The Front Gate
 

Completely lost in her memories, Mina hadn't noticed the sound of anyone coming her way. She did tend to block out a lot of things when was there. The place just had that effect on her.

Nearly jumping, she raised her hand to her chest and shook her head. Leave it to her own cousin to surprise her like so. She had seen him at the feast and did want to head over and say hi, but she ended up at the Slytherin table for most the feast with Evan.

"You know how I hate to disappoint, dear cousin," she replied after calming her heart a bit. "When in doubt, head to the front gate for me."

Simon fought laughter at the Ravenclaw's reaction, seeing the surprise in her movements and in the end giving in to his amusement and chuckling just a bit. "Sorry..." he said even if she didn't seem made at him for doing what he did, making the last couple of feet and taking his own seat on the rock though there was still room between them.

"Yep...have to keep that in mind again," he said with a nod in agreement, the boy making a mental note of the information seeing as he was out of practice with her having been gone. "So...is it everything you remember?"

Mina was a bit embarrassed at her reaction, but being embarrassed in front family was so different. She did always scare kind of easily but she would just have to own it now. "It's okay, didn't really expect anyone to find me here so soon." She really didn't think anyone would even remember how much she loved the front gates.

"It's so peaceful here," she nodded as she motioned around. It was the perfect place to think and remember. It was the one place that she wanted to come see first after the feast. "Things are different, but the same." There were different faces and whatnot, but the same magical feeling was still there.

William checks out the front gate.

Simon smile truly glad they got these little moments again, nothing like having family around because sometimes you got to be so much more normal around them. "To be honest it was mostly by chance I did find you seeing as I was just out wandering around the grounds. Only so much to do before classes begin," he remarked with a one armed shrug.

"I can imagine," he mused figuring it had to be a challenge to deal with the changes and unfamiliar faces even amongst the familiar ones. Shoot even being here year after year it was always interesting to say the least with new professors and underclassmen.

Peyton skipped her way to the front gate. She wondered if she'd be able to sneak out and explore the castle's surroundings. She was in mid skip when she saw a familiar blonde head. WILLIAM.

Slowly and sneakily, she tip-toed behind him and poked him on his shoulder. "BOO!" she said and giggled.

Oh yeah, that was scary.

Mina nodded as she took in his words. It was nice to have a small family moment after just leaving home again. There was a certain comfort in having someone that close to you around. She had been lacking that the past two terms, thus making her feel as if she wasn't herself. Family always served to keep her grounded. "Wandering really is a family trait, isn't it?" she teased. Chance was probably what did find them there, but it was a good thing. "Wandering around and exploring are the only things you really can do until the craziness all starts again," she added with a tiny shrug. She could be up in the tower or library getting a head start on her lessons, but where was the fun in that?

"I mean, basically everything is just how I remember it. Big details haven't changed, but the tiny little things have," she voiced. There were tiny little things she had noticed on her exploring earlier this morning. The stairs seemed take her a longer route and there was a different feel to the castle. She couldn't pinpoint it, but she knew it was just different. The familiar faces hidden amongst the new faces would take some getting used to, but that was something she had expected. "I do feel different being here again though. Like I missed a lot whilst I was gone."

" Oh, you are bad and you scared me" William told Peyton as he jumped in the air. " I have not seen you in awhile" William said to Peyton. " I missed my cute Slytherin red-head" William smiled. " So where else should we go on the grounds?" William asked Pryton.

Peyton covered her mouth trying to hide a giggle. She had scared him! Everytime she tried doing that to her dad he caught her instead. "Sorry, it was really tempting." she said, patting his shoulder. She always liked to surprise people. "I know, I've been trying to get used to Hogwarts." Well, it was her first day at the school and so far she was liking it a lot.

She smiled when William said he missed her. She missed him and Fee, and John too. She hasn't seen him much after their big fight. The girl looked around and had no clue as to where to go next. "I don't know, surprise me." she chirped. Really, she didn't want to get lost.

" I do not mind you scaring me" William told Peyton." You will get used to HogWarts" William said to Peyton." I think we should go to the treehouse" William said to Peyton. "We will be able to get around here because of our third member of the " Muskeeteers," Fee" William explained to Peyton.

He didn't mind? Woohoo! This made Peyton happy and it meant that she had to start planning, hehe. "I guess I will." she said, looking down at her hands. She really hoped she did because she already missed her daddy, a lot. She then remembered their groups name and smiled. "Oh yes! Fee will help us get around." she beamed.

The girl's eyes widened when he mentioned a treehouse. "There's a tree house? Awesome!" she's always wanted one.

" Trust me, you will do great here" William told Peyton." Fee , you nd I will have such a great time" William said to Peyton. " how is your common room?" William asked Peyton.

"You really think?" she wasn't so sure about doing so well. Usually, she would forget all the things her Nan would teach her, but that was probably because she read comic books instead of studying. "Oh yes, we will!" the girl beamed. She knew that Fee and William would make school much more fun than she expected. "Is great, I love it! Did you know it's under the lake?" she smiled. Her common room was awesome. "How's your common room?" the Lion's room was probably different than her's.

" I know you will do great" William told Peyton."" Lotd of great times aheadfor the Muskeeters" William said to Peyton. " Our common room is in the tower on the seventh floor. high rent didtrict" William laughed.

"Thanks, William. I bet you'll do awesome." she smiled. William was a smart guy so she knew he would. "Oh yes! I'm glad I met you and Fee." really she was because if she hadn't then she'd probably be friendless. "That's cool!" Peyton laughed. He probably had a great view from up there. "Did you know, John is in Gryffindor?" she said, picking a flower from the ground.

Cass walked down the stairs and looked around, there aren't a lot of people here by the gates. Probably because everyone is inside. Away from the cold wind or something.

She sat down at the bottom step and tugged idly at her leggings. It as nice to be somewhere so quiet. After all, silence isn't something that you often find in Hogwarts. Especially with all the first years running around the grounds, ooh-ing and ahh-ing about every little thing they see.

Christopher walked down to the gates, eager to get alone and just be with his thoughts. Hopefully then he could avoid the large amounts of first year girls mobbing up the castle. It wasn't natural for that many tiny girls to be in one place. He knew nobody would be at the gates, and he was glad of this. Ever since Selina had told him about all girls knowing that Cass had a crush on him made him feel stupid, flattered, weird, and scared all at once. He didn't like being in the spotlight. He'd much rather be in the background. He walked slowly as he approached the gates, and clamped his hand over his mouth to keep from giving a small yell. Speak of the devil, Cass was a mere thirty yards away from him.

Christopher deeply debated running away sneakily, but he was sure Cass had just spotted him. He wasn't going to be a jerk and run off, but he still wasn't sure how he felt about her crush. He gave a small wave as she glanced at him through the corner of her eye and waved her over to join him. Let the butterflies begin.

" I am glad I met yo uand Fee. too" William told Peyton. " Awesomeness is the "Musketeers" William said to Peyton." Glad you do mind where our common room is in the school" William explained to Peyton." Oh, John, I do not thnk I klnoe him even if he is in Gryffindor" Wiliam gave Peyton a fake smile. A pain shout through William's heart. Wiliam needs to talk to Fee. " How do you like the classes?" William asked Peyton.

Cass frowned as she watched Christopher wave at her cautiously. Huh? What was going on? Is she missing on something. She stood up from the stairs and walked up to him, tying her hair in a high, messy ponytail while she walked. She didn't want it in the way.

"What's up?" She asked curiously, frown still firmly settled on her face.

Phyre.
 

Grass. Grass. Grass. NUUUUUUU. It was then that the puppy had been pulled into the arms by an unknown person. The puppy whined and swung his front paws back and forth, reaching for the grass that was quickly moving away from him. Frooown. Puppy wanted more GRASS.

Sprinting as fast as he could throughout Hogwarts was Jayce Cannon without any shoes and large holes in his socks. "WOOOODY!" He shouted repeatedly as he drew out the name. Why did the dog always manage to escape him? No matter what the seventh year did to prevent it, the pup always managed to find a way to escape his clutches.

Reaching the grounds, Jayce continued running, almost tripping in the process and still shouting his dog's name. It's not like the puppy would reply. They weren't playing Marco-Polo or anything. Plus, Jay wasn't completely sure that the dog knew his own name yet.

SIIIIGH.

Eventually reaching the front gates, the Gryffindor quickly spotted a familiar figure only a few steps away sitting in the grass with it's back turned to him. With a sigh, he walked closer to her and sat down, with a loud huff, beside the now black-haired female.

"Have you seen-" but it was then that he spotted the reddish pile of fur in her lap. "Woody." he breathed, "Thank Merlin."