Cass tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear and smiled as she looked up. "Nice to meet you Dan." She said "Why don't you join me? I'm a bit lonely here."

Skip, skip, skippety, skip.

Kita stopped skipping once she was close to the tree but not too close to be hit. Smiling, she sat down on a patch of grass. It was a beautiful day and there was no work to be done so far. What's not to love? Whipping out her sunglasses, she lay on her back and gazed up at the sky.

"Ah... freedom," she said, sighing.

Caroline walked quickly threw the gounds. She was detracted by the stupid letter from her mother. She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going and obviously got to close to the whomping willow. She jumped out of the way of a medium sized branch that was crashing down toward her.

She ran away from it. She turned and saw "Kiittaaa!" She flopped down in the grass beside her throwing the letter at the tree. need less to say she wouldn't have to see that letter again,

Nika made her way towards the odd shaped tree. She noticed that everyone was keeping their distance so she did the same. Nika laid her head down on the grass and looked up into the sky. She watched the clouds roll by and tried to identify each by it's shape. "Oh it's a bunny riding a bicycle! Oh and a frog on a trampoline? And a bear hugging a toothbrush?" Nika kept her gaze up at the sky. The deep blue was enchanting and the weather was just perfect.

Yesterday. Yes. It was yesterday that he'd remembered Ellie about going to the Whomping Willow, right? However, he was NOT, at all, going to climb the stairs all the waaay up, just to come down again.

That's why they were meeting here. It was better.

And certainly less tiring. An understatement, because he was lying on the ground near the tree with his backpack serving as a pillow. Melanie was too tough on them during practices and he'd been more and more tired as the school year was coming to a close. At least he had no problem facing Ravenclaw again. He was now bored with the idea. Except for one red exception that came with the opposite team.

If only he'd managed to wake up the first game day, then he wouldn't be minding the Championship teams.

That's what was going around in his head as his eyes focused on the sky, perfectly blue, up there...with...oh, the poor birdie that was now dead thanks to one of the Willow's branches.

Today was the day, apparently. For what? Ellie still wasn't sure. And her excitement was rekindled yesterday when plans were made. She still had no idea why they had this thing planned months before. Really, she'd run into Treyen quite a few times since then.

So here she was, at the Whomping Willow. Luckily for her, she missed the bird murder. Otherwise, it would have probably bothered her the rest of the day. She had her bag with her, but all her schoolbooks were out. They were just unnecessary. Instead, only her camera (of course) and pictures that she'd taken with said camera were inside.

Approaching Treyen, Ellie almost slipped her camera out to take a surprise picture...But that was done already, soo...no. She just sat down beside him and set her bag next to her.

The sight of the moving branch had no effect on him. It's not like this was the first time he saw the Whomping Willow move. After four years one grows accostumed to it. However, something else made him smile, or rather...someone.

Treyen was no longer lying on the ground, no, he was now sitting next to Ellie, his back to the tree, sort of, and his eyes seemed to be focused on the girl alone. "I like it when it's warm, reminds me of home." Yes, the weather. Because the sun was simply amazing, and he'd grown up by the beach.

His gaze shifted from Ellie to the beautiful horizon up there, "That's why I wanted you to come, that's the best sight of Hogwarts you'll ever get on camera." Totally, because he was smiling and gestured for her to look for herself. Ellie should probably turn around a little so she'll be able to see it. Probably. And this was also the only place where he won't object to the Ravenclaw's camera. She didn't need to carry it everywhere she went, he knew that, but he didn't mind it if she was to be taking a picture of...well...Hogwarts at its best.

Ellie made her way down the the grassy patch by the Whomping Willow, where she said she'd meet Fee. And thank Merlin, too. She was so bored today, it was unbelievable. But Fee came to her rescue, so now they would have fun!

She sat down in the sun and waited for Fee, humming softly.

Fee made her way down to the whomping willow.When she got here for the first time that tree had scared her sooo much but by now she didnt mind.Nothing was happening anyway. Walking down the grass to find her friend the blonde fluffled up her hair again.You never knew who corssed your way. When the Slytherin noticed Ellie sitting in the sun she smiled.Hopefully there were some good nice,speaking about Alex hehe.Plopping down next the brunette Fee grinned."Heyyy there sweetheart"How cute Ellie was humming,seemed to be in a good mood.Yaaay.

Shaking her head Fee raised an eyebrow at her best friend,"You totally are otherwise i wouldnt hang with you."Rex needed to ee how amzing he was,thinking so low of himself wasnt good.The blonde sighed a little of course there was no such thing as perfect but for her Rex came pretty close."Just believe me this one time okay?",she said looking him straight in the eyes.Speaking of Rene the second year was totally happy to know about it.Rex didnt need trouble with girlfriends again.

Ellie opened her eyes when she heard footsteps coming her way. Squinting from the sun in her eyes, she saw Fee coming over and she stopped humming, but a smile was still on her face. "Heey, Fee." Ellie said with a smile as her friend plopped down next to her on the grass.

She was in such a good mood today, and she didn't know why. Well... There was the obvious reason, of course. Giggle. "How is my beautiful Slytherin friend today?" She asked with a playful wink and a laugh. Sheesh, someone control her, she was a happy little machine.

" Well, I did not know you liked to hang out with losers like me" Rex told Fee." Yes, I am pperfext in ruining relationships" Rex said to Fee." I blew another relationship, Rene left Hogwarts just like Kay and Heather" Rex explained to Fee.

Ellie matched his smile as he sat up.

At his comment she looked up at the sky/sun, as if it would tell her the temperature. "Me too." She didn't particularly mind the cold either, but the warm was always a welcome change at the end of winter. Home? That was...Appleby, wasn't it? Or...he'd moved from there to...somewhere. Uhm... Eh. "It's warm home?" It was warm at her home, too. But she just figured that it normally got warm everywhere during the summer.

She turned her head to where he was gesturing and rekindled her smile. She wasn't much of a 'nice view' person, but she couldn't deny that Hogwarts had the best cites ever.

"And you said I didn't need this," she said, pulling her camera from her bag. Of course, this was an exception...but still. She held it up to the horizon to take pictures.

If someone had told him at the beginning of the school year that he'd be here today, in a very good mood, then he'd probably won't believe it. Perhaps a visit to the Healer was in order, just to thank her. Oh, he'll miss her over the summer for sure. The Healer, that is. Though, it is very likely that he'll also miss Ellie.

Say what? He'd been lost in thought for a moment, but managed to catch her question, "Well, yes, it's always warmer at Dorset, I think I'll go home this summer," he said, after all, his father was way too busy with whatever was going in the Quidditch world. If Kaika had been right, then, Quidditch had been kind of suspended for a while. That meant...going over to the beach, to much of his sister's displeasure. "I mean, my other one, where I was born." It was unusual, but he liked to think he had two homes, even if the last six years had been spent in Appleby.

Treyen raised an eyebrow at her comment, "I still think you don't need it, for the reasons you think you do," and he'd meant to say it with a very serious face, but a camera was in sight, so he was smiling, of course.

"You were right...about Quidditch." Clearly.

Always?

That'd be boring if it were ALWAYS warm somewhere. What about fall? What about snow?

Ellie much preferred a change in seasons.

Then again, Dorset couldn't be TOO far away. So warmer could just mean...well, warmER. Hmm... She was clearly not in the mood to think into this too much today.

Didn't he always go home in the summer?

Ohh. Okay. So he had two homes, apparently. At least. Confusing child.

Ellie'd turned back to Treyen in time to see him raise his eyebrow at her. She, of course, disagreed with that, but he was also smiling, so she just ignored it. He was contradicting himself.

Of course she was right about Quidditch. What about Quidditch, she didn't know, because they'd talked about that sport quite a few times. "What about Quidditch?" She was hoping he meant that she was right in the fact that you CAN support three teams. But somehow, she didn't think that that was where he was going...

What?

Treyen would be frowning if there were no cameras present, but his smiled became a small one. A very small one.

They haven't talked that much about Quidditch, how come she couldn't remember? Or...have they talked a lot about the sport? He knew better than to mention her history about Quidditch teams, the boy still needed to work on clever reasons for her to choose one. That was a very difficult task. But, no, seriously, "You were right about Championships." And then he kind of looked away, for a brief moment, before allowing his eyes to focus on Ellie once again. "About the possibility of Ravenclaw playing against us again."

He was not afraid of facing Ellie again, that's what he'd meant. Thanks Miranda. And, well, thanks to Melanie for making him think of Miranda.

His eyes were no longer on Ellie, since he was now playing with one small tiny leaf that had landed on the grass. "What do you think happened to the Herbology Professor? You know, the one that was talking to Lafay at the feast?" Oh, yes, Treyen had noticed that little detail. And, no, he was NOT blaming Lafay for anything. He'll never do such a thing.

Now...blaming Saylen. That could always work.

"Sure" He said walking up to her and sitting next to her. "So, Cass, what house are you in?"

"Slytherin." Cass answered with a smile as she watched him sit adjacent to her on the grass. "You?"

"Cool" He said looking at her in the eyes. "Ravenclaw." He replied. "So, tell me bout ya self" He said interested.

The Championship...yeah. Yeah. See, she knew she was right.

"Good." It was good that the confusion was over.

But, yeah. That was going to be wicked stressful. Especially since she had no idea what position Jacob would be having her play. Beater, hopefully, but she's been everything but so far this term. Either way, HIS team had amazing players.

Stress.

Let's not think about that, though, ey? Let's think about....

That. Apparently.

"I.. uhm... don't know." Mostly because she'd just found out that Dodson was no longer the Herbology professor. And unlike Treyen, she hadn't noticed anyone talking to Lafay at the feast. Her attention had been elsewhere. "Maybe he got in some accident and was taken to St. Mungo's." He could've just been sick, but Ellie sort of doubted that. Moretti would've told her when she'd gone looking for Dodson.

'Good'. Yes, it seemed like it was, so he nodded while his smile widened only a bit.

But if it was 'Good', then why did Ellie look so...worried? Stressed? What about? It was only a game. And she was a great player. So, see? Nothing to be concerned about. Except all those injuries that had been hunting down the Pitch.

He didn't comment, though, because she's heard him say those things before. Treyen could tell her Jake's weakness IF she knew what position she'll be playing, but, no one knew. And, truth be told, the seventh year seemed to have no weakness at all. Oh, no, wait, he did, didn't he?

Well, it was obvious Treyen didn't know either, but then she mentioned something that made him beam. Yes, odd, since she was talking about an accident and all, but, "Oh, if he went to St. Mungo's...I think I can figure that out," because he had inside information. From Emalyn, of course, who else?

But, that wasn't important because he only got to see the man once. The only thing that mattered right now was that Ellie could take her pictures, no?

Ellie raised an eyebrow. Figure out...why he's there? That he's there at all? Was she even right? That was just a guess, after all.

"So," she said as she fell onto her back to take pictures of the Willow. Angles, see? "Any summer plans?" Yeah. Because it was that time again. Time to think about the holidays. Time to nag her parent's to taker her somewhere. Hopefully Aidan's matured since Christmas and they could take him places. Because if he didn't go, they all didn't go.

Aha! But why was she raising an eyebrow? "I just really want to know whether Vindictus' new position is...sort of permanent," he shrugged, and the smile FADED, "I don't like him as a Herbology Professor." Granted, he hated Vindictus in Herbology, but he loved the man in Flying. And even more so in Quidditch. But, yeah, no Herbology for him, even if he did seem knowledgeable about the subject.

Either way, that was his reason for wanting to know where the Herbology dude had gone to.

But the smile returned as she started to take pictures again. Say what? Summer plans? Did she not hear about him going home? "Well, since my dad is going to be more than busy thanks to all those new precautions in Quidditch, then, after Bristol, I'll be left with my grandparents in Dorset," ah, freedom. Not so much. "Kaika won't be there, since with all that extra security then she's bound to stay more with the team than at her own house." Which totally annoyed her, he knew that much, but she was kind of alright about it, given the fact that she was doing what she loved the most.

"I'm afraid I'll stay in England this time around," he nodded. Unless, of course, he'll visit uncle Lex in Romania or something. "Do you have any plans?" That is, if her brother allowed it.

Snap.

Ellie wrinkled her nose. "I don't either. It just doesn't suit him." Vindictus was better fit for Flying than anything else. "Hopefully the other professor," whoever he is, "will get better soon." She figured he would. Magic medicine tended to work faster than the Muggle kind. People were always bouncing back from near death illnesses...Maybe.

She nodded best she could considering she was laying down, showing that she was listening. Really. She had before, too, just talking about the absence of professors messed with her brain. "Sorry about that.." His sister having to stay with the team. That would be...no fun. Not to mention saddd.

"I think I'll try and visit my cousins more." Since that time at the lake with Arya, she realized she knew less about Muggle life than she thought. She liked to be well cultured, as she saw it. "Maybe go on a family vacation, too." Fun stuff, hopefully.

Oh? She didn't either?

Treyen often wondered what it would be like to have a Head of House that is also a Professor. Like, just how far one will go in terms of likeness. Most of Slytherins seemed to hold Lafay very high, but, not the rest of the Houses. Treyen was one exception to that. But there was no way of actually knowing it because he'd only have Mr. Masterson *shudders* the Groundskeeper, and then the pretty Healer. And he never got a lesson with either one. Except, well, there was a lesson with Mr. Masterson, okay? About how to leave the man alone.

Still. It would be weird having Vindictus as a Professor AND Head of House. Just...weird.

But, er, never mind. Treyen just nodded. And then frowned? "Sorry about what?" oh, about the not-too-planned summer? "There's nothing to be sorry about, really, it just means there are no plans." And he seemed fine with it.

His eyes were back on Ellie, "Your cousins, do they live near you?"

"About your si-," Okay answer your own question. Heh.

Ellie sat up again because the ground was quite an uncomfortable place to be laying down for too long. As she did so, she shook any dirt, leaves, twigs and any general nature-related debris from her hair. She didn't mind dirt on her robes, though, despite her distaste for Herbology. There were different reasons to not be fond of that. Like man-eating plants for one.

She shrugged. "Fairly close. We usually get there by Muggle transportation." Taxis, buses. Vehicular things. So they couldn't be too, too far. Ellie never paid much attention to the time spent in the car. It was much more interesting to Muggle watch or race raindrops on the window during stormy trips.