiting for him in a short period of time. He would be on the other side and it would be near impossible to return. The realization was uncomfortable and sobering, turning his eyes over his shoulder to glance at the castle. In the few years he had been at Hogwarts, leaving permanently had never been a concept that had held any reality. He always returned, it was always waiting. Like home. Like his family had been.

And in an instant, it was all changing. Drastically and without pause or consideration for those it plowed through. Time moved too fast. That was a fact. If he could have managed another year at Hogwarts, he wouldn't have hesitated. But then, if he could have managed another minute with those he loved, he would have taken it and at the same time, it would have made the last minute they shared somehow less important. Was it the same with Hogwarts? Would it be the same throughout the rest of his life?

Moments in time, simply present for an instance before another overtook them. A movement that was supposed to make you appreciate, to value, to remember. It was reality, but it was painful.

And that pain had him shaking his head, swallowing the lump in his throat and turning his attention back to the task at hand. Away from that approaching moment. Away from memories. Just here. Just now. Nothing else.

Until he saw the newspapers. Then the wrenching was back and a heavy frown furrowed his brow. Since when were newspapers delivered to the front of Hogwarts? Especially inside the gates? Then again, he had never seen how they were delivered before, but he would have assumed by owl or some such method. Not front door delivery. Or maybe it was a trick of the Ministry, a new implementation for the new education that was in store for the Wizarding community.

His frown deepened with unease as he approached the papers, only to have him sighing with a heavy gust of air. Potions newspapers. Black and white and to read just like the Potions list said. Not news of the wizarding world. Not news of the ministry or the school. Just potions. Leaning over Sabel pulled a copy from the top, turning it briefly in his hands before folding it. Trust potions to remain constantly deceiving and controversial.

Another sigh as he turned his back on the gates. Perhaps he would get a chance to read the articles before it was all over. Take his mind away from everything else, because for all of its deceiving qualities, potions were a constant source of reality and distracting in that consistency. Something he might be needing very soon.

Kyle was walking around the front gate when she suddenly frowned. Something was not right? Why was there trash on the ground she thought glaring at the area around the bin. Then it dawned on her - it wasn't moving in the wind. Picking it up, she saw that it was black, white, and could be read - and that made her happy. She quickly stuffed it in her bag and was on her marry way.

"If he left, he wouldn't come back." In all seriousness... Rae was worrying herself. Fletcher had in fact promised that he would stick around. Besides, they had a good set-up, with the house, his job and triwizard winnings, her inheritance. They live pretty easy for a couple of teens, better than most adults working their whole lives in fact. But the thought of Rae coming back to school next term without him was unbearable, the thought that maybe, there was a chance he would change his mind about staying.

All in short, Rae's own thoughts were her worst enemy.

As professor Bishop spoke Rae realized that she believed Rae was still mad at her for Prof Chaud. And here was Rae spilling out every worry she had about her always faithful and loyal boyfriend.

Okay so maybe Rae acted a bit harsh at the opening feast a a few times after that.... But really? Rae didn't see any problem in her acting.. of course, coming from the girlfriend of the guy with the biggest ego. She would talk to Prof Chaud, and all of a sudden, THERE SHE WAS! Interrupting and whatnot. Rae would never leave Fletcher, ever never ever. But she still liked to talk to/be around Prof Chaud.... without interruptions. Was she such a drama queen for that?

Rae REALLY didn't want to say it but... "Sorry." And she better know what she means, cause Rae isn't explaining what she's sorry for. That would be crossing the line...

However, even if she did say it, that didn't mean it would happen again. If given the reason, Rae can go right back to ignoring or mean or whatever she feels like. Hisss hissss. Beware.

For now though, good terms. "And, thanks."

It seemed Rae was truly troubled about things, and for that reason, Renée found herself staying just a bit longer. She really couldn't walk away from someone who was hurting that much, even if the Slytherin was trying to hide it. The very fact she'd spoken meant she had a reason to stick around, at least until it seemed things were slightly better. if she was truly understanding things, she thought that it wouldn't be better until the girl's fears were proved to be just that. fears, and not reality. "There's just as much chance he might surprise you," she said softly, putting one hand on the bars of the gate as she waited.

The apology came as a bit of a surprise, however, as it came after her statement that she knew Rae didn't like her. She hadn't truly needed an apology, but she nodded to show she'd accepted it anyway. The animosity there simply amused her, seeing as it was practically contrived. It was hard for her to have interrupted a conversation that occurred while she'd already been in conversation with the subject. But then, Jared seemed to elicit the most interesting of responses from the students, as had been discussed. she wasn't about to call the Slytherin out, though. That wouldn't do anything more than bring the tentative peace to a standstill, and she found the idea of doing so less appealing than she'd've thought. Peace was nice, and it would be nice to end a term on that note.

She did respond to the subsequent comment. "You're welcome," she said with a smile. "I can go if you'd like some time to yourself?" She'd been thinking about it, but then the peace didn't come with an escape clause. She'd stay if Rae wanted, as that was what she should do. As a professor, at least.

Finlay had to stop himself smirking when he saw the huge smile that was on her face. So...that made her happy? Well it was a good thing, He wouldn't have been a very good friend if he made her upset or jealous all the while. Ooooh. The kiss was a start? "Well...." Finlay smiled at her. Now he had to think about how to make it up to her. "I definely think there are more kisses from where that came from..." He grinned at her. Yup...he wouldn't mind kissing her again.

Marie liked the sound of more kisses, especially if they were coming from Finlay. Leaning back in she gently brushed her lips across his then sat back grinning. "You mean like that?" Maybe she should have told him sooner that she was jealous of other girls hanging on him. Although it didn't really hit her as being jealous until she seen that girl with her hands all over him at the party.