Now that the boy had looked up at Sophia, she recognized him. She had briefly talked with him in first year. What a long time ago. She wondered if he had remembered her, and he probably did. She was bawling the last time they met.... Awkward.... "I am Sophia, and I believe we have met before." she said, smiling. "Yes, I am." she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Me too." she said, sighing. She loved Italy. It was home. She missed it so much.

"You can't ask me that!" Lucas said with a laugh. "I have way too many! I mostly like Muggle books, though." He nodded. "Those are all cool things. I would love to play violin. I play guitar, which is sort of like a giant violin, I guess. Well, a cello is more like a giant violin, I suppose, but you know what I mean."

Samira carefully took a seat next to Gwen, delicately folding her legs and skirt under her. She hasn't really talked to a lot of her new first year friends, which was her fault. She was planning to be sort of an older sister to some of them, a guide of sorts. It was pointless to start now, though, since they were so far into the year. That didn't really matter though...there would be other chances. Now it was just nice to talk to Gwen, who she hadn't spoken to in months.

"I know," she replied simply. "It really has been too long. I'm doing great, thanks." She gave a quick, small smile. Suddenly peering over, she was curious to see a torn piece of parchment with what looked like a picture. "You draw?" she asked in interest, making sure to mask her excitement. Samira loved drawing, and had yet to find someone else with that talent.

After finally managing to find his sketchbook, Matt left the school and headed through the grounds until he finally arrived at the courtyard; well being back here had brought back some odd memories of the last conversation that he had had with his ex girlfriend TJ, that actually was when they weren't dating since that all came about in Diagon Alley last summer. However this time, he was out here to meet someone new; which was good since he'd been too distracted by other things like studying to actually meet anyone else outside his friends.

Sophia saw a cute boy sitting alone, so she decided to go and talk to him. She really needed to make some new friends, as the young lion has hung out with the same people for 3 years now. She sat down next to the boy and politely introduced herself. "Hi, I am Sophia Lombardi." she said, in her signature Italian accent. She really hoped that he wanted to talk, because if he didn't she would look like a doofus.

"Really? You don't have an ultimate favorite? You have to have one!" Cove said laughing. "Mine is 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. All I know is muggle books." She said. "Yeah, I think the guitar has too many strings. But, yeah I get it. THree of my brothers play guitar, one has a band, one is in jazz band, and the last one is just a dork."

Looking up from his sketchbook as he heard someone speaking to him, Matt finally noticed out of his peripheral vision that it was a younger girl that decided to join him; not that he had a problem with it. He finally turned his head to grin slightly at the girl before deciding to introduce himself. "Nice to meet you Sophia, my name's Matt Stevenson; lovely accent you have there." He hadn't heard many other accents outside of the British and French ones from the people that he had met over the past couple years between Diagon Alley and Hogwarts, so it was quite nice to hear something different.

"Crap"

Aaron had scared Jimbo and sent everything everywhere. He WOULD have pulled out his wand and done some magic... but then he thought about the possibility of something going wrong, and making things worse. Aaron was sure Jimbo had heard about his magic, and Aaron knew how much he LOOOOOVED Candy. So the captain decided to, well, leave it at that.

Bending down to pick up his book, and try and clean up some of the candy, Aaron said, "Sorry 'bout that..." before looking up at him to see him.... kind of staring.... Odd.

He cleaned up as much as he could, and kind of... pushed it to the side to be thrown out later... Aaron stood up, and handed Jimbo his book back. It wasn't until then that Aaron realized what Jimbo said. '... I think.'

"What's there to think?" Aaron finally responded standing in front of him. "We're friends... right?" Right?

It took much rummaging to find the paintings that Ellie was looking for, but she finally found it in time. With those in hand, she made her way to the kitchen level and picked up the brownies she had ordered from the house elves down there. She had helped a little bit, but Ellie was a terrible chef so she left the rest to the professionals. She smiled when the spring air hit her. And it was about time; she was getting sick of the cold snow. Ellie searched the courtyard for the boy she was looking for. Which could have been a little difficult, considering they hadn't really met.

Seeing a boy with a hat and a sketchbook, Ellie was pretty sure it was him and made her way over. "Hey, Matt?" She questioned with a nervous smile, hoping it really was him.

Due to the earlier distraction with Sophia arriving, Matt really wasn't paying much attention to the fact that he had originally come out here to meet so when he had heard another girl calling his name in a rather interesting tone; he shook out of the distraction and turned his head in the direction where the voice was coming from. "Yeah? Oh! Hey Ellie, I was wondering when you'd show up." He noticed a rather suspicious plate in her hand and clued in immediately that they were the aforementioned brownies that she was going to bring him, anytime someone was to bring him chocolate; it made him happy. Don't you think she might have done something to them cause she could be part of the whole conspiracy thing that you spoke about with Dallin? It seemed his own brain was being more so stupid than usual, he had completely dropped that whole idea since he kinda figured that not all the girls at Hogwarts were trouble.

"Well, that's always a start, but it sounds like you don't want to work in the ministry. I mean, I know I wouldn't really either. Are your parents letting YOU have a say in what YOU want?" Stephen asked. Was that too personal again? Maybe. But no one would want to work there right out of school. It was like going back to school again. A dreadful feeling about working at the Ministry appeared on people's face whenever Stephen passed by.

"Oh, me? I haven't given it much thought yet. I know I wouldn't want to be in the Ministry or office type of work. I get all fidgety whenever I sit down or am in one place for too long. Maybe I'll go for something that'll keep me active," he shrugged. Maybe he'll go be a model for Tyler's mom.. HA. No, that wasn't happening anytime soon either. Ehh, there's time for the future a bit later. Watching Roderigo take something from the ground for his potions class, Stephen thought about what he personally needed for class.

"I haven't been paying much attention in classes lately. So I'm a bit behind in what I'm actually learning," Welp.

Cass rolled her eyes instinctively. She really didn't believe that whatever was printed on the Apericium wasn't a lie, what was there to sort out? If she would be able to control what was happening around her, she wouldn't let that guy 20 feet from Kurumi. But of course, that wasn't her call to make...

Then she crossed, uncrossed, and crossed her arms over and over as she tapped her foot restlessly against the stone, she was feeling fine really, but she still can't help but wonder why he gave her flowers. Why he liked her. What did she do?

"Its not a right, its a privilege, really." She said smugly as she smiled. Although, it was increasingly becoming easier to get into the house. Its not just the elites and all that...

Then she grinned even when he disclaimed the fact that it really is cool. "Well at least you're half something" Cass said with a playful roll of her eyes. Since both sides of her family were from old, British, pureblood lines, she wasn't anything except British. She would have loved to be French. She did already speak the language after all.

She nodded vigorously when he asked if it was messy in there. "Surprisingly, yes." Then she shrugged carelessly, you would think that since they were girls they would be all neat and tidy with their things, but it seems that wasn't the case at all. "We don't really bother cleaning it since its all clean clothes that are scattered around the room anyway, and we're all almost the same size, well, us who are the same age..so we can freely burrow each other's clothes."

"Potions, huh?" She said with a shrug, it really wasn't surprising for a Slytherin to like potions, even if they didn't get special treatment from the scary head of house, it was really fun. There's just something deliciously devious about potions that draw Slytherins together. But she was surprised when he said that he liked Lafay too. That's where she would have to disagree. She really found Lafay scary.

She smiled when he said he played the piano too. "Oh! I can play the piano too!" She said enthusiastically. It turns out daily torture sessions Paino lessons payed off after all. "That is so cool!"

She backed slightly away as he leaned in. Nuh-uh. She's had enough of guys suddenly leaning in then stealing kisses from her. Justin may have been successful, same with Levi, but she was on her guard now. Then she thought for a while...What's to tell? "Well, uh, I dunno. I guess my favorite subject is History of Magic, I don't really have a favorite professor.." She said with a shrug before continuing "My favorite color is blue, pink comes in second. As you already know, I play the guitar and I often compose songs..." What else?

Just as she was about to say something else, she heard Heather talking to herself...or at least she thought it was Heather. Hah, her and her vulcan hearing.

ooc: BIG BANG THEORY REFERENCE <3

Well, Heather or not, whoever was spying on them - and she was pretty sure there was someone there - better leave, or make themselves known. She doesn't appreciate being spied on.

Dani walked slowly across the courtyard, the envelope firmly in her hands as she sat down on one of the ledges- smoothing out her skirt and pushing back her curls as she opened it up and began to read the letter. She smiled and blushed a little as she did so. Sighing, she folded it up and held it in her hand as she sat back against the column. Looking up into the sky dreamily, thinking... it seemed like she did a lot of that, daydreaming.

Friendsssssssssssssss........

Of course. Why wouldn't they be?

Because this is the most awkward situation Jimbo has ever been in. How was he supposed to know that The Boyfriend thought they were friends? He hadn't ever had a proper one-on-one conversation with him.

Jimbo was much too preoccupied with this to realize that The Boyfriend had just shoved away a whole bunch of candy. With his charms skills, Jimbo could have easily cleaned those off, something he would have brought to attention were it not for the fact that this was super awkward.

Like, No, we're not friends because you're dating the girl I like and I am a total third wheel and if you weren't around I wouldn't be.

...Wait a minute, did he even know about that?
He must not if he was coming up to talk to him in such a friendly manner.
Oh, well that makes sense.

"How are you doing...Mr. Friend?" So maybe he should try to be a little friendly right? Jimbo didn't exactly have a plan but he figured if The Boyfriend didn't know how Jimbo felt about Monty then there was nothing to gain from telling him.

And even though he knew he shouldn't he couldn't help what he said next, "How are you and Monty?"

Wiliam decided to check out the Courtyeard. Hopefully a freind or two will be here. Who knowa, maybe he can makea new freind today?

Aurora skipped into the courtyard and perched herself on the edge of the fountain, trailing her left fingers in the water and surveying the people around her. She was pretty sure that she was waiting for Aaron or someone, or Iris, or both (mummy AND daddy snake) so she just sat, very quietly, watching.

Sophia sat down next to him, hoping he didn't mind her joining him. He probably didn't, but some people really like to be alone. Sophia was not one of those people. "Nice to meet you Matt." she said, grinning. "Oh, thanks!" she said, blushing. That accent got way to much attention. "To be honest, I love British accents. They're awesome." she said, smirking. Truth be told, she liked them, because in Britain they were the norm. She didn't like standing out.

He closed his sketchbook and set it back down on his lap as she decided to sit down beside him; not that he had a problem really since he kinda didn't feel like sitting outside by himself. "Well I enjoy any accent except for the American one, I'm so used to hearing it that it's sort of annoying. That's the joys of being one of the few students around here from North America, when people hear me speak; I stick out like a sore thumb." Matt was used to being a bit different though, he wasn't the normal surfer from California; there was so much more to him that not many people knew about. His life was a constant defiance of stereotypes.

Sophia chuckled. She knew exactly what it felt like to stick out. There were very few students at Hogwarts from Italy, so she really stood out. "I like the American accent." she said, shrugging. But, that probably because she wasn't American. "Now, the Italian accent, on the other hand, can get mildly annoying." she said. She heard them ALL the time, so it was nice to get to hear a bunch of new things. "So I forgot to mention that I am a third year Gryffindor." she said, beaming. She was so proud to be a Gryffindor, because her father was one too.

As the topic of conversation continued to be about accents, Matt seemed to get an understanding that they both knew what it was like to stand out because of how they ended up speaking. "I think any accent can become rather annoying to you if you're from the place. But here, it really seems like the whole accent thing is the last thing that matters when you're talking to someone which is cool." He wasn't sure how much longer this topic could have been drawn out for, though he was willing to let Sophia continue on as long as she wanted to. "Well I'm a 5th year Slytherin, if this was old times; we wouldn't be talking. But I don't like to believe in the old rivalries since we shouldn't let some old nonsense tell us that we can't be friends or date people because they're not in a specific house." At least at his old school, he didn't need to be entirely concerned about that since there weren't houses; it was just divided up by year which made things actually quite difficult.

Sophia nodded her head. As much as she loved being Italian and Italy itself, she didn't like standing out. "Agreed." she said, smirking. A cool breeze blew by, causing the girl to shiver. She hated this weather. Why couldn't it just be warm year round? Although, if Sophia had realized how cold it was outside, she would have been smart and brought a hoodie. "I don't believe in all that nonsense either. It's just silly." she said. "My mom was a Slytherin and my dad was a Gryffindor, so that just sticks it to them." she said, laughing. She loved the irony of it all. The girl thought it was stupid that instead of working together, the old Gryffindors and Slytherins would just fight and hate each other. Just because two people are different, doesn't mean they can't be friends or love each other.

It seemed that he finally had met someone else outside a few people he had met the previous summer that understood exactly what he was saying, it was awesome to have a conversation with another person who you didn't have to explain anything to; they just got it without a problem. "My parents were both Slytherins but they were one of the few to speak out against the whole house rivalry nonsense; my cousin on the other hand, she's a really old school former Slytherin; she used to have the beliefs that Slytherins were to only associate themselves with fellow pureblood housemates and that being friends with the other houses was completely unnecessary. She did on the other hand have two Gryffindor best friends, a Ravenclaw partner in crime and a Hufflepuff boyfriend at one point in time so it was rather amusing to see her realize that she was pretty much contradicting her family's belief system with her own actions." He did see some of the old Slytherin beliefs at times when she wrote letters to him and even his ex girlfriend but that seemed to have diminished as quickly as it had arrived.

Ellie grinned a little as they recognized each other. "Hopefully I'm not too late." She said with a bit of a nervous chuckle. She was pleased to see that Matt had his sketchbook; she was actually quiet excited to see what he had been working on. Ellie noticed Matt eye her plate of brownies and she instantly remembered that they were still in her hand. "Oh! These are for you. For taking me to the hospital wing." And making sure I didn't die. She handed the plate out towards him. Sure, the house elves in the kitchen had done most of it, but Matt didn't need to know. At least not yet.

Ellie gestured to the space next to him. "Mind if I sit? I brought some paintings to show you." She said with a sheepish smile. She was a little nervous to show him all her work, in all honesty. Ellie really wasn't one to show off all she had done, in fear of being criticized or ridiculed. A silly fear, really.

THE HUNT CONTINUESooc: Please do not post your charrie here unless he/she has completed the previous tasks.

As you step outside of the castle, think twice about heading away from the place you ought to be, because there's one Hufflepuff Prefect and one Slytherin Captain that will stop you from leaving before your time.

They stand near the Fountain in the middle of the Courtyard and there is a certain glow to the water that tells you there's something magical inside it. Is there?

That's up to you to find out.

The Captain took one step forward and finally spoke up, "You each carry something that will help you get ahead, but you can't go on your own, you need to work together and rewarded you will be."

They were free to ask any questions, except about their final destination.

"Pair up and pay up."

OOC How this will work:

• First, you may need to pair up with Hufflepuffs and Slytherins to get this done.
• There are four coins and one map that will get you what you need (an object in the Fountain).
• BOTH Karla or myself will post if you got it right, as well as answer any questions you may have.
• The posts required to make this successful will depend on you, so, be cunning and hard-working. But 3 or 4 posts per person would suffice (this will include the work with the coins and the map).
• Having fun is a must.

The walk down to the courtyard and the fresh air from outside got rid of the annoyed attitude she unfortunately acquired during that twenty questions session, however, seeing her quidditch captain...she sighed heavily as her walk slowed down. Obviously this couldn't be easy. She half expected whatever 'treasure' thing this was to be here.

With a new plan in mind, meaning if she got annoyed from THIS task...she was going to go and find Josh instead, Evelyn stopped a few good feet away, glancing at the others who were there, and keeping an ear open to what Aaron was saying. Hmmm that's riiight...she was carrying something. How did she forget that?

Though...what the heck were they supposed to do with it? AND they had to pair up? Eh...was Sierra here?