Ara removed herself from her hug to Finn. That was enough body contact for the moment. She pulled back, linking her arm to his. "Walk with me," she demanded simply. She was happy to hear his words of missing her. He should have missed her, in her own eyes, because she had made a point to not be around...for reasons only she knew.

"Blah! Don't worry about me disappearing," she spoke with confidence. "Worry about me being around now." She moved to poke his stomach in a playful way, then moved to wink. "I've been absent for some time and I miss my friends." Look out, she was back.

Finlay had to laugh at her demand. Oh Ara. "You've not changed at all..." He mused with a smirk, before he began to walk with her. Finn figured that Ara wouldn't be Ara if she awsn't like this though, so he didn't mind it at all. Well unless her demands got too much, it wasn't like he was single anymore. And he was headboy. Yeah...he had a reputation now.

"Oh...but I was SO sad when you were gone..." Finn pretended with a grin. Yeah. He had a bit, but like he wasn't really gone tell her that. He wasn't that much of a wuss. "Oh...well good thing you're back then..." He nodded with a smile.

First, she smirked, glad to hear that she had not changed at all. It was her whole agenda of staying away, not allowing one person to see her upset for any length of time. Second, she stopped walking, pulling Finn with her to stop because...she wanted to stop and give a chance to roll her eyes at him.

"You lie," she shook her head, of course, rolling her eyes to his sorrowful confession. "Though I am going to accept that you really were sad while I was gone." She paused, dramatically, leaning in to whisper. "I will be happily satisfied knowing that I was missed by you." She straightened up herself and her her Slytherin robes.

"So tell me what has been going on." Gossip. She wanted to hear about the school's gossip and where she needed to chill out first.

Roxana smiled at the boy. "Hi William. I'm Roxana. I'm reading a history book, nothing special. Just old stories about the old times." She grinned at the younger boy. It was stunning that a Gryffindor started to talk to a Slytherin. "Well, I love my house. What about you?" She asked.

" Hello Roxana" William smiled." I like history" William told Roxana. " I love my house, too" William said to Roxana. Do you have favorite class? 'William asked Roxana.

"Yeah, in school, History isn't one of my favorite subjects, but it's kind of interesting. I like DADA. What about you ?" Roxana asked William.

" I should have said I like History of Magic" Willaim told Roxane."DADA would be fun except for the profesor this term" William said to Roxane. "So I like Historry of Magic and Muggle Studies" Wiliam expalined to Roxane.

"No, I think it still is fun as long as you cope with the teachers behavior." Roxana stopped, thinking about how she could try not to really talk about Muggle Studies. Not that she didn't like it, she never attended class and she never wanted to. It was nothing a Slytherin should ever do. "Well, how are Muggle Studies?"

Septimus. Now there was a name she didn't hear everyday. "That's a nice name." Harper smiled and nodded. "Yeah...I love that castle, but the fresh air helps you think, I think." There was a nice chilly breeze coming through the courtyard that blew some strands of red hair from behind her ear around. She swept her hand up to try and tame it, but gave up after the breeze kept persisting that she was meant to have a bad hair day. Oh well.

" You are right about DADA" Willaim told Roxana. " I do not like, really can't stand the professor" William said to Roxana. " Muggle Studies is fun, but the Muggle Studies teacher had to leave quickly for an unknown reason" Willaim explained to Roxana.

Gav walked through the courtyard, intent on heading to the front gate. As she walked by the moss and ivory covered pillars, she noticed some caterpillars crawling across the stone.

She plucked them up and put them into a jar to store them. "One down, four to go!"

"Hm, that's weird. And really nobody still knows why he left? I mean, somebody has to know!", Roxana sounded a little surprised. How could it be that a teacher suddenly left?

" Noo one has told us anything about the professor" Willaim told Roxane. " It will remain a mystery" William sadi to Roxane. "Have you been to the lake?" William asked Roxane.

"Okay, it gets stranger and stranger", Roxana said. "Been to the lake before? Sure, I go there nearly once a day, if I'm able to manage it. I love the lake. If you find the right places it's so quiet. I guess it's the same with you, right?"

Amazingly enough, Damien carried a rather thick book tucked under his arm. Before walking out to the courtyard, he deposited his robe in exchange for his leather jacket. His scarf was still around his neck, but hung in a loose knot.

He would have started reading through it in the library, but thought the fresh air would keep him focussed. This was, after all, the first book he has opened. Ever.

Not too many students out and about either. He figured they were all taking shelter in the warmth of the castle.

Didn't take him too long to find a spot, as a result of the lack of population in the area. He settled on a stone bench, repositioned his scarf and took the book from under his arm, taking a long look at the title.

Isobel looked around, looking for someone else she knew. Since there was no one else she knew there, besides Sammy of course, she decided to talk to someone new. Isobel spotted someone who looked lonely and skipped over to them. "Hi," she said cheerfully.

Normally, no one would find Damien zoning out with a book. But there was always a first for everything. The sound of feet didn't phase him until he heard a perky voice saying hi.

To him?

He looked up and indeed someone was actually saying hello to him. He cleared his throat and closed the book that laid in his lap. "Oh, um ... hi," he stuttered.

He clasped his hands together, letting them drop between his knees, looking up at his company. "You seem very excited about something," he added.

He seemed very enthusiastic. "Not excited about anything in particular," Isobel told him. She was usually like this. "Anyway, my name is Isobel. I'm a fourth year Hufflepuff. What are you reading?" Isobel liked to read. Unless it was educational, then it was really boring.

Damien nodded his head, as Isobel introduce herself. He better check his attitude or else he really won't have any friends while at Hogwarts. He did have something in common with her; sharing the same house and all.

"Nice to meet you, Isobel," he said. "I'm Damien; 6th year Hufflepuff ..."

Her question about the book made him tense up. No reason not to tell her what he was reading. She would merely think it was for care of magical creatures or some other form of extra credit.

"Oh umm ..." he flipped the cover for her to see; The Book of Enoch. It's a book about Fallen Angels. Souls that have gone beyond this Earth, but have found their way back and wander around among the rest of us"

Wow ... that was deep. Great, now he probably freaked her out.

Ooooh, cool; he was a Hufflepuff too! Isobel liked Hufflepuffs. Well, she should, because she herself was a Hufflepuff. Hufflepuff is the best house, in her opinion at least. A Gryffindor probably wouldn't agree with her.

"That sounds interesting," Isobel said truthfully. She liked reading, so most books sounded interesting to her. But that one also sounded complicated, which added to the interest. "It also sounds creepy though. Is it good? ...So far?" Maybe he had read it before though, so he would know if it was good. "Are you just reading it for fun, or is it for something else?" What else would it be for? Isobel didn't know, but she had already asked the question so she couldn't take it back.

Damien smiled sideways. The way Isobel rattled off question afer question regarding Damien's choice of literature made him think she should be a 4th year Ravenclaw, rather than a Hufflepuff.

He couldn't blame her, though. The book was an interesting choice, not to mention the topic. Creepy. Yes, that could be a correct choice of wording to describe the book.

Being asked if it was for recreation purporses or not caught him off guard, however. Even though it was an understandable question. "I've actually only just picked it up. Was just at the library looking for a book like this. Not necessariliy this one in particular, but it sort of jumped out at me."

Now to answer the other part of her question. "Reading it for fun right now," he said. Which wasn't exactly the truth ... but not exactly a lie, either. Isobel seemed truly interested, and he wasn't about to push away one of the few people who've actually spoken to him.

He cleared his throat and moved the book in case she decided she wanted to sit down as well. "What brings you out here, Isobel?" he asked looking up to her. "It's nice coming to get fresh air, isn't it?"

So he didn't know if it was good or not? Apparently not, since he had just gotten it. What did he mean, for now? So there was a reason why he might read it for something else. What else would you read it for. Isobel shrugged mentally and let it go, because she didn't quite understand.

"It is quite nice out here. A little cold, but nice besides that." She looked up at the sky and saw the sun shining. That wasn't exactly proof that it was nice, but it helped. "I came out here because I got bored inside. I was thinking about playing soccer, but I didn't bring my ball." So she couldn't play, obviously. "Then I saw my friend Sammy and I thought she was a zombie, but apparently she's not."

That last bit caught him off guard. "Sorry? You thought your friend was a zombie?"

Huh.

"First off, how did you intitially think your friend was a zombie, and second, how did you arrive at the conclusion that your friend was not a zombie?"

Oof ... that made his head hurt.

Ah. Soccer. Something else he knew. Not that he ever played, but he knew of the sport and how it was played. "Well ...I'm not exactly a soccer ball, but if you're still interested in hanging around outside ... would you um ... wanna go for a walk somehwere?"

Nice Murray. Way to sound like a rambling idiot.

" Very, very strange" Willaim told Roxane. " Yes, I love going to the lake" William said to Roxane. " I like the quiet and the action there" William explained to Roxane. " Have you met " The Giant Squid?" William asked Roxane.

Isobel nodded like it was the most normal thing in the world to think your friend was a zombie. "Yep." Oh, he wanted to know why? Okay. "Well I thought she had died, but then she showed up here. So I thought she was a zombie. But she has a brain, she can feel pain, and she doesn't feel the urge to eat brains, so we came to the conclusion that she's not a zombie."

His statement almost made Isobel giggle, because it was funny. Of course he wasn't a soccer ball. In order to be a soccer ball he would have to be round and checkered with black and white. Well, not necessarily, soccer balls could be different colors. ANYWAY...

"Sure," Isobel said. "That sounds fun, and it's really nice outside. Where should we go?"