Adam spun around to see Fee, one of his first hidden crushes, to make her way over to him. He slightly smiled, but it didn't come out all happy.
"Prince Charming? So you don't like Hugo anymore?"Adam asked, but he covered his mouth right away-that had been uncalled for, but it just slipped out.

What was with his smile? He didnt seem to be to happy.What was wrong?! But then she giggled a little."I do what?",the blonde raising an eyebrow.What was up with the people at the moment?!"You dont seem to be too happy",she said worried,"whats up?"

Adam hung his head down.He grabbed the letter from his jacket and shoved it into Fee's gentle hands.
"I'm leaving Hogwarts."he simply told her.
[Spolier=letter]Dear Adam,

It is your parents. Obviously because you have no friends here at home!We are owling(Weirdest term I have ever had to use) because we are taking you out of Weird, Freaky Wizard school where you are being taught to threaten us with the magic you are learning.Also- we are moving to Mexico City, your father has been promoted there for next year. And seeing how Weird school is million of miles away from Mexico it would be unwise to have you live on your own there-even with your sister and lost girlfriend.That is our final word and nothing you say will change our minds-we want you to be normal( Or at least, what normal is for you)

Your parents,[/Spoiler]

"Don't worry- you're not the only one that knows."

Noooo. Not another letter from parents wanting their son to leave,.This was like a deja vu. Oh my god.Wha did everyone have to leave ?Just not cool really. Argh."But why?",Fee whispered.She couldnt believe he wasnt going to be there last term. They've been thorugh a lot and now that should be it?!"Adam this is horrible",the blonde said a single tear rolling down her cheek.

Now seeing Fee crying like this, really broke his heart.He just stared at her, with a half opened mouth, not knowing what to say, still speechless himself.
Slowly he walked closer to her and hugged her softly, patting her hair the way Adam Burn did it.
"Please don't cry, Fee- that only makes it harder for all of us.
Yeah it is...But don't worry I can still....I'll still be your friend no matter what! Though owling you from Mexico to Germany or London- that's a long ride for any owl..."

Fee snuggled into him a little when he hugged her. Stupid her for crying now."I am sorry Adam",she muttered into his shoulder.Of course she was tjhe one overreacting.Pff. Oh god, poor Kurumi.She must feel terrible."Whats with Kurumi?",she asked now looking up into his eyes. Mhhh yeees the poor owl would have to fly much.Maybe too much?"I really hope we can keep in touch",the blonde nodded,"but Mexico City is so far away."Maaaaan stupid parents.

"Well i told her yesterday. She was crying also. You know how much we like each other-I wasn't even gonna tell her until maybe May-ish."Adam said in terms of how Kurumi took it."She said, why oh why, would I go on living with my parents if they call me freak and they even said they don't think Kurumi and I are suited for each other...But their my parents- would you be able to leave your parents behind, living miles and miles away from them?"Adam asked her.

Ohhh poor Kurumi.Fee should comfort her just like she had done when the blonde's ex had left. This was just not right.Why was all of this happening to them?!"I can understand her point",the girl nodded,"but then again i can fully underdtand you too. I guess we are to young to live that far away from our parents."Maybe in a few years she would have adviced jom to leave his parents but now it was impossible.

"Maybe it be best you talk to her. I don't think she liked the fact that I told Selina Skylar first about the situation because I wanted to get her advice.So maybe it's best if you can just try to make her worry less...
Yeah I think that's it.I can barely make a living. Honestly- even with Selina and Hugo offering me their homes as a place to stay- I don't want to intrude on their home life-ya know..."Adam continued.

"I'll take care of her i promise",Fee nodded.She knew how much Adam and Kurumi cared for eachother.The girl needed someone to tell her that i was going to be okay,really.What were friends for."I will try my best",the Slytherin gave her friend a smile."I totally understand",she nodded,"it may seem strange for thr others but its the best for you now.Unfortunately it is.And i dont think your parents would let you leave them."What parents would?!

" You did not really hurt me" Rex told Emma." Yes, Rene and I are getting married and I knew you would be at our wedding" Rex explained ro Emma. " I promise to owl you from Tene's and my house" Rex said to Emma. " Yes, we need to work on Fee's, Alex's and Rene's nicknames" Rex smiled. 'Do you have any suggestions?" Rex asked Emma.

People watching was pretty good really. Except for when you weren't actually watching anyone. Nope. Jim was sitting on the other side of one of the trees along the pathways, not entirely visible from the path itself though he'd told Marie where he'd be. The shade went the other way which was good because the weather was getting cooler and soaking up the last of the reluctant sun was something that Jim felt like he better make the most of before it was too cold to sit outside without extra layers. He had his sleeves rolled up and his shirt unbuttoned at the collar, his tie hung loosely and Jim was using his robes as a blanket to sit on.

He had a runes book with him and was busy writing the essay he had to turn in to Truebridge.

Marie walked along the pathway looking for James. She had gotten the message that he would be out there but so far she had no luck finding him. By a tree... but what tree? There were so many of them and they all looked the same to her. Looking ahead she seen what appeared to be someone sitting on the other side of a tree. Well at least she thought it was a person... that did look like an arm to her. Picking up the pace she made her way to that tree and to Jimmy. "Hey there." She said smiling down at him happy to finally see him. Glancing at the book he had there with him though her smile slowly faded. Runes... Neptune... leaving class.

Part of her wanted to know what all that had been about with those two in class yet another part of her didn't want to know because she had s feeling she may not like what he heard. "I looked for you after class yesterday." She said as she sat down facing him. "I was worried about you." Heck she was still worried even though he was sitting there right in front of her.

"Hey." Jim looked up from his writing and smiled but it faded a bit when she mentioned class.

"I'm okay, Marie. Its no big. Its not like I need to attend class anyway. Bet that Truebridge guy can't teach me nothin' I don't know already." He shrugged. "No need to worry anyway." He smiled at her again, this time reassuringly.

"You can sit over here you know." He pointed out, meaning next to him. There was plenty of space on his robes.

No big deal? He walked out of a class that he was good at and he says no big deal. "I'm glad your okay." She said feeling a little better. "You're probably right... well at least about yesterdays lesson. We learned about Intaglio and Galdr. Then we carved runes in the tables." She of course chose to use intaglio for her runes carvings. She just felt really silly with the Galdr method. "I was a bit excited that I actually knew what a Galdr was, even if that wasn't the method I chose to use." Who knew that what he taught her in that little tutoring lesson would come in handy so soon.

Moving to sit with him on his robes she still sat facing him. She wanted to be able to see his face without having to turn to see him. She also really wanted to know what had happened in class but wasn't sure how to say it without upsetting him. She had a feeling that if she didn't ask though he would never tell her. Taking a deep breath she just decided to ask. Biting her bottom lip she finally blurted out. "Jimmy... what's going on with you and Neptune?" Because clearly there was something there. Even a blind person would be able to see that after that little show in class.

She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs close to her... something she always seemed to do when she was feeling a bit insecure.

That actually sounded pretty cool. Jim tried not to look too interested. "Well the thing is using that Intaglio spell, it pretty much IS a Galdr you know? Like if I wanted to do a Galdr right now for..." He paused for a moment, "Gebo, say, I could just make it up you know? Like... Gebo gebo gebo, gih gih gih geee geee geee geeeeb geeeeb geeebo gebo gib gab gob geeebo. Or even just... Gebo Gebo Gebo Gebo..." He trailed off and grinned. It was clearly something that came naturally to him and certainly sounded like chanting. He wasn't self-conscious about that at all. "So, chucking Intaglio on the beginning is really just giving you a way of risting the rune. Its still a galdr."

He looked down at his work again and was about to write another rune when Marie spoke. The way she said her name was a bit of a warning and he looked up. A flicker of bitterness, then sulkiness and then some other not quite as recognisable thing flitted across his face before it closed off into something more wary.

He considered the question.

What was going on with him and Neptune?

Nothing.

"Nothing."

It was the truth, but it was a painful one. Jim looked down at his work again, scribbling Tiwaz, Raidho, Uruz, Berkano, Raidho, Dagaz and Jera without any notable sort of hesitation.

He was literally writing directly into runic.

Trying not to smile she listened to him chant about the Gebo rune. Yeah, she got it. They were both a chant of some sort. It's just with Intaglio she got to use her wand, and she didn't have to say such a mouthful of... stuff. "Well I prefer the intaglio method when actually doing the risting. I prefer using my wand instead of the poky looking burin thing." Using her wand was much quicker than physically carving the runes. And with all the time she had wasted in class by pouting and not doing anything she especially needed to carve her runes the fastest way she could.

Watching the expression on his face change Marie held her breath not sure what she was about to hear.

Nothing?

That was a whole lot of nothing going on there yesterday. Knowing she was pushing it here she couldn't stop herself. She KNEW there was something between them... or there had been at one time. He didn't get upset and leave class over nothing. "Okay, maybe I worded my question wrong then. Why was Neptune able to get you so visibly upset that you had to leave class?" Not to mention why was he able to get her so upset that she had to leave class too?

Not looking at what he was writing she continued to look directly at him. She just wanted to understand what was going on with him. Was that so wrong of her to want to do that? To understand what her boyfriend was going through and to help him through it if she could.

"I prefer doing stuff with my hands." Jim answered. He really did. Sure he was always willing to do magic stuff and all, and he was good at it even though he pretended he wasn't, it was just that he found it relaxing, sort of ... centering, to work with his hands. Feel things. Touch them. Know they were real. And that he was real too.

Eh.

Another question.

Would she believe him if he said it was... "It was performance art." He answered, still staring resolutely at the parchment in front of him. "We're gonna put up a sign up sheet for the new drama club." His voice was tinged with sarcasm and when he looked up he grinned ruefully. Kidding. Worth a shot but kidding.

"Its... its really no big thing, Marie. It doesn't even matter anymore. It just doesn't. I was having a bad day, thats all." And it bugged him a LOT that he had been 'visibly' upset.

Jim dropped his quill in his lap and rubbed at his face with the back of his hand. "She's just impossible. Thats all."

"Well I guess I'm just lazy. I prefer to use my wand when I can." Yep, that's the only explanation she had for that one.

New drama club? She wasn't born yesterday. There is no such club. Although with the performance he was trying to give her now maybe there should be.

She knew he still wasn't being truthful here... whether to himself or to her.... he was holding back. He may say it's no big deal but she felt like it was... or was she just reading too much into it? Nah... she had seen how they both acted, right along with everyone else in the class... so she continued with her questioning. "Jimmy, how long did you and Neptune date?" Okay, maybe she was jumping to conclusions here but really, the way those two acted towards each other it was obvious there had been more than friendship between them.

Moving a little closer to him she reached out and grabbed one of his hands and held it between both of hers. "I want you to know that no matter what, you can tell me anything. I want to help you but I can't if you won't tell me anything." Lacing their fingers together she rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. She really hoped he would feel comfortable enough with her to open up to her.

..........
.............
..............

"Depends who you ask." He answered finally, closing his eyes. He opened them again and looked down at their hands, expelling a breath roughly.

And since she was asking HIM?

"15 months, 4 days, 9 hours and 38 minutes."

He closed his eyes.

Well he could have left off the hours and minutes, possibly even the days. But she had told him he could tell her anything and she meant it.

"When did you two break up?" What she really wanted to know was did he wish he was still with Neptune instead of her but she chose not to ask that one... yet.

"Almost a year ago." Jim answered quietly. It wasn't even that simple. At all. "Can we talk about something else now?" Because this was not cutting it. Marie things and Neptune things shouldn't overlap. Ever. Neptune Bott complicated everything in existence and the entire point of being with Marie was that it was fun, and easy and simple.

And maybe a bit to prove to himself, and to others, that he COULD be exactly the kind of boyfriend a girl wants. That he could attach himself solely to one person, and that it could be fun and that he was good enough to be more than some secret that nobody knew about.

Not even her best friend.


No really. Talk about something else now.

A year ago. Well at least it was way before she had met him... so chances were she wasn't a rebound thing here. However, she could tell he still had strong feelings for Neptune. She just wasn't going to push him about it anymore... for now. "Sure, we can talk about something else now."

Or maybe not talk.

Leaning in she gave him a kiss... you know to make him forget about that conversation they had just had. "So, who's the friend you were talking to in the library?" You know, the one it looked like you were flirting with. She asked as she broke away from that mouth of his. Her fit of jealousy had passed but she was still curious about who the girl was... and why he didn't introduce them.

Good.

Goo...

Jim did get distracted by the kiss, to the point where, when Marie spoke again, he wasn't following.

"....?"

What friend?

"What friend?" He gave her a puzzled look, his brows furrowing.

What friend? How quickly they forget.

"You know, the one with the purple hair." The one who winked at you and then visibly flirted with you right in front of me.

That friend.