"hey Luna!" she said, beaming, she was so glad that they would all be going to Presley's house,

"Nope, you?" she asked, "I just wish that we didn't have to go home now, but I do want to, does that make sense?" she said in one breath.

"Hey!" Presley grinned as Rachel came in and sat beside her. "I'm good, I guess," no need to get into the whole Ellie thing. "I just can't believe we're really going, you know? And we'll come back and be second years, and watch other kids get sorted...it feels like I just got here, and now I have to leave again. But thank Merlin I have six more years with you!"

Presley laughed about Luna's expression when she told them about her brother. "That's okay. We can be quick about it, and you won't have to spend much time with him." Feeling slightly lighter, now that her besties were here, Presley poured herself some apple juice. "Oh I'm so glad you guys get to come!" she exclaimed delightedly.

Ellie arched an eyebrow at the boy. "Pogrebins? Really? Where...Where exactly have you been finding those?" That was a curious hobby. And Ellie was pretty sure she'd never seen a Pogrebin in her life...so...who knows how Eino came up with that one.

...The training Eino bit got no comment. It completely confused her...but she knew Eino was...well...he was odd. He talked to thin air. And Ellie'd rather not know who this other Eino was...unless he was training himself and started talking in third person...

Nevermind.

And then he stated the one thing she'd most wanted to avoid, and came really close to succeeding. Quidditch. She missed it. She knew. She felt terrible for it, as well. Jacob hadn't seemed to mind just now, but he was also pre-occupied with the badge. But still, poor little Spike filling in for her? That curly haired kid was hardly sure of his abilities as Chaser. He probably hated her. And then there was Finn...Who played his last Ravenclaw House Quidditch match ever, and Ellie not only missed playing alongside him in it, but she wasn't even in the stands to watch.

Ugh.

"Sick," she muttered as she rested her forehead on the table in front of her. She'll stare into her lap now, thanks.

Oh and after Quidditch? Depression. Eino needn't worry his pretty, little, innocent, naive head about that, though.

''Not really!!'' she said

Luna smiled she felt the exact same way ''Me too, It's beautifull here and everything but every once in a while you need a break..'' said Luna and then took a sip of pumpkin juice

Lu wondered if her brother really sent her those letters before but it probably was him,

''Great!, I can't beleive a year past I mean its amazing it doesn't feel like it at all....'' she said and then she took another sip of pumpkin juice she thought she had better say goodbye to her friends but when she was done talking to Pres and Rache she would

Presley nodded. "It's just gone so fast." She looked down at her flip-flopped feet, and perfectly pedicured toes, and wished once again, that she was staying at Hogwarts.

End of term feast. It was weird to think that ten months ago she'd have agreed that this was indeed a cause for celebration, though now as Ryden walked through the Great Hall doors, she wasn't quite sure that she was really looking forward to the holiday. Strange how things turn out.

Almost automatically by now, she looked down at her left wrist were Orlando's charm bracelet was. The brunette had yet to take it off, and she doubted that she will for a very long time. She liked it there. It fitted, somehow.

Taking a seat at the table, Ryden sighed and looked around at the food, before glancing up at the people. Food was good, but she really didn't know many Ravenclaws all that well. Glancing over at the Gryffindor table, she searched for the one person in this school whom she could honestly say she might actually miss.

Yep, Dal totally wasn't expecting that answer. He smiled softly as she explained the reasoning behind her favorite color. It was just a sort of unusual story that he thought sort of... fit her. When she mentioned passing it on, though, his smile faded instantly. He nodded looking away from her; he knew what she meant. And he was suddenly angry that she would never be able to pass down the blanket. It was so unfair!

Taking a slow breath, he looked back at her. One side of his lips went into a half-smile when she disagreed about the color of her eyes. He brushed back a strand of her hair so that he could see them better. "They're like that one part of a wave, right before the blue turns white." He would know; how many countless times had he seen that color, right before he tumbled off his surfboard and into the water?

He looked at her closely for a second, then nudged her lightly. "Hey," he said quietly. "Let's not think about that, okay?" Not thinking about it wouldn't make the fact any less scary or sad or true... but at least they could focus on happier things.

It was terrifying.

Considering how Orlando Albie Renaldi was feeling; phrasing it as 'terrifying' was definitely an understatement. The Gryffindor could feel his heart thundering against his chest. His feet were getting heavier by the second as he dragged them across the small space between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw table.

When he had entered the Great Hall, initially his steps had lead him toward the Gryffindor table but the moment Legend came into view - his last conversation with him got revived in his head. Perhaps he was in the Gryffindor house for a reason because the thing his mind was set on at the moment was something he expected his father or Landon to have done when they were his age.

Bravery was a treasured thing. Thank heaven, Merlin's Pants had rewarded him with some because how in the buscuit jar, he didn't turn around and leave when the small figure of Ryden came into view, he did not know. Reluctantly coming to a halt behind her and letting his tall tall body tower over her - he let his somewhat shaky hand rest on her shoulder. "Umm Ryden"

He wasn't there. Oh well. Perhaps he'd come later, or whatever. She might see him on the train, if she gets on it at all. Aunt Lea had threatened to come pick her up from the Hogsmeade station herself so Ryden wasn't too sure what was happening with that.

Right. Food. Just as she began to start properly weighing the options in her mind, she felt a hand land on her shoulder and jumped miles high into the air before realising it was Orlando. WHOA. Mind reader, much? Somewhat shaken, she climbed out of the bench to stand next to him. Not that it made much of a difference since he was still massive compared to her, but it made her feel better.

"Hi," she said. Then smiled sort of uncertainly, because he seemed to be in a weird mood. Was he sad that the term was ending?

Sighing, Ellie looked back over at Dallin to see that he looked more upset than anything. Probably because of what she had said about being able to pass the blanket on. Just then, Ellie had an excellent idea. She smiled to herself, but kept the idea in her head.

Ellie watched as Dallin moved some of her hair out of her face and looked at her eyes. She stared back with a faint smile. The way he described it made her smile grew. "You love the ocean." She stated with a smile, though it was obvious to her. Ellie knew how much Dallin loved the ocean, living in Florida. And it made her happy that her eyes reminded him of the ocean; his home.

Feeling Dallin nudge her, she looked over at him. He was watching her. Ellie sighed and put on a smile. "Okay." She answered. This feast was a celebration anyway, wasn't it?

Seeing something out of the corner of her eye, Ellie's attention drew behind her when she saw a girl standing behind them. But as soon as Ellie looked, the girl was walking away. Was that... Lousia? She watched the girl slump into the bench and bury her face. Looking back over at Dallin, it looked like he hadn't noticed anything. "Did you just see that? Louisa?" She asked, clarifying what exactly she was referring to.

"I do," Dallin told her with a sharp nod. She probably already knew that though; it was was a statement, not a question, that he loved the ocean. And after being away from it for so long... well, at least he remembered the color. And he could see it when he looked in her eyes. "Do you like it?" For some reason these simple questions meant a lot; he had to know the answer.

He smiled when she agreed to not think about it. Although she definitely didn't seem as happy as she had last time he'd seen her, he wanted her to at least be somewhat cheerful. He didn't want her to leave the castle on a bad note and he was going to do everything in his power to make sure that didn't happen.

"What?" The question surprised him, and he shook his head. Louisa? He looked at Ellie curiously before following her gaze down the table to where the third year was sitting with her face in her hands. He glanced back at Ellie, wondering what she had seen and if she knew what was wrong with her.

Luna looked around the tables one of her last glimace of the great hall untill next September ''It has, I wish we could stay longer although i'm very exited about going to your house this summer with Rache'' she said the young claw had everything packed and repacked so everything was there for her staying at Presley's house,

She was very excited about it but she'd miss Hogwarts an awfull lot and now it was her only home since her mother and sister died in a car crash, Her father died a few days ago (She cryed for two full nights and didn't talk to anyone for three days), And her brother was moving to London with his wife to be Rebecca and he wasn't being nice to her ever since her mother and sister died now Hogwarts was her only home

And now that her attention was on him. It was more terrifying.

Orlando's brown eyes caught hers almost immediately. Why was this so hard? It shouldn't be. He was so well into his teenage years. And according to Landon, to teenagers these things came easy. The more his eyes registered her face, the more clear it got. He wanted to do this. The urge, the attraction - it was all there.

Licking his lips lightly, just for the sake of it - Orlando realized, thinking about it when he was actually looking at her face had it's own impact. There was a strong demand from inside him. It was wild. For a second, when it completely dawned on him - what he wanted to do, he felt he forgot to breathe.

Nevertheless. It was now or never.

The term was ending, they would all go away and a summer apart - what if she found someone else? What if she decided to never come back? What if she forgot to remember him? He needed to do something to make her remember. To let her know, he would be waiting.

Orlando felt as if the buzz around the great hall had tuned itself down on purpose, just so he would achieve what he wanted. Staring down her eyes still, Orlando stepped closer - now that a new found urge had entered him and it wanted her to come back. Come back to Hogwarts. Come back to him.

"Ryden .." he spoke again, voice small. "I .." His throat went dry, for the next minute his brain finally decided to go blank and his hand came to rest somewhere near her neck, thumb giving her cheek a gentle caress. It would surprise him later but Orlando actually grinned, eyes twinkling and landed his lips on hers in a quick movement. Orlando Renaldi kissed her.

He looked weird. Seriously strange. Was he ill? And if he was, why did he come all the way here to tell her? She didn't want to be ILL on her holiday. What was he thinking? Perhaps he wasn't. Perhaps he was dared to come here by his Gryffindor friends who didn't like her. Perhaps it was that Lexi Denver girl. GRRR. How she hated her.

. . . He still wasn't saying anything. Her annoyance turned to confusion and then to worry as he still kept his silence. Perhaps she should say something? People were going to think Orlando was barking mad, just standing there. Was he breathing? o_O Just when she was about to say something, he spoke. Or, rather, said her name.

Yes, she was Ryden. And Ryden was beginning to worry he'd suffered a concussion because as soon as he began he st-

O_O

Ryden had never been so still in her life. The brunette wasn't moving, wasn't really breathing, wasn't even thinking. Only her eyes moved as she followed his hand, feeling it touch her neck, then his thumb her cheek and before she could even begin to understand exactly what it was that he was doing, Orlando smiled at her and then... Then he kissed her.

If she hadn't been thinking or breathing or moving or whatever, Ryden was absolutely frozen in place now. It took a moment or two for her to grab hold of reality again, and when she did she found that her body had moved of its own accord. For one, the shorter brunette noticed that she was no longer completely on the ground but on the balls of her feet to try and compensate for the height difference. Odd.

She also found that her arms, having previously been by her sides as usual, were both wrapped around... him. The third thing she noticed that was perhaps the most unusual of all was that she was indeed kissing him back.

EEEK. As soon as this hit her Ryden pulled away, confused and weirded out, and stared at him, quite unaware that her heartbeat was racing a mile a minute and that her face was flushed a bright shade of red. Nope, all Ryden knew was that she had just kissed Orlando and wanted an explanation for it. No, Orlando had kissed HER. And she'd kissed him back.

Whatever. She needed him to explain.

Theo's smile lit up as Alfie laughed; it was music to his ears, no matter how silly that sounded. It wasn't like the trilling little giggle of most gossipy little nuisances her age, but something filled with genuine joy that spread to all around her. Or maybe it was just for Theodore. To put it simply, the soon-to-be seventh year's life just felt more wonderful with Alfie around. He had even gotten used to being called Alfeodore by their taunting group of friends.

Being nearly like a mirror, his blue eyes glanced at his empty plate before he grabbed his own golden goblet, bringing it to his lips before some of it embarrassingly dribbled down his chin as he attempted not to spit the rest out. "I..." He tried to speak, his cheeks colored pink as he grabbed a linen napkin with his friend hand and mopped himself up. "I had forgotten about that... that curious event, and-" He burst out laughing with nostalgic memories of Braeden Stonem's surprise birthday party. Alfie hadn't been around back then, and it was just her luck to have happened upon a madman perched upon a cake cannon. "I wonder what even happened to that cake cannon," He scratched his chin thoughtfully as if remembering an old childhood friend. In all honestly, he would have liked to have brought it home and kept it in his room for posterity. Alas, the cannon was only second to the real diamond in the rough he had encountered that day when Alfie had walked into the door, only to sneak away unnoticed soon after. He didn't blame her, though; food fights were scary for onlookers and mad fun for participants. It would have been a shame for cake to muss up her beautiful blonde locks of hair, anyway. "Maybe next year we can have another party there... minus cake, though," He mused, holding back more chortles and chuckles.

For Orlando, the moment got surreal when Ryden's arm wrapped round him. His own arm went round her to support her little body when she rose on her toes - .. and then even surreal reality lost it when she kissed him back.

His eyes closed down, his mind oblivious to the fact that his first kiss was visble to the whole school, staff and students both. Talk about making the Renaldi guys proud.

Orlando wanted to be completely dumb in this moment and not move away at all from her lips because the feeling was just THAT good! When Ryden suddenly pulled away, his heart almost skipped a bit. He did not want to let go. Noticing her flushed cheeks and pretty much flushed everything - Orlando could not have been more of a Renaldi because when he actually grinned down at her, realizing how shocked she was.

What to do now?

There had never been a memo for this. Never.

"So yeah .. I wanted to kiss you"

Philip sighed sadly, resting his elbow on the table. He knew some of his friends were at the table, but he couldn't spot any of them. He had made so few new friends this term. The sixth year wondered if he would meet any new friends at all before the end of his time at Hogwarts. After all, his 6th year was coming to a close and his final year would arrive soon after that.

He looked around at the few other people sitting around him, but he didn't pay much attention to them. He didn't pay much attention to anything, really. He seemed deep in thought. Almost depressed.

It was a curious thing, but Ryden had never really been aware of the fact that smiles were infectious before. Really. When other people smiled, it usually made her want to punch them. Heck, sometimes even when ORLANDO smiled she wanted to punch him. But not now. Now, she couldn't even control her lips as they beamed back. Yes, beamed. How inappropriate when she was all abysmally confused in her head.

. . .

He wanted to kiss her? "That's IT?!" Ryden couldn't help spluttering out, having hoped that the explanation would be a little more... explained. This wasn't easing her confusion. It was possibly even making it WORSE.

"Why?" she added, eyes narrowed slightly as she looked at him. And as she looked, she became aware of the fact that they were still very close. Close enough for her to be able to count his eyelashes, discern the exact shade his brown eyes really were. So close that, if she wanted, she could tiptoe up and kiss him again.

o_O This was a strange, strange day. Really.

Of course Dallin loved the ocean. Ellie remembered him talking about it when they first started talking. Which was only months ago. To Ellie, seemed as though they had known each other for years. Smiling at his question, she nodded. "I love the ocean. I live on the coast." Ellie couldn't remember if she had told him that or not. But she did, and it was the most beautiful place on earth. Rocky cliffs, green grass, wind in your hair, and the sound of waves crashing down. Ellie couldn't imagine anything better.

Apparently Dallin had seen anything, but Ellie watched as he looked down the table at Lousia. Ellie hesitated. "I don't know, I think she was standing behind us." She paused, looking at Dallin. "And then she turned right around and went back to the bench." Ellie frowned. She hadn't really talked to Louisa in a couple months; maybe she was upset... But Ellie couldn't get the nerve to go talk to her. Seeing old friends would bring up unnecessary pain.

Cassie smiled and him and nodded. It was good to get a chuckle out of him. She hadn't seen smiling Fin in a really long time. Though it didn't really last long, so she would have to try to get another chuckle out of him soon. She might not see him again after all."Yep I am right. I tend to be right a lot." She stuck her tongue out at him playfully.

She sighed. Yeah she understood what he was talking about. It was how she felt about Blossom. She loved her yes but she never really appreciated having her around until her mother fired her and she could no longer hear or see her again."How could you not miss him when he's been your friend for so long and you've been through so much together?" He just had to fight for his friendship with James or learn to live without him for the rest of his life."You either fight for your friendship or let it go..."

Orlando wouldn't have liked her if she wasn't just so Ryden. Even in this moment when he kissed her - she was still just so Ryden. It made him happy. He liked it so much - he couldn't explain it.

That's IT?!

His grin did not waver a bit. "Ryden Di Marco, I really liked kissing you" he told her, still comfortably being so close to her. She wanted an explanation, definitely. He figured, if he failed to give her one - she might end up punching him and accusing him for ruining her feast. "And I want you to come back to me, next term" he added, still looking down her eyes.

Why?

That was a very relevant question. The almost seventeen year old was on the verge of simply shrugging. But that may offend her greatly. And he did not want to take any chances and ruining this moment with her. "Because I like you" he whispered, knowing at once that the words were more true than he had imagined them to be.

He really liked kissing her.

Well, that was certainly better than "I wanted to kiss you". A flicker of a smile briefly crossed her face, before it was replaced with one of incredulity as he spoke his NEXT words. Come back... to him? Erm. No one's ever said that before. It was like it was a whole different Orlando, except that it was the same Orlando and Ryden found that she quite liked this version of him.

Which was why she didn't frown. Anyone else would have gotten shouted at.

Her blush, which had abated slightly, deepened again. To be honest, she'd kind of figured he'd liked her. People don't just kiss - KISS, it was still weird - other people without liking them. Well, they do, but Orlando didn't seem to be that sort of person.

"I, er... Does this mean you're my boyfriend?" Ryden found herself saying, to her great surprise. She hadn't planned on that. She'd planned on telling him that she kind of perhaps might maybe like him too. And liked him kissing her. Even if it was in front of the entire school and faculty. Actually, especially if it was in front of them.

Even before he replied, an unbidden smile formed itself on her face. There was no controlling infectious smiles.

….
….
….

Louisa raised her head and let an exasperated sigh, "Isn't it dinner already!" She whined to no one in particular… yeah, right, now she was talking to HERSELF. The thirteen years old wanted to tilt her head a bit and see what Dallin was doing now. Did he see her? Would he care if he did? Meh, he was probably just talking and having fun.. not waiting for the freaking speech to start already!

Another sigh as she forced herself not to look. On the contrary, she looked the opposite way and searched for any familiar faces. There were many… but the truth was.. she didn't want to talk to anyone. She'd blocked the feeling in her chest, that annoying uncomfy one, and was spending most of her mind concentrating on.. nothing.

So, with a frown on the face, she decided to occupy herself with the handy dandy book she keeps in her handy dandy secret robes pocket. The Hippogriffs book. Aaaaaaaaand Dal's handwriting popped up once she opened it, with unnecessary force she flipped through the pages to her bookmark. She wanted to tear that stupid page off the book, she SO wanted to do that… she wanted to tear each number and letter apart too! That'd keep her busy for the rest of the feast.

But she didn't. Her hands wouldn't budge. She stared down at the page for a moment before blinking a few times and starting the read. A big Grumpy sign was on her face as she did so.

Dallin actually grinned at her answer. He didn't know why, but the fact that Ellie loved the ocean too made him happy. Maybe he just loved it so much that he felt even closer to her since she loved it, too. He always felt like he had a connection with people that loved the same things he did... "I bet the coast there is a lot different from Florida, huh?"

"Really?" His eyebrows went up when Ellie said that Louisa had just walked away. Usually - well, at least as far as he knew - whenever the third year saw him she came to talk to him. He looked at her again, sitting alone and reading, and frowned. Was something wrong? "Do... do you think she saw us?" Maybe she had just been looking for a place to sit. Surely if she had seen them then she would want to come say hi.

What do you do after a kiss? What was the normal procedure? Orlando Renaldi had no clue. Pretty much why, he was standing there like a buffoon - grinning and making no attempt to move away. It was like he had done his part and now it was Ryden's turn. Idiot boy.

Her next question did put his rather high mind into a puzzle. Was he her boyfriend now? Was this how things went? You kissed a girl and then you became her boyfriend? "I can be, if you want that .. of course." He said, wanting his thumb to caress her cheek again. There were probably a lot of things he wanted to do when they standing this close. But he could not. Because they were having a conversation right now. And not kissing.

Somehow that saddened Orlando. Well, who knew. Pure Renaldi wants, the were.