If he could have blanched on will, he would have right then and there. He didn't even need will, and was sure a good portion of the blood drained from his face as soon as the kid looked at him. And the words were only a confirmation; the slap-in-the-face per-say. There was no question of which girlfriend it was, unless Ivan had two attached to his arms and by his expression there was no such thing.

Letting out a slow breath, he could not help but mentally curse Lexi somewhere in the back of his mind. Why she would have done such a thing, when she had blatantly admitted to him that she had a good thing with Ivan, was beyond him. Then again, she did have a habit of acting like a train-wreck in motion, having an extremely hard time gripping onto the self-worth required for holding onto that which was good.

He didn't want to repeat in question what the boy had just told him, and so instead, reached up and clapped a firm hand on Ivan's shoulder. He wasn't too sure what to say either, so he let those past emotions of his own broken heart free onto his expression, a compassion derived from a similar, but not so brutal pain, taking hold of his eyes and voice. "I'm sorry, mate. I really am..." He would listen to the kid if he wanted to scream his frustrations out, knowing how helpful it was to simply have someone there to listen even if they said very little. But he would not force the boy into any recounting. It was not his business, though the situation greatly disturbed him.

As soon as he felt Sabel's hand on his shoulder he collapsed and buried his head in his hands. "I just wanted something to eat..." Was that so wrong of him? No, what was wrong of him was falling for someone. Anyone. It didn't matter who it had been. "Spent most of the summer with her. Thought we were good...fantastic.... Let my guard down and fell in love..." And that's what happens when you let someone close to you. "I don't know what to do." He was a babbling mess now as he stared down at the grass under his feet not really seeing it but past it.

Sabel watched the boy break and cry with a stabbing pain that went straight through his heart. The one thing he hated most in the world was seeing people hurt and in pain, and it was even worse when he knew who or what had been involved. Without really thinking anything of it, he did what his friends had done for him at the lowest points in his life and wrapped his arms around Ivan, in what he hoped would serve as a comforting hug. He really was at a loss of what to say to the boy; he didn't understand Lexi or what she was doing. He understood she had her quirks, and that she could just jump the gun on things, but this?

Rubbing Ivan's back, he let out a slow breath in an attempt to control his own empathy. "Just let it all out." For now. Logical thought couldn't come when one was in such an emotional state. And logical thought was needed to speak to Lexi, though it didn't always work. Or maybe he himself had just never been able to manage it.

Mehhh...

Mariiiiiiieeeeee!!!

Psh.. Killing with kindness.. That's a stupid idea.. Whoever though of that was a dimwit.
But back to... OH RIGHT... She can just call him Prefect.. Well that worked out perfectly. "Yes I had a good summer as well..." Other than trying to keep between Evelyn and Fletcher to avoid any arguments or pranks...

Right Destiny... Where was she? But Rae felt awkward, like she shouldn't be here. However... She WASN'T leaving. So instead she just stayed silent waiting for Prefect's answer.

He barely recognized arms going around him trying to comfort him. "I still love her. Is that foolish of me?" he asked aloud to himself rather than Sabel but aloud nonetheless. "I knew better than to get close to anyone and I did anyway. She fascinates me. She's strong and carefree and...gah!" He gripped his hair and pulled before looking up at the tree. "I'm an idiot." Told you so. Shut up! Stupid voice...always that grating voice of his stupid cousin. He turned to Sabel shrugging off his arms from around him, not like they were helping anyway, "What should I do?"

With a soft sigh, Sabel let his arms fall from the boy when he pushed them off. The concern and sympathy remained in his expression, but he tried to force a weak smile. It did nothing to help the constriction of his own voice. "You can't help who you fall for mate. No one can. And, it's not foolish you still care. It takes a long time to stop caring and even then, it never really goes away." A long time and a lot of repetitive pain.

He had to blink though when the younger boy asked him for advice. His running relationship with Lexi had never broken completely, but it had been stressed beyond measure more than he could count. "In all honesty, I don't know. Lexi...told me about you. Told me she thought you had a good thing going, so this, doesn't make........" sense? In a way it did. It was almost a repeat of what he had gone through except that they hadn't been in a relationship at that time. The lack of relationship was what made sense in his circumstance, in Ivan's given they were together it didn't make sense. Or at least that's what he preferred to tell himself. Whether it was true or not only Lexi could say.

"Be honest with her, if you speak to her again." That was the boy's choice and his alone, but given his feelings for her it was likely that he would. "Dead honest, even if it hurts to say or you think it would hurt her. She's strong and so are you." The next suggestion he had though, he wasn't sure he really wanted to give, although it was the dead honest truth. "Protect your heart." He hoped they could work things out, he honestly did, but he couldn't really say anything about Lexi's track record given he only had his experience and a few glimpses of the relationships she had been in. "She...can have a bit of a self-destructive nature at times."

Hearing the older boy's advice he nodded slowly. Wait, she had talked about him with this guy? Said they were good then...WHY?! Why had she done this. He thought hard over what he had done lately in case she was mad at him or something. No but he had been with her almost constantly lately...maybe that self-destructive thing had something to do with that.

"Honesty...right." He swallowed and looked up at the sky which looked almost to fit his mood. "Too late for protection," he said casually. One way or another, however this fell out it would effect his heart. Looking at Sabel he smiled slightly, "Thanks for listening."

He was able to return a weak smile and a slight nod to the younger boy. "Lexi can be...difficult to handle sometimes. She's a Gryffindor, through and through. She has a good heart, she really does." It was because of that he was still retaining his friendship with her. "She just, thinks very poorly of herself and I think sometimes, of the world around her."

Clapping the boy on the shoulder again, he gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "There's always heartbreak, but there's always mending and healing. Trust me, it's never the end." At least he hoped the boy would be able to pull through whatever happened between him and Lexi; he seemed like a nice kid. "And, I'm always around, if you need someone to talk to or just, listen."

A slight frown took over his expression and he tilted his head a little, hesitating in his thought. He wondered if Lexi had told him that she might be leaving Hogwarts. It wasn't his place to tell the boy if he didn't know, but it might explain her sudden hinge on what appeared to be a self-destructive path. It was always hard to tell with her.

Lexi had her hands shoved in her pockets, scowl set deep on her face. She was fairly certain there was chocolate still on her face, but she didn't care. Her feet led her out of the castle and without really thinking about anything or anyone, she was near the willow. She curled her lip as spotted a group of snakes. Meh. Letting her eyes wander she stopped, open mouthed as she saw Sabel AND Ivan! Her feet started moving again and she approached slowly. "Uuuh. Hey?" she said in the form of a question. What the hell was THIS about. Were they plotting against her? Was Sabel telling him things he shouldn't? WHAT WAS GOING ON?!

Looking at Sabel he nodded slowly. He could do this. He was Ivan VORPATRIL his family had dealt with tougher stuff than this. Yeah but you haven't. He looked ahead of him again an idea of what he'd do trying to take root when he spotted Lexi heading toward him. Before she reached him he found himself on his feet more out of habit then respect and stuck his hands in his slacks. "Hi." Well from the look on her face she hadn't come out here searching for him like he'd hoped. Glancing at Sabel he shifted his feet slightly and then looked back at Lexi. What to do...what to do.... "Want to sit down?"

He was in the process of giving Ivan a small smile of reassurance and retracting his hand when the boy bolted up near the same time Lexi's voice came over the grass towards them. Blinking, he turned his eyes to see a non-too-pleased Denver standing before them. Now this was awkward to the maximum.

He had no idea if he was supposed to stay or leave and found himself rising slowly to his feet, just incase someone told him to scram. While he wanted to know just exactly what Lexi had been thinking to pull this, he knew it wasn't his business or place to ask. So, he spared a small smile to Lexi and a slight nod. "Hey." Should he ask if they wanted him to leave or should he stick around for moral support, or the negotiator and middle-man to keep them from tearing each other apart. Not a pleasant image.

Shaking his head slightly he stole a glance at Ivan, the question of what he should do clear on his expression. In case that wasn't enough however, he found himself pointing to some random place that wasn't back to Hogwarts. "I should...probably give you guys some space, huh?"

Lexi looked from boy to boy as they stood. What was this? "What is going on here?" she asked as her eyes landed back on Sabel. She was none too pleased, this was true. She couldn't really pin point WHY she was not pleased, but she wasn't.

She eyed Ivan for a moment and then nodded her head, "Sure I will sit. I reckon I have a lot of explaining to do, then?" Gah. She felt like she was at home with the Denver's again. 'Something blew up in the washroom? Wasn't me!' Sighs. She folded her long legs under herself and looked up at the two towering figures and shook her head. Her current boyfriend(?) and the boy that got away. Oh my.

Looking at Sabel he nodded. Yeah he didn't want to have a heart to heart with Lexi with him around. Hearing Lexi's comment though he shrugged and sat back down, "I was out here." Brooding. "And he came over to chat." The short version at least. Looking at her now everything that happened flooded his mind and he nodded, "That would be helpful." He didn't know what to make of this any more from Sabel saying she was self-destructing to what happened his mind was on overload.

Looking over to make sure Sabel was out of eavesdropping distance he sighed and rested his hands on his lap. "I'm sorry I left you. I just couldn't...deal with it right then." Too much to comprehend too fast. "Lexi," he grabbed one of her hands and slid his fingers along her skin tenderly. Be honest huh? "I love you. Have since that night I stayed at the Leaky with you." Yeah he had known it but denied it all the time. "And," he ran his free hand through his hair thoughtfully. Was he going to do this? Yeah...he was...he was going to give her an out. "And if I don't make you happy or you really want to just be on yourself or with..." Yeah. "I'll step back." Even if it did almost kill him.

" HI JP" Rex called out. " I am a seventh year" Rex told JP." Are you sure you want to hear my story?" Rex asked JP.


" Fee, how are you?" Rex asked her. " I needed to come down here to make peace with "The Whomping Wi;;ow" Rex told Fee. " This is JP, my new friend" Rex introduced him to Fee.

Well she didn't need to be so accusing. A slight frown crossed Sabel's expression but he forced it to be softer than he felt; both her and Ivan were going through enough and they didn't need his frustrations getting in the way. So he let Ivan do the explaining and decided that if Lexi wanted more information, he would talk to her about it later.

Giving them both a small smile, he nodded once before turning and heading back to his previous place on a fallen log. It was out of earshot, providing no one started screaming or hollering; then he would definitely hear and that was preferred. He'd step in if a fight broke out, which he severely doubted would happen, but he wasn't getting into this. Like the log he perched on, he was simply there for support if it was needed, nothing more. So, he cracked open his potions book and for the first time since he had broken the binding on it, finally was able to immerse himself in the content.

Patroclus could not wipe the smile from his face, Perfect Prefect Patroclus, it seemed to fit, all those P's it was destiny!

"Thanks girls!" Patroclus smiled in a mock blush, "You're too kind!" the boy laughed. His blue eyes focused on Evelyn and he nodded, "I am more than happy then to go back to Lemur Boy after today!"
Listening to all the girls replies about their holidays, Patroclus replied as well, "Mine was great too, Marie" he grinned, noticing the extra emphasis the Blond had put on the great, he had a inkly it had something to do, with the guy she was with at the Ball last year.

"I spend sometime in Egypt with my father working at Cairo Museum," he told Evelyn, Rae and Marie, "Then the day before the Train, Father was gifted an honorary award and we all had to head back to Cairo for the ceremony", Patroclus explained.

Patroclus listened to Evelyn's answer and couldn't help but notice the happiness she had behind her words, it seemed obvious that Destiny was being her usual funny self.

"Excited for your Sixth year Rae?" Patroclus grinned at the eldest one amongst them.

Lexi simply watched Sabel walk away, the look of confusion still clearly etched on her face. What had they been talking about? It was going to eat her alive until she could interrogate Sabel about it. Yes, that is what she would do. She gave him a little smile as she looked at him perched on a log. Sticking around, not imposing, he was there to watch after her. Hehe. or that is what she was telling herself.

When Ivan took her hand she first turned her gaze to his hand on her then slowly turned to look in his eyes. Her face crumpled as he confessed that he loved her. She listened to every word he said and let out a huge huff of air. "It's okay. I would have acted rashly and run away had the shoe been on the other foot." She knew she had feelings for him. She was sure of that. But, what was it with Salander? She needed to work that out. "I am very happy with you. You make me feel better than I have in a long time. I just... I don't know what happened there," she said truthfully. Did Ivan need to know that she had kissed Salander before? Nah. "I think... I don't know what I think. I know you make me happy. And so does," she stopped talking and looked down at their hands again. How did that sentence end? Salander made her happy too.

His eyes following Sabel as he went to read at a log he then turned to Lexi. He'd said what he'd originally thought up in the two seconds he'd had of thinking time before she showed up. Then she was talking and he was still running his fingers along her hand not really wanting to let go of it. She was just...happy with him. Talk about a low blow for his ego. What part of his stupid imagination had thought up the fact she would say she loved him too and they'd be all happy again. The fantasy part. Of course. He could finish that. That Slytherin did too.

Looking away from her and down at the ground he tried to think. He looked up from the ground to spot Sabel on the log again. Be honest. Right. Normally he didn't have a relationship so he didn't HAVE this problem. "I don't know what to tell you Lexi and I can't tell you what to do. You can either be with me or not but you can't have both. I just can't do that." And that was the protection of his heart. "Why don't you take some time and think about it? If you think that he can make you happy More than I can then...you know what to do." He swallowed hard at that one and looked down at her hand in his. He took a deep breath and sighed, "I never thought I'd be having this conversation with you." His face contorted slightly in a painful grimace. Especially since she had been the one to press his asking her out.

"Yup." But actually, Nathan had hardly discovered anything yet. This castle was completely massive! "What's your common room like?" He was curious to know, because Slytherin's common room was grotesque. Suddenly, a subject change. "Can't believe you're in Gryffindor, mate." He laughed, and gave him a little pat on the back. As a condolence really. Weren't Gryffindors supposed to be super brave? He certainly knew that they didn't push girls into lakes... *whistle*

An accident? "That's not what she said. She told me you were set on killing her." Why oh why was Nathan grinning? The concept of the conversation wasn't very funny. "And she did mention that you gave her mouth-to-mouth." Funnily enough, Lucie didn't look so displeased with that factor of the situation.

Nathan butt-shuffled away from the spot he was sitting at, and alas, there was a perfectly squished Centipede laying there. "Oh, ewwwww." His face screwed up in disgust and he shuffled to the other side of Elliott. Bugs, BLEUGH!

Egypt.. Wow. Maybe someday Rae could travel like that. Who know's right? But Prefect was speaking.. And Rae was dozing... Whaaa? OHHH right sixth year.

"Err.. I guess." She said with a shrug. "I mean.. Another year closer to leaving.. I certainly don't want to stay here, but I'm nto ready to leave either." Fletcher will be leaving after this year.. Which made her not want to come back next year without him. But what was she to do without school? Nothing.. Rae never had a plan. Anyways... back to the other subject..

"I haven't seen Destiny either.... Have YOU?" For some reason she had a feeling he did.

"Yes of course i'd like to hear the story." Jp looked up at rex now very interested in his story.

"Yeah, totally serious," Alex replied with a chuckle. "It's the height, right?" he asked. That had to be it, cause he was sure his face didn't like much older than a first years. He looked back at the tree and took another step back, just to be safe. It seemed to be moving a bit more rapidly than it had when he first arrived. He could only imagine how awkward the conversation would turn he was in the middle of a sentence only be interrupted by a giant BRANCH coming out of nowhere and knocking it off his feet.

"Pureblood...you?" he asked. What did that really matter? The only people who cared about blood status were people like his father...OH MERLIN. This girl was one of THEM wasn't she?! Oh noooooooooooo. Just what he needed! To know ANOTHER Slytherin who would look at him like he was a used rag whenever he passed.

Fantastic.

"Ohhh bestie",Fee smiled widely.She loved how he appeared where she was, always made her feel happymto have him with her."Ohh did you have a fight with it last term?",she chuckled.Bad best friend,haha.Looking at the person Rex introduced to her the blonde smiled."Nice to meet you JP",she said,"i am Feenella."

'Well, I was going with this girl named Kay about a term and a half ago, who know is my ex, we had a fight because she stuck up for an ex- friend of hers who wanted to get me with two other girls, so we fought and I weant to the Whomping Willow" Rex told JP part of the story. "Do you want to hear more?" Rex asked JP.

" Hi bestie" Rex called back to Fee. " You know the story about me, Kay and the Willow Tree, it was not lasr term" Rex explained to Fee." Fee is a great gir;" Rex told JP. "aren't you?" Rex asked Fee.

Lexi blinked a few times. Totally had something in her eye. Yep.

Clearing her throat she nodded her head. Perhaps to many times. "Time. Right. Just for the record; You make me happier than you can imagine. You make me feel like I am normal, like there is nothing that I could say that would make you think I was crazy." Which, in all honesty, was not something that happened often. Perhaps that was why she ot on so well with Jim and Sal... they never made her feel like that either.

She did shake her head and smile softly, "I didn't either. I am really sorry I have made such a mess of things... I am not sure what happened, to be honest. I think I need to sort it all out though." She reached up and pushed some hair from his face and smiled. Leaning in she lay her lips gently against his cheek.