Jeanne heard footsteps but she didn't care to look since she is busy reading with her book. The footsteps suddenly got nearer and nearer but still, Jeanne didn't bother. Before sitting down she didn't see anyone she knows so it's quite impossible that the footsteps that are approaching her comes from someone she knows.

And then someone startled her. Looking up she saw Jonathan. "Hey" she smiled. Her eyes followed him when he took a seat beside her. Jonathan has always been in such bad timing with her. Whenever she's reading, Jonathan just automatically pops out of nowhere. It's like he doesn't want her to read any of the books.

Still, Jonathan is her beast friend. She doesn't want to act rude even though she wants to finish reading the whole book by today. But okay.

"What are you doing here?" Jeanne asked. Honestly, Jeanne is quite surprised that he is in the library. She thought Jonathan doesn't read books. The thought of him going to the library to read is like Granger marrying a Malfoy. Very odd indeed. Jonathan and the library doesn't add up. They're not even synonymous.

Truth be told, he was kind of flattered that Kurumi had mentioned him to her father, and slightly saddened by the fact that he hadn't done the same, though, it was rather obvious that someone had baked Treyen some cupcakes over the course of the year, because during the summer, back in his grandparents' house, he'd complained to the elf that he didn't know how to make proper cupcakes.

Only once, though. He was banned from the kitchen after that.

"Good to know," that it was all good stuff, of course. He wouldn't have wanted otherwise.

Right. He should remember that life before Hogwarts was not a very easy one on Kurumi. But still. She shouldn't change that particular eye color. Er, wait...especially who? Yes, who was the one she mentioned before Lexi and Salander? Him? That was nice to hear, "It's nothing, really, but just remember that the people back home wouldn't understand," Muggles. Some didn't understand. And, well, some Wizards didn't understand either, but at least Treyen, Lexi and Salander did.

What she was doing with her robes actually distracted him, but as he looked towards the stack of Daily Prophet papers, he found the book he'd been holding.

How long had he been in the library?

"Quality over quantity," he smiled widely, "That's why it only takes ONE of your cupcakes to make me happy," he didn't need a bunch of them, only one.

He needed to keep better track of his time, though, "Kurumi, I...kind of have to get going...but do you need help with all this?" he said, gesturing to the newspaper and some of the books.

Jonathan hasn't seen Jeanne for awhile now. They didn't even had the time to go to Hogsmeade together. He even planned on buying something for her. Shame. He only see her once in awhile.

And then the question popped up 'What are you doing here'. He knew that would be asked. Jeanne knew him too well to pas that question up and to him it's not that insulting since Jeanne is pretty. With her dark hair and nice lips and pale white skin and---

SNAP OUT OF IT.

He shook his head "Studying" he nodded. True story. Potions class is not that hard but dragon lady is not the nicest person alive. So Jonathan wants to get prepared for that.

"W-where are you going this winter break?" he stuttered. Jonathan is not going home but will be staying at the house of his mother's friend. They're practically family to him. He even refers to her children's as cousins.

Phew. That certainly could have been more awkward than it already was. There was no denying it that she was, and would always be, Daddy’s Little Princess, but that didn’t change the fact that her father could be downright embarrassing. She had heard through the mandrake patch that he had actually tried to buy sweets from Sugarplums by using pictures of herself instead of galleons. She was very glad she had not been around to see that. It also made her very much afraid of what he was doing to the office at the Daily Prophet. Hopefully he wasn’t causing too much trouble…

She did manage to smile at Treyen despite her nose wrinkling a bit. She would rather like not to be around when her father met Treyen, if she could help it. It would only embarrass her more. He had been awkward enough around Adam and that had magnified tenfold when he learned that Adam and her were a couple. Had also caused him to nearly owl the boy what Kurumi could only imagine was a small army of Howlers when he heard that Adam was leaving her. Thankfully, her older brothers had been around to stop that.

“It’s just hard when it is your own family,” she said as her smile faded just a bit. “That why I am doing this research really. Of course, I want to know father better…but I think the answers I am really looking for are those regarding mother…” she trailed off into that thought for a moment.

She looked like a baby deer in headlights again at his comment about her cupcakes. “T-T-Then I shouldn’t make you several dozen for your birthday?” she asked almost a little disappointed. She had been hoping to make a cupcake tower to be honest.

“Oh! I’m sorry to have taken up so much of your time. I-I-I can handle putting all this away...you have already helped me so much...,” she squeaked as she began bowing her head over and over again. “Y-Y-You must have a lot of things to take care of with your Prefect duties. There are a few first years in Hufflepuff who seem to have a knack for getting into trouble.” A few more bows. She suppose it was a bit selfish of her to have had him help her with all this mess. “Thank you for all your help. I…I really appreciate it…”

Could her cheeks be any more pink?

Her own family? Of course. And he understood. The need of figuring things out had been key in finding them out. Though, he only had Emalyn to thank for that, even if he'd been told the truth ever since he was little, he'd felt the need to read it for himself.

It didn't change much of what he thought, anyway. But at least he got his facts straight.

Whaaaat? That completely took him off guard! And she looked...disappointed. She did. Which was something that broke his heart. Really, it did. He couldn't help but smile at her, "I'm happy with just one," he repeated, but she was free to make as many as she wished, "But if want to make more, then go for it," whatever made her happy, right?

He chuckled next, "It's alright, Kurumi, I decided to help you out, remember?" it's not like she'd forced or anything, and even if she had, he wouldn't have minded either. "Well, if you say so...," he said, finally getting off the chair and the book back in his hand, "...You're more than welcome, by the way, if you need anything else...just let me know." He smiled again, and then kissed her cheek, "I'll see you around." Wink.

And with a final look towards the Gryffindor girl, he walked away. Off to...taking out the book, because he didn't have time to read it in the library, he'll have to read it tonight.

Zara agreed with Helena and closed the book laid on the table entitled, "Goshawk's Guide to Herbology." Then she picked it up with both hands as she placed them on top of the other book on the desk, "One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi." Zara, picking up both books, placed them on the pile beside her.

"Erm," she said, looking at the pile of books beside her. Right, there were about more than nine books lying down there. "Yeah, sure, thanks."

Helena put the books she took on top of the ones Zara took, then made again the swish-and-flick thing with her wand, towards the books. They had instantly begun to float above the floor, so Helena made her way to the bookshelves to put them back.

When she came back, she didn't sit down again, just stood beside Zara. "I suppose we're done here," she said, smiling. Well, they didn't even start, but... eh. Never mind that. They still had time.

"Yeah, we are," she smiled with pursed lips. Right, something was disturbing Zara's mind again. "I think I should, uhm, go for now. I need a good rest for a while."

Zara looked at Helena with incomprehensible eyes, then immediately looked away as she got her bug and slung it over her shoulder. "See you around, then. Thanks for today." She bowed a bit, turned around and left.

Helena was about to ask Zara whether there was something bothering her or not, but she decided not to. Maybe more Patroclus drama? Eh, it was not her business, so she didn't say anything else.

"Alright," the girl said with a nod. "Bye."

Aaaand she left as well.

Kurumi's own smile was practically sparkling when Treyen spoke again about cupcakes. "I suppose that quality over quantity applies to cupcakes as well?" she giggled softly. Still meant that she would probably bake one cupcake for each year...give or take a few.

A slight frown appeared on her lips as he got up to leave, which was to be expected since he had just said that he needed to get going, but that frown quickly changed to one of blissful shock when he turned around and kissed her gently on the cheek. Her eyes probably resembled small moons at the gesture and she simply watched him as he walked away. "S-S-S-See....you..." she murmured waving at him before he had completely vanished from site.

Her hand then landed on her cheek that felt like it was burning as if the sun itself had kissed her there. Her other hand flew to her other cheek and she squealed a bit as she flopped back on the sofa and hugged the book she had been holding to her chest. Looking around, Kurumi sat back up and look around nervously.

No one saw that, right?

Kurumi fumbled around a bit as she attempted to put all the Daily Prophets back into a neat stack and returned them to the proper shelves and cabinet. She returned to her spot and grabbed her bag, making sure to take one last glance at the couch where she had spent the past...hours? Kurumi had lost track of time herself.

Smiling and a healthy glow to her skin, Kurumi began to exit the library and head back to the Gryffindor common room, not even minding that her hair had entirely turned a rosy pink.

"Hey, Luna," Presley whispered back. She turned back to her book and continued to read about the adventures of Pip.

Ariella made her way into the peaceful library, her Astronomy textbook in hand. She was a bit confused on what they had covered the last lesson, so she had the urge to go read up on it again. She sat down in a chair and began to read, all the information slowly coming back to her. It's amazing how much more you can get done in a quiet room.......

Fee just shook her head at Anakin and laughed,he was behaving like a little child right now and somehow she didnt even mind."Come on Anakin",she pouted,"you knoow its nice, i only want the best for you.Even though you hate me right now,you will love me later."If he pouted she could pout too.And yes she was fully aware of how cute that looked on her.Giggle."You're gonna love me when you passed your owls",the blonde beamed,"especially ancient runes.So be a good Anakin and let me teach you know."It surely wasnt the best free time activity for neither of them but the Slytherin didnt mind.They could hang out at the lake or somewhere else later."Its my fault for being so caring?",the blonde repeated wide eyed,"excuse me Mister Amstern but i just want you to be happy.Come one you know that didnt make any sense."It would have seemed as if the third year was angry about what Anakin had said now but she wasnt.She knew how obnoxious he could be.Giggle.Aww all the other super cool people were in Slytherin or in Ravenclaw?That was sooo sweet."See that only proves how special you are",the girl nodded,"you are super awesome and super cool and a Hufflepuff.No one else has managed that."Hopefully that would cheer him up a little.Of course it was hard if most of your friends werent in your house but still,Anakin shouldnt be depressed or sad about it.Waiiit he blamed ancient runes?Oh no no no no!"You cant blame Ancient Runes",the girl shook her head,"seriously.Its really easy you just need to get the basics.Herbology is way worse."Uggh,yees Fee hated to go to the greenhouse.As often as she could the blonde tried to avoid those lessons."I do not",the girl shook her head,feel special."Yees,the blonde didnt really care for everyone.But friends were the most important thing in her life and she only wanted the best for her."You know you are welcome Anakin",she smiled widely.Anakin was one of her closest friends the Slytherin would never just sit here and watch hin go down.She wanted him to be happy,with everything in his life.

Potions were of the devil?That really got Fee to laugh.Dragon Lady aka Lafay seriously was of the devil.Maybe she was the devil's granddaughter?That would make sense."I knoooow",the girl nodded,"she always finds a way to destroy everything i had worked on.but the first lesson of this term was going rather good.I am excited about the points."Unfortunately Lafay hadnt given them the points for homework and lesson already.Hopefully she would do so soon."I am too cool for a Gryffindor?",the blonde asked chuckling,"how can that be? I know many Gryffindors and they are all super cool."Slytherclaw was fine with her too,because Hugo was Ravenclaw and that meant more time together but what was wrong with Gryffindors and Anakin?!"What are you then?",she asked smiling,"Huffleclaw?Slytherpuff?"Both would actually suit him well.Even though he wasnt putting too much effort in studying know the third year knew that Anakin was smart.Mummeh!Fee?Now that was a sweet name."Yeees little baby Anakin mummeh is looking out for you",the girl laughed shaking her head,"you are in good hands."The Slytherin raised an eyebriw as she heard her friend saying that most boys were idiots."Gladly there are guys like you and Hugo to make my day better",she beamed happily,"there should be way more guys like you."First term and second term she had been soo popular with guys it was horrible but when she got together with Hugo they gladly backed away.Awww he seriously meant it when he was saying he would hit guys if they hurt her?Now that really madeher heart melt."You know you are the best friend that someone can as for",the girl smiled and placed a little kiss on her frineds cheek,"thank you Anakin.You are amazing."

Trying out new things definitely wasa good thing but when it came to romance novels not many guys were that open to it like Anakin was.It realy amazed Fee."Of course thats a good thing",she nodded happily,"i am just a little surprised."Waiiit he thought she was mistaken about the coolest boy on earth?Ohhh Shush Anakin.!"I am never mistaken",the girl winked,"you are the coolwest guy on earth,dont deny it."If he thought anyting else he must be stupid.REALLY STUPID."No injuries",she laughed,"he stopped before he could bump into me."Good thing,even though she wouldnt have minded if they landed on the earth,bodies touching.Hehe.Aww Anakin was really being soo sweet,why was he single? Didnt all these girls see how amazing he was?Pffshh,stupidos."I was really stunned that he waited for me",the girl nodded,"i was sooo blind,that i couldnt see how i felt about him for a looong time."Ohh yeeees only lame people wouldnt want to be like them.Someday Anakin and Fee would rule the world and all the lame people should be prepared.Evil!Grin."Thats true",the third year nodded,"its better for them that they dont try,they would fail miserably."And fall into a deeep depression.Ohh yes.Aww he wanted a girl like Mary mixed with charateristics of Elizabeth,that couldnt be too hard to find,right?!"DO you have someone particular in mind?",the blonde asked wiggling her eyebrows.

Gwen walked towards a table, holding a huge book in her hands. Finally, when she got there, she placed the book on the table, so that it sounded quite loud to the ones standing nearby. ‘Sorry’, she mumbled to the ones that raised their eyes from the books just to see what idiot can’t place a book normally on a table (or anywhere else, for that matter).

The girl took a seat and started reading.

Gwen came over to the reading lounge with a gigantic book. Presley cocked a confused eyebrow. "What are you reading, Gwen?" she asked. She understood the whole 'Most Ravenclaw's Like to Read' thing, but wasn't that book a bit much? Maybe it was for a class, or an experiment or some such thing.

Elle, extremely focused on her book, jumped in surprise as a sneeze snapped her out of her concentration. She pushed back a loose strand of hair out of her face, smoothed her uniform and scanned the room. Everybody else was still studying or perhaps had not noticed the sneeze except for her.

Then, her eyes landed on girl, using a book to cover her face from her, not too far from where she was seated. Now why would people do that to her? Quite mysterious. She was a Gryffindor, by the looks of her badge.

Elle smirked, sat beside the girl and whispered, "Hi there. I'm not usually that friendly with people, but I'd like you to have these. They would help sanitize you from... germs." She winced a little at the thought of bacteria spreading through the whole library. The redhead held out a small bottle of clear liquid (meant to cleanse the germs) and a packet of expensive linen napkins (to use when sneezing or wiping). "Take them. You would be doing everyone a favor." She smiled at the girl.

OOC: By the looks of what I wrote, Elle doesn't seem to remember Tayla as the Gryffie who "stole" (I know she didn't ) and gave back her book. Alright?

Christopher walked over to the Reading Lounge from the shelves, a pile of books towering so high they nearly blocked his vision in his arms. He bit his lip, remembering that he should probably walk slower if he didn't want the teetering stack of literature to cascade out of his arms and onto the floor. That happened to him enough already.

He gently slid the books onto a table and slid into a seat next to it. Strangely enough, as much as he hated living in the Muggle world, he couldn't get enough of its literature! William Shakespeare, Voltaire, Charles Dickens, he loved them all! He was rather nerdy, but he didn't really mind it. He was teased so much he hardly noticed it anymore. The third year pulled off the topmost book on the stack, which, very much to his delight, was one of his favourites, The Taming of the Shrew.

As soon as he opened up the book, Christopher slipped off into his nerdy world of Shakespeare once again.

Kurumi, deciding to put all research having to do with old issues of the Daily Prophet aside, pulled out her Ancient Rune notes and textbook to work on that assignment. She hadn't meant to, but she had ended up putting it off until the last minute due to Quidditch practices. She wanted to break out in hives just thinking about that to be perfectly honest -especially after receiving news about the roster.

Shaking her head, Kurumi buried her nose in the pages of the book, catching a bit of dust as she did, and sneezing loudly. As eh rubbed her nose, Kurumi looked to her right and saw a boy she had seen in the common rooms before with a GIANT stack of books. Leaning over just a bit, Kurumi read the title of the book in his hands. "I always preferred As You Like It," she whispered, hoping that she wouldn't startle him.

Christopher hadn't really paid much attention as a girl sat a few seats down from him as he read. Everyone could come and go as they wished, and he honestly just kept reading. It wasn't that he was trying to be rude, he really wasn't! It was just that he was always so into his reading, the world outside him seemed to fade away.

When he heard a small sneeze, he said, just loudly enough for it's owner to hear, "God bless you," but didn't take his focus off of the book. He was a pretty hard core reader. But he did, however, look around when he heard a quiet voice. He doubted it was addressing him, as most of the time people didn't talk to him (other than Selina, Cass, and Violet). Though this time the whisper was about Shakespeare. Judging that he was probably the only person in the library with a giant stack of his works, Christopher gathered that someone must be talking to him.

He looked over and saw a girl in his year he'd seen, well, everywhere. In the Common Room handing out cookies, the Great Hall, here in the Library, nearly all of his classes, and hanging out with Selina in the Quidditch pitch. But the lion couldn't think of her name. "I like that one too," Christopher replies softly. He couldn't help but grin. It was rather nice to talk to another class mate, especially a third year Gryffindor. Who also liked Shakespeare.

He extended out his right arm towards the girl, still holding the book firmly on his left. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we've ever talked before. I'm Christopher."

Kurumi smiled at the older boy and her cheeks flushed just a bit when he reached his right arm out towards her for no other reason besides her being very shy when meeting new people. "I don't believe we have either," she chirped in response taking his hand and bowing her head at the same time - which probably looked a little awkward. "It's lovely to finally meet you, Christopher. My name is Kurumi," she smiled as she gave his hand a gentle shake and bowed her head a few times. She really needed to remember to pick one or the other when doing greetings. Mixing both cultures together usually ended up making her just look awkward.

She looked at the stack of books and tried not to giggle too loudly. "So, I see you are a Shakespeare fan?" Truth be told, she hadn't read any of his works in their original English. They all had been translated into Japanese.

Christopher grinned and tried very hard to suppress a chuckle as the girl shook his hand and bowed at the same time. It wasn't because he was laughing at her, it was more that he was relieved that he wasn't the only awkward kid at school. "It's nice to meet you too, Kurumi. I like your name." There he went, being just as awkward, though surprisingly enough it wasn't as bad as it usually was, though most people complimented others on their clothing or something, rather than their name.

He turned around, looking at the towering pile of books and he blushed. Not all of them were Shakespeare, but a good amount of them were. He pushed his dark hair out of his eyes, which were a rather eccentric shade of electric blue, and looked back and forth between his book and Kurumi. With a timid laugh he said jokingly, "How could you tell?"

"T-T-Thank you," she smiled. He probably would laugh when he heard its meaning though. "Kurumi is the Japanese word for walnut," she explained as she began running her fingers through her black pony tail. She supposed her father really liked walnuts or something. "C-Christopher is a very nice name too," she squeaked hoping to return the compliment.

And some more tugging on her hair.

Kurumi giggled and picked up the topmost book on the stack which just so happened to be Two Gentlemen of Verona and flipped through its pages. Yep, this was one of the first times seeing this rather complicated speech written in English. "Just a hunch," she said looking back up with a sheepish smile on her face. "Are you planning on reading all of these books today?" She wasn't sure that was something even she could handle.

Kurumi's eyes widened a bit when she saw him brush back his bangs to reveal his piercing blue eyes. Eyes that she was jealous of. She blinked a few times to try and hide her violet ones, but she couldn't really keep her eyes shut for the entirety of their conversation. "You have beautiful eyes," she said staring at them before covering her mouth in embarassment. "Oh! S-S-S-Sorry! I-I-I don't mean anything by that...j-j-j-just making an observation!"

"Walnut?" Walnut was quite definitely a strange name meaning. He wondered if it was like people calling her by the name of a but whenever she went to Japan. The idea made him want to laugh, but laughing out loud for no apparent reason would probably make her think he was a nutter. Though she probably already did with the big pile of books. "That's cool. I wonder what my name means. I've never really thought about it." He turned a little pink when she complimented his name. "Erm, thanks. A lot of people call me Chris, but I like Christopher better. I'm just weird and old fashioned that way!" Now that he thought about it, he always called people by their full name, except for his sister sometimes.

Christopher grinned and glanced at the stack of books quickly before turning back to his fellow lion. "Well, I guess I didn't make it very subtle, did I?" He replied with a laugh. He still found it rather strange that not everyone read as much as he did, though on the other hand, most people weren't ask awkward and nerdy as him. "Oh no. Maybe not all of them today, but I would like to finish them in the next two days. Maybe three," he replied casually. Things like this were normal for geeks like him.

It was a little strange that Christopher did not even show the slightest bit of embarrassment when Kurumi complimented his eyes, although he blushed at the compliment on his name. He was kind of a weird kid. So instead he just smiled brightly and said, "Oh, thank you! It's okay, I think your eyes are very pretty too. I know a girl with the same shade of Violet as yours." In fact, it was his girlfriend Violet (no pun intended)- one of Selina's other best friends- that shared the violet eyes. "I'd never seen them before I'd come to Hogwarts."

He smiled, but cocked his head to the side when he saw a flash of colour on the end of Kurumi's hair she was pulling on. "Did you just....." He was about to ask her about it, when his voice faltered. He'd probably just seem crazy, so he dropped the subject. Perhaps he was just seeing things, or perhaps it was a trick of the light, because he was pretty sure hair didn't turn randomly pink. "Erm, nevermind," he said awkwardly. Then again, it was the Wizarding World, and although he'd belonged there for three years, he was still learning a lot of things about culture.

Kurumi blinked a few times when Christopher suddenly laughed out loud, but she figured it had something to do with her name. After all, if she had met someone whose name meant 'peanut' she would be giggling a little under her breath as well. "My father really likes walnuts I guess," she replied shrugging. "Although, Father does often tell me that I was his little treasure and that is why he picked the name. Then there was something about a hard shell surrounds valuable contents...I am really not too sure..." she explained blushing a little. She was probably rambling now.

She then looked up at him when he mused about his own name. "Christopher..." she repeated as she took out her quill and a small piece of parchment. "I am not sure about it's meaning in English, but it I were to write it using kanji it would look something like this." She took some time to carefully think out what characters to use. Transcribing foreign names into her native language could be a very tricky thing. Sometimes there just were no sounds in her language that matched, so she had to take a little bit of creative licence. "Here," she smiled when she was finished and passed the parchment to him.

Kurumi flipped through the book in her hand a little more. "I had to admit, I haven't read any non-magical literature for a long time now. I've mostly been coming to the library to read books about magical creatures...and Quidditch..." But not so much the latter.

"I...have only started liking my eyes recently," she blushed as she gripped the edges of her skirt. She didn't really want to get into the reasons behind that right now and turn their conversation into some sort of pity party, so she tried to avoid too much details. "They always made me stand out more than anyone else. No one else in my family as them." Although her father could if he so desired. Kurumi thought for a moment about the girl he was describing. "Oh! You must mean Violet. I met her when she was a first year." Kurumi nodded her head. She remembered being overjoyed and finding someone else like her...only their reasons for having violet eyes were very VERY different.

Kurumi's eyes widened a bit when she noticed Christopher staring at her. No, not at her, but at her hair. She instantly pulled her pony tail in front of her face for a quick inspection. Nope, everything appeared to be normal. "I-I-Is there a problem?" she asked as he heart pounded in her chest. Perhaps she should just throw her hood over her head now and save herself the panic.

'Hai, Kurumi!' Rose said bounding up to her fellow Team Mate. 'You played brilliantly in the match!' Rose was surprised Gryffindor didn't win, they were brilliant!