Carter stopped pacing when Caroline asked what his plans were for the summer. Didn't she know...? Oh right. It hadn't been brought up yet...

He looked around. Where'd she go? Why was she sitting against a wall?

He went and sat next to her. He held out a hand for her to take. Where should he start...? Right now all of his thoughts were just a jumbled mess in his head. Maybe he should talk it out...? That usually made the thought process go better, right? But he couldn't pick a starting point.

"So... um... what do you want to know?" he asked. Or better yet... what did she know?

Caroline thought about everything that he had said. She did feel a bit relived when he came over and sat down beside her. "You must think I'm terrible asking what your plans were this summer and me not knowing what they were." Gosh she was crying, while a bit. she wiped her eyes since saying what she had been thinking out loud. Was this a lack of communtication? or do they just not talk as much as other couples about stuff like this.

what did she want to know? Well try everything. Why hadn't they talked about anything about his family they had barely talked about hers.She looked at him and took the offered hand. "Start about how Anya, is in your summer plans?" Since that was the thing that he was freaking out about at the moment.

Cass took a moment to catch her breath as she leaned against the wall for a couple of minutes after running all the way from the dungeons up to the sixth floor to complete her DADA homework. Or at least she assumed that the distance between the dungeons to the sixth floor was 8 kilometers...but just to be sure, maybe she should include the run back as well...

Later.

She didn't fancy repeating that tiring experience just yet.

"No. No, it's fine..." Carter said. "Really I've only told Mina." But even she didn't know all of it. In fact, he was planning on keeping the newer bit a secret for as long as possible.

"No. Don't cry. I'm sorry, I should have told you earlier."

Start with Anya. That was easy enough. He opened his mouth and then immediately shut it. He couldn't remember how much he'd mentioned about her before... of course Caroline knew that he had a younger sister, but was that all he told her?

"Well, biologically she isn't my sister." he began. "My parents adopted her the same year I started here..." He ran a hand through his hair. "Anyway... she doesn't know about..." he said motioning to everything around him. "Every couple months someone from her agency comes and visits to make sure she's doing alright... so we haven't told her yet in case she were to accidently let something slip."

He took a deep breath. "But that all stops in a few months... and my family, I mean, my parents and I... we've been talking about telling her soon." He didn't feel like going into detail with the exact plan he had concocted. No, this explanation would do for now.

"But, I've been kind of rethinking it lately..." he said once again leaving out all of the details. "So when I asked about my summer and the answer was bad timing..." he said with his voice trailing off as the sentence went on. She'd be able to figure it out.

She wore a bright purple tank top with some black leggings and a black leather jacket with the sleeves pushed up half way up her arm. Love was walking down the corridor with her new knee high black boots on. She didn't care if she looked like a total idiot walking down the corridor. Sometimes she did and sometimes she did not. As she was walking by she saw a girl up against the wall. Was she okay? She didn't know. Should she ask the girl? Could the girl even talk? Some many questions so little time.

"Are you okay?" Love asked the girl. PLEASE be okay. PLEASE!!

Pretty please. She didn't want to worry about a person that she had never seen in her life but she did. It was just the person she was and she just couldn't help it. It wasn't her fault it was the person that she was. She worried for others.

Caroline nodded, but really it wasn't fine.It wasn't the fact she didn't know or the fact that she wasn't the first one to know. That wasn't even the issue. Seeing that there was a serious lack of communication in this relationship. Which no wonder why she hadn't told Carter about Marie and her being cousins. Honestly, the shock of finding that out she hadn't worn off. Really when is the best time to tell your boyfriend that his ex is your cousin? "I have some thing to tell you. I should've told you before now but I understand that you've already been informed." Mite as well tell him, since he knew already and they were being completely honest, or were they?

Wiping her eyes, "I'm fine. Sorry I just have a lot on my mind right now." She had her own familt issues to deal with especially with the letter that she gotten from her mum last night which had just turned today into a bad day. She could tell him later and get started they could work on this little issue before it got worst. She stopped crying, it just must been the ones that she held back. She had planned on telling him sometime after Runes class today. She need to tell someone.

Now she was upsit. Yeah, he should have told her earlier, if he was even planning on her at all. Which she didn't say much about that. In all honestity she hadn't plan on telling him about being cousins with his ex. "Apparently there's a serious lack of communication in this relationship." She blurted out. Oh boy, She thought that she had just opened a can of worms.Yeah, Okay some of it was her fault too. But they never talk about personal stuff.

She listened again and nodded. She nodded through most of the first part. She knew that Anya was adopted and about how someone from the agency comes to check up on her and that they had kept Carter being a wizard a secret from her. See keeping secrets can be a good thing to keep from hurting the other person. An "O" formed around her lips and she realized what he was getting too.So him and his parents were going to tell her about him being a wizard this summer. That sounded great to her. but she seen why he had freaked out over the Rune reading. "I dont believe any of that reading runes and Divination stuff at all."

She put his head on his shoulder, forgetting the she was mad at him, she could argue with him later about there lack of communication. "What made you start rethinking it?" That would be the first thing to ask him. She can't imange Anya getting mad at him over that granted she didn't no her to well and she didn't know how it would be if her brother was a wizard, well he was, but so was he. However she knew the bond between a brother and sister, espeically the older brother younger siste one and some of her muggle born friends their siblings were impressed that they had magic siblings.

She looked at him, it seem like there was more details and more things that he was thinking about. sqeeezing his hand. "You know I'm always here for you and your family" Even if she hadn't met them. They were his family and she cared about them. "And if you need me there, for moral support, or whatever I can be there." She could take time off from her wild goose chase that she would now have go on to find her real dad.

Cass looked up from the floor when she heard someone asking her if she was fine. Huh. Weird.

"Uh, yeah." She answered as she pushed herself off the wall and smiled at the older girl "I'm fine. Just a bit tired from running that's all." Gone were her earlier complaints about being too cold down in the dungeons...she was really hot right now. Damn all that running. Then she tied her hair up in a ponytail before extending her hand out "Thanks for the concern." Then she smiled and added "I'm Cass Prewett. Third year Slytherin."

POUT. SHE DIDN'T WANNA BE A TEA-CHA. Iris should have wanted to be one though because teachers ARE cool and..where else better to teach than HOGWARTS? "Why..why not? It's COOL! Even..zough I don't want to be one but..you know. Making zat point out." MELLOW. "..You do? Zat's..nice. I guess. Sounds kinda boring zough are you ZURE you want to live a boring life with a boring job althoouuuughhh you just MIGHT not live a boring life, a boring job yes because it's..you know. BORING." Okaaayyy, Chandler had said ENOUGH on the subject of boringness for now. >__< "BUT IT SOUNDS COOL! Better zan..Bartender Beamount." He snickered at the thought of Iris being called Bartender Beamount. "No..actually, I take it back. It 'as a..ring to it. Barteeennndaaaa Beamount!" GIGGLE!SNORT.

Now this was Chandler's depressing moment. GOD, why was he SO stupid when he was HYPER? >__< It wasn't good at all because he was just naturally dumb so the hyperness made it worse. POUT. And now Iris was smiling all..motherly like. Bleh. She was NOT his mother. D: "No..not really. I just don't get a lot, you know? And...I didn't go to a school before Beauxbatons zo I didn't get taught stuff like zis. Like..life stuff. I didn't get taught anything before Beauxbatons, except maybe spelling and grammar. Good zing I never got picked on because of zat..." He didn't get picked on at ALL actually, people just knew that they should have backed off. But they were dumber than him anyway. Surprisingly. Sigh. The teenager was brought from his thoughts and back to Hogwarts when he felt a hand on his shoulder and realising that it was Iris he looked up and smiled slightly. "Well..don't people get ze cocoa beans and import..or export it I don't really know what it iz to another country in a factory where ZEY make it?" If they did, it made sense to him.

And she ignored him! Again! Chandler, to be quite honest wasn't particularly bothered right now. He was too depressed about him being dumb as a snail to think about that.

Chandler sat up and looked up at Iris with a pout. Well? Was she going to get him up at all? "You zaid Mont-AY or Monty actually, I can't remember 'ow you pronounced it properly but what I can remember iz zat you did not zay my surname!" Chandler was SO going to put in a compliant to someone now. HMPF! Or..not. "You..'ave a nickname which iz Monty? You don't even 'ave any names which RELATE to Monty! Zat's...CONFUSING!" He flailed his arms around him to show the confusingness even more or attempt to more like it.

HEHEHE. Now she looked like a French CAT. Chandler giggled. "I'd like to zee you try, mademoiselle." He smirked at her, he didn't even want her to stop talking with the French accent. She could keep it forever if she'd like.




Chandler snickered slightly at Iris' comment to him but then he turned his attention to them both and got up whilst he did so. SEE, the boy COULD multi-task. BOOYAH. "OHHH! OHHH!!! CAN I INPUT?! Because...I'd like to come too, I've always wanted to zee ze Ravenclaw Common Room well..not really but I want to come anyway!" It would be their little..stair trip. BEAM.

"And me and Miss 'Ead Girl would kindly continue our little conversation while attending to your needs." Because they were THAT damn nice.

"That you and Marie are cousins?" Carter asked. "Yeah. That would have been nice to know." Would it have made a difference? He had no idea. But at least he would have been prepared had she told him. And preparation was half the battle... at least that's what he was told once.

She had some things on her mind? She was fine two seconds ago. And Carter honestly didn't have the patience... or energy... to deal with that. For once he'd just like to handle his life first.

He stood up quickly. "I don't happen to mention some of my summer plans and all of a sudden there are 'communication issues'? I'm sorry Caroline that I don't tell you every little thing that's going on in my life or has ever happened to me." He was more of a question/answer kind of guy. He was also pretty good at telling about the amusing things that happen to him. But other than that he wasn't much of a talker.

He shrugged. "Well, maybe I do." he said. He didn't actually believe it... but he thought that the results meant he needed to give it more thought. And this was not helping.

"It's... uh... nothing." he lied when she asked what made him change his mind. He just wanted to clear his head before going into any of the details. And he didn't want anyone to find out until he made his decision. "Yeah. Thanks. I'll let you know if I need anything..." he said when she offered her support. Now was probably not the time to mention that Mina had that bit covered.

Caroline tucked her knees to her chest, and closed her eyes. "I'm Sorry that I didn't tell you that Marie and I are cousins." She had only realized that they were related over the summer. The news was still pretty new to her. And when was she suppose to bring this up. Oh by the way guess what? Your ex is my cousin.

She really did feel bad about not telling him that. She wished that she would have been the one to tell him. Looking at him with an apologetic look. Her eyes moved down and she stared at the floor. Way to go Caroline, That was a smart move.

"I just don't feel like I know you as well as I should." she snapped back and stood up. It was nearing a year that they have known each other shouldn't they know more about each other? Yeah, okay a small amount of that 'communication issue' she had blurted out was dealing with her mother's letter.

"I'm leaving now. If you care to know." She pulled out the papers that had been in her pockets all day. Pushing the letter against his chest.



"I've got stuff that I need to sort out. If you can't tell me what your doing then neither do I." She stormed off, up the corridor, She was at the end off the corridor to the Seventh floor.


Shaking her head she realized that she was going up and not down the way she needed to go. She needed to find Kita, and tell her that she was leaving. When she passed by Carter again she stopped. "Dont be suprised if you don't see me for a while." She walked off. It was for a split second that she thought that Carter was going to stop her, and if he did she would gave him a proper explaination. If not she would be back in a couple weeks. She at least had a name and a town to start at. When she reach the other end of the corridor she stopped and turned looking back at him one more time. and whispered the words "I love you"

Carter was sorry too. But he didn't want to think too much of it. The thought of what he might have missed out on had he found out earlier really bothered him. But he didn't want to mention that to Caroline. He didn't want her to know that being related to his ex may very well have stopped him from being interested in her. In fact, the thought bothered him so much he preferred not to think of it.

"We've only known each other a year. You're not going to know everything about me or everything that's ever happened to me." he said ever so slightly irritated. What was with girls and insisting they know everything? That took out all the fun of discovering something new everyday... which was something he enjoyed about not knowing Caroline as long as he knew other people.

Carter looked over the letter that Caroline shoved at him. He scanned it again. By the the time he looked up again Caroline was down the hall. "Wait! Caroline!" he said taking off after her. "It's just something that I need to figure out. You can respect that right? It's not like I'm never going to tell you..."

He handed the papers back. "I'm not going to stop you from going because this is something you need to do." he said hoping she would catch the correlation in the two situations. He had something to figure out just as she did. "Just promise me you'll be careful. And write... if you get the chance..."

Caroline stopped and turned around when Carter told her to wait. Pushing some hair that had fallen in her face back behind her ear. Taking a few steps toward him, She gave him a hug. "I'm sorry." She really did feel bad about being a brat over it. "Yeah I understand. I was being a complete brat. I know, you would've told me."

Taking the papers back and sticking them in her pocket. "You're not?" She didn't think that he would. Just a big meanie would tell her not to go. Like her mum. He was right she needed to do this. She gave him a kiss. It was so great to know that she had his support. "Of course I'll write when I can and as much as a can." She smiled of course what kind of girlfriend or friend for that matter would she didnt write. "I'll take care of myself. I've got a friend in Italy that I can stay with." So it was she was going to be out on the streets alone or anything.

"Casey and Sarah are coming to get me later tonight. They're talking me to Italy." She told him.She was leaving tonight. At least Carter and Kita knew where she would be, and that was really the only people she cared to tell. "I've at least got the town, so all I need to do is find him." She looked down the corridor and looked back at him. She would miss him alot but she would be back in a couple weeks. "Well I guess I should go and ...mmm...start packing now."

Carter hugged her back. "It's fine." he said putting a hand on her cheek. They were having their first 'grownup' type of fight. It was weird, but at the same time, it was a lot better than actually getting in a fight. They both seemed to have a sense of what needed to be done. It was then he realized that things wouldn't change between them while she was gone.

He kissed her back. "Good luck." he said with a smile. He was going to miss her. A lot. "I'll be here for you when you get back. Or want to talk." he told her. Depending on what happened she might not be ready to share right away. Just like he wasn't ready to share what was happening in his life. And he was fine with that as long as she knew he was always there if she needed it.

"Right... you probably should." he said. He turned to walk away before turning back and giving her a tight hug. "I love you. Be careful."

Caroline smiled, after letting of him. Placing her hand over the one of his that was on her cheek. She looked at him, and took his other hand in hers. It was a quiet moment but not like the arkward quiet but it was an understanding each other kind of moment. She felt a thousand times better then she did fifteen minutes ago.

"Thanks" She smiled and squezed his hand. "I know.I know that you are." She was so lucky to have such a great support system once she got back. Hopefully when she got back, she wouldn't need it. Once she got back she would know who he was, and all the jazz. The father that she had was gone, but now she would have a father again.

She nodded, and squeezed him back. Kissing him on the cheek. "I will be. I love you, too" She grinned and turned to walk down to her common room. She had a lot of packing to do.

Carter was completely hypnotized by their moment. It was one of those moments that his sister pointed out when she was watching her movies. She always called it romantic. He always laughed. It didn't seem possible to him that anything like that would happen in real life. And here he was living one of those moments.

It took a few minutes after she'd already left for him to find the ability to move once again. When he finally found it he just walked away slowly. It was going to be a long and hard few weeks. But strangely enough he felt fine. And he knew they'd both be fine.

Viola climbed the remaining few steps before she stood leaning against the wall on the sixth floor. Geez. Climbing six floors for a little bit of peace and quiet was definitely a bad idea.

There didn't seem to be anyone around so she sat down, stretching out her legs. She removed a book from her bag and started reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.

Riley had just finished his business in the boys lavatory here on the sixth floor and decided to just sort of mingle around up here instead of going outside to do his Potions homework. It was a tad chilly out there you know? Instead he pulled out a chocolate cauldren he had bought down in Honeydukes the other day and unwrapped it, dropping the wrapper on the floor accidentally totally on purpose.

Hmm he needed something to do around here...

Legend had stuff to do. Not important stuff though. Rounds, homework. Clearly not important at all. The seventh year strolled through the halls without a care in the world. Studying for NEWTS probably should have been on his mind but it wasn't.

He turned the corner on the sixth floor just in time to see a wrapper drop onto the floor. Littering! The house elves were suppose to clean up after them yeah, but that didn't mean that they were suppose to just throw stuff on the floor. As Legend's eyes fell on the litterer, Riley. Riley. Without any warning he ran up to his classmate and stole the chocolate from his hands. "Chocolate cauldren, nice choice!" He said breaking off a piece of the chocolate and sticking it into his mouth.

Continuing to stroll along the corridor, looking at a random painting or sticking his finger into a crack in the wall's morder Riley was just about to take a bite from his nice new Chocolate Cauldren when it was snached by someone.

"What the HELL?" he said appauled, turning around to see who in Merlin's beard thought it was smart to take something out of his hand he had planned on putting into his mouth. That's exactly how people got bitten. "Excuse me Legend but what do you think you are doing?!" Exactly he probably wasn't thinking. "Give me my chocolate back, now!"

Coming down from the common room, Dal wasn't exactly sure where he was planning on going. He thought about the library, to try to do some of that studying that Louisa thought he should do. He was carrying his book bag, so it wasn't such a bad idea...

But wait - distraction. A reason to not go study. As Dal walked down the corridor, he saw a girl reading against the wall. A younger girl, but hopefully she wouldn't mind some company. "You know," he said cheerfully as he walked over to her, "There's got to be a more comfortable place to read than the floor?" Just sayin'.

Legend couldn't hold back a snort. The chocolate actually did taste good. It melted in his mouth, obviously freshly packaged or something. "Eating chocolate? That's all man." He couldn't be more amused. When you threw garbage on the floor, Legend ate your food. Or...something like that. He really just wanted the chocolate. "Here mate." He said tossing the chocolate back to Riley, just as he said.

"You should get me some more of that. It would be awesome." At least Riley was polite. The polite garbage throwing Gryffindor.

Riley glared at the Gryffindor Prefect, his mouth oozing from the disgustingly awful way he chewed. Oh...Riley hated the way he talked to. UGH!! He was seething, he wanted his CHOCOLATE! Before he could do anything, Legend threw the half-eaten, drooled all over, cauldren back.

The Gryffindor seventh year let it fall on the floor and just looked at it. What was happening? This never happened to HIM! "I don't want that one nooww. I want a new one!" he said angrily. He felt like he wanted to punch this guy...but he didn't.

Viola had finished reading a few pages when she heard someone talking to her. She looked up and smiled at the boy..an older boy, she thought. "Yeah, well. I just wanted to get away from the noise for sometime.." The common room was just too crowded..and all she wanted to do was relax with her book for a little while. "It's quite peaceful here." She looked around the empty floor.

Umm. "So, do you want to join me?" She asked, hesitating. She wasn't sure if a senior would like to sit with a second year.

Dal looked around, nodding. It was peaceful up here. Come to think of it, he'd probably disturbed her peace. Whoops. He thought about leaving her to herself and heading on towards not the library, but then she offered for him to join her and he figured why not?

"Sure," he said as he sat down against the wall, stretching his legs out in front of and dropping the bag on the floor by his side. "I'm Dallin by the way. Whatcha reading?"

Well, even if it was peaceful, it definitely wasn't worth climbing six floors. Whew!

"Viola. Nice to meet you, Dallin." She blushed slightly as she held up the book for him to have a look. She was supposed to be doing her homework..not reading Jane Austen novels. Anyway, she was in no mood to study. "Pride and Prejudice. It's pretty good. At least, not as bad as I expected."