Fee approached her friend a little and said down next to her then.The whomping willow was as frightening as last year but still somehow it was cool here."Oh well i am just wandering",Fee laughed,"what drawing?"The blonde admired people that were good at drawings,because she really sucked.hehe.

"I wasn't running directly into it!" DUH, he knew perfectly well that the tree was a death trap. He was just eager to get a closer look, that's all. He took a step back actually, because he didn't feel comfortable keeping his eyes away from the tree. So it was safer for everyone to just keep back. "Nothing really. Explooooooorin'." And he was loving it! But enough about him. "What about you? I've been hearing all sorts about you, y'know." He looked at his friend curiously then sniggered.

Nathan saw the Centipede that was crawling over Elliott and he flinched a little bit when he flicked it off. Eugh! Despite his manly image, bugs weren't one of Nathan's favourite things. But once it had gone, he sat down beside him.

"Excuses," Elliott said, shaking his head. He was only kidding, of course. Nathan simply did weird stuff. Yeah, he could relate with the whole exploring bit. "I think it'll be a long time before either of us have explored this whole school." It was huge! And it had all these secret things and stuff. He raised his eyebrow and looked at his best mate when he confessed that he had heard things about him. That was a first. "What do you mean? What'd you hear?" He didn't like this sniggering.

Elliott looked at the place where Nathan sat. Well, if that centipede had been in the same place in the grass that it had been at a few seconds ago, that bug would now be roadkill. Or bumkill.

Nathan scoffed. "Oh, shut your trap." He said simply, then turned to look at the tree once more. It was like a living, breathing person and it was kind of freaky! "I know, it's awesome! Nobody could ever get bored in this place." Unless they were in the Slytherin common room. Nathan didn't like it in there much. Heh! Ohhh, so Elliott was totally clueless about what he was thinking. Weird, that. "I was talking to Lucie and she said you tried to kill her." He shrugged, like it was no big deal. Apparently, it wasn't a big deal to Elliott either.

He caught Elliott's eyes move down to where he was sitting and it made him jump stupidly in the air. With a thud on the ground, of course. "What? Did I sit on it?!" He didn't intentionally sit on it. If he did, then EW! He needed to change his trousers and STAT!

The Whomping Willow.... Rae never seemed to miss a year of visiting this old tree... But honestly... Going alone to look at the swaying tree was getting boring year after year. Luckily Evelyn was with her. Luckily Evelyn was with her for a lot of things... "The new professors.. Have you met them yet?" Of course Rae really didn't care for any of them but one. That one was the only one she was talking about. Prof Chaud... MMM.

It was his first day back and Patroclus wanted to talk in all the familiar sights and sound of Hogwarts, and it was by no design that he found himself in the shade of the Whomping Willow.

Taking a seat on the grass, well out of the way of the branchs, Patroclus watched as the tree swayed in the breeze. He had nothing to be afraid of seeing as though he and the tree were now the best of friends due to the Ancient Runes lesson, but it was best just to be safe, rather than sorry. Laying down on the grass Patroclus shut his eyes and just listened......

Evelyn really hated this tree. Sure, they had their fun and good moments like when it gave Rex amnesia and their trip to the shrieking shack which had led her to finding her snake Tiki, but then...well the tree was just too darn creepy. Looked like an octopus or...a spider. A very large, swaying, spider, who whomped you if you got too close to it.

Fantastic.

With her glare set in place as her eyes tried to burn a hole through the swaying branches, she did hear what Rae had said though failed to answer the girl for a moment or so. "Depends, are you going to start talking about the Charms professor?"

Ugh. The constant whispers and talking about him in the corridors and common room was starting to make him a little less good looking and a little more annoying. Or perhaps she was just picking up THOSE conversations? That would suck. Glancing over to Rae, Evelyn's gaze moved past her and to someone who rather enjoyed laying on the ground for some reason. Why? The ground was cold. Wait, that wasn't just anyone. Teehee! "Hey lemur boy!"

The side of his mouth curved in just the hint of a smile, but he didn't say anything. Nathan was a lot tougher than he was, and Elliott.. well he sometimes lacked good hand-eye coordination. If they ever did get into some sort of fight, Elliott would probably wager that his best friend would win. Not that that'd ever happen, of course..

"I agree.. it's kind of creepy how new things and places keep popping up and surprising me." Just yesterday he was walking along one of the million floors and he definitely saw some brand new statue area that so wasn't there before. And, ohh. The Lucie drowning deal. Yeah, he should have guessed that. "Erm.. that was an accident," he mumbled. So much for being suave.

Hahhh! Elliott laughed at Nathan's sudden paranoia about Mr. Centipede. "I donno.. move over and let's see if there's a body." Pfft. What was this, Grey's Anatomy?

Hearing voice, Patroclus snapped open his eyes, but did not lift his head. He moved his eyes around, but could see nothing but the sky and the branches of his wooded friend. However the uttering of Lemur Boy, cause him to sit up like a mummy, turning on the spot he saw that it was Evelyn, and with her Rae.

Jumping to his feet, the boy saunted over to his friends, and couldn't help bu smiled, "Evelyn! Rae! How are you both!?"
Lady Snakes, were the best at being Snakes, and they weren't too hard on the eyes either!

Having found a note on her bed from Evelyn asking her to meet her at the whomping willow Marie made her way out to the tree.

Why did they have to meet at this crazy tree? They could have just as easily seen each other in the common room.

Here she was though... traipsing out to that dreaded tree only to see that Ev wasn't alone. She was with... ugh, Rae and...

"Patroclus!"

She shouted as she ran over and gave him a hug... maybe pushing Rae out of the way as she did. She had so been wanting to see him every since she got that owl from him telling her he was a Prefect. "Congratulations on your prefectness." She said smiling at him.

JP looks around for a sign of someone.
"Hello!"

Hehe, it WAS him!

Smiling, Evelyn started over to him, picking up her walking speed to she was almost jogging yet still not quite there yet. Hmm? Or maybe not.

Slowing down, the Slytherin looked behind to see who had yelled out the Gryffie's name. Oh good! Marie was here, which meant she got the note. The smile that appeared on her face was short lived however at the sight of Marie being...well Marie. She should've known not to get her hopes up about her friend's opinion on Rae. It's not like they hung out all the time, Marie and Rae, so her friend should give her a chance! Get to know the girl!

...And no, she was not going to do the same with a certain stalking Ravenclaw.

Once Marie was done hugging Patroclus, Evelyn moved up and gave him a hug as well. A big ol' hug! "Fantastic." she muttered in a content tone, pulling away from him and nodding towards Marie. "She has a point. Should I call you Prefect Patroclus now instead of Lemur Boy?"

" Hi, I am Rex Trigwell" he introduced himself to the boy. " I needed to come here one last time and eal with what happened to me a couple of terms ago" Rex told him." I never came here last term" Rex said to him.

Oh.... Right. Maybe Rae shouldn't say anything about Prof Chaud... HOW DID SHE KNOW?!! She shouldn't say anything about him this time. But YAY just in time a distractio---
What?
Rae looked over to that boy.. She knew him... Though as many imes as she tried she couldn't properly pronounce his name... So she never actually said it in front of him..


Riiiiigggghhhhttttt...
"Heeeeeeeeyyyyyy.... 'Sup Gryffie?" Yeah... That was a nice cover.


Rae was feeling a bit smug with herself until she was pushed out of the way by none other than Marie.... Great. She had tried.... TRIED to be Marie's friend.... Blech.. Marie was impossible right? Lets kill with kindness shall we?
"Hey Marie.. You look pretty today." Smile!

"Hello Rex! Aren't you a Seventh Year??
and deal with things? What things if you don't mind me asking."
JP looked at his new friend expectantly

As he gained ground towards Evelyn and Rae, another voice cried out his name as well, it was Marie, another SnakeLady. Being swept up into a huge hug, Patroclus returned the pressure, before disengaging and moving onto the Evelyn, then adding a smile and wave to Rae.....they weren't hugging friends yet.

"Thanks, I would prefer Perfect Patroclus if you don't mind, get it? Perfect Patroclus" He laughed, at his own lame joke, "Nah I still like Lemur boy, or just Patroclus, or Pat, or Patty" It seemed today was all about helping people with his name.

"All have nice summers?" the fifth year smiled, gesturing to the ground, to sit, "No Destiny?" he asked, sweepingly

Walking outside, actually not really walking more like dragging his feet, Ivan made his way to the Whomping Willow not forgetting that Lexi had wanted him to see it. Finding a place far enough away not to get pummeled he sat down heavily and stared out not really seeing it or anything else for that matter. Maybe he should've just stayed in his dorm. Or in the Room of Requirement that would've turned into his father's office. Yeah he should have. Why did he think coming here would do any good? Especially when Lexi had wanted to show this to him? Because you're an idiot that's why.

He had realized, rather late in his mind, that there were certain areas of the grounds he had never even thought to explore. The Whomping Willow was one of them. So, he had gathered up a few snacks and his dried-out potions textbook and made his way early in the day to sit a safe distance from the strange tree. It was a might bit distracting to try and do any studying near the thing, given how noisy it could be, so he had spent most of his time just watching and thinking.

So it wasn't hard to notice the slightly-familiar but rather down-trodden boy that made his way to an equally safe spot from the base of the tree. A slight frown crossed Sabel's expression as he tried to figure out where he had seen the kid before, and even then with the lack of recognition he was already on his feet and making his way towards the other student. Only when he had reached him did he finally recognize him as Lexi's most recent boyfriend. Trying not to think too much of the familiarity of such an expression, he made a vague motion to the spot beside the boy. "Do you mind if I join you?"

He looked up as he heard someone coming toward him hoping it was Lexi and sighed as he recognized the boy he'd seen at the lake. "Huh? No sure...whatever." Like he cared. He dropped his head in his hands before running them through his hair and looking at the boy again. "You're that kid, the one from the lake," he said distractedly as he went back to just staring ahead of him.

For a moment he stood still, watching the distress the boy displayed. Some old part of him lurched and ached in painful memory. He recognized that look, though he was actively trying to tell his gut it wasn't what he thought it might be. Slowly, he lowered himself to a seat beside the boy, watching him from the corner of his eye. "I am....Sabel Dakest." He extended his hand to the other in greeting. "You're Ivan, right?"

When Marie was done hugging Patroclus she stepped out of the way to give Evelyn a chance to get to him. Yep, the lion prefect seemed to be pretty popular with the female snakes today. Couldn't very well say the She-Snakes since well, one of them was missing and the other girl with them wasn't one... a She-Snake that is... even is she is a snake.

Hearing Rae say her name she looked over at the girl. Pfft, well of course she looked pretty today. She always looked pretty. "I know." Is all she said to her before turning her attention back to Patroclus.

Yeah, if Ev thought she was gonna be friends with Rae then she herself would have to make an effort to be friends with and get to know Jimmy. It works two ways you know.

Hearing Patroclus call himself Perfect Patroclus she let out a laugh. "Well if there was a perfect prefect out there you would be it." Now that Raiden was gone that is.

Aww man, now she missed Raiden.

*Pout*

Nice Summer? The best! "Yeah, I had a GREAT summer. The best." Well on the days she was with Jimmy... especially that day he asked her to be his girlfriend. "What about you? How was your summer? Anything you wanna tell us?" Like why was Destiny the first to get an owl saying you were prefect? Hmmmmm? Something going on there Mr. Prefect?

He almost forgot the boy was still there until he sat down next to him and spoke again. "What?" Oh introductions it seems. Taking his hand he shook it once and then dropped his hand, "Yeah I'm Ivan." Sucker who fell in love when he knew he shouldn't have. Go him.

Well now, Rae was trying at least. Marie? Did you have something nice to say back?

'Course not.

Aw well, good things needed time to happen. Moving her attention away from the Slytherin girls, Evelyn raised a brow and weighed the options in her mind. "Well, I suppose I can call you Perfect Patroclus, just for today." Hehe, well yes, that was a...well it was a good attempt at a joke he did. "Then for the rest of the time you're Lemur Boy." Grin!

Aw and talk of summer? Well wasn't that just pleasant! Right...Rae and Marie? Pleasant conversation! "Of course! That's the only way to have them."

...

Omg no. No no no. "Nope. Haven't seen her." she said in response to the missing Destiny; quite happily too. No she had not seen the girl. Nope nope nope. No girl. No Slytherin. NO BLASTED HORN!

There's always that feeling one got when they knew something was true when they didn't want to admit it, and it usually gets really annoying like a buzzing in the ear until the truth slaps them in the face. Yeah, that feeling. He had it right now and it was only getting louder and more pressing by the second.

Shifting his weight again, he drew his knees up and rested his forearms across them, chewing on his bottom lip as he considered his words. "You...look like you just took a knife to the gut." The sideways glance he spared to the boy was sympathetic and compassionate.

Staring out at everything he ran and reran what had happened through his head wondering if he had misheard. That had to be it because HIS girlfriend wouldn't have been snogging another guy.... But he knew he couldn't pretend otherwise. Hearing Sabel he looked at the boy, "In a manner of speaking." He wished that was what happened. That was at least fixable and was only physical this...this wasn't physical but could it be fixable? He still had yet to answer that. Hell he still had yet to talk to her not really wanting to. "Apparently I interrupted my girlfriend in her little snogging session with a Slytherin," his jaw clenched and he looked away as pain...a ton of pain speared him again.