Zara didn't know how on earth she ended up in the Giant Treehouse again. It was a bright morning, at it was very early.

She decided to climb up the Treehouse and just sit there. Today, she wasn't clearly in the mood to go running. Maybe someone who could accompany her in doing the DADA homework would be nice.

Chad had finally made it to the top of the rope later and somehow managed to use the last of his strength to pull himself onto the level. Whew. As he sprawled out and took a moment to relax, Stryker suddenly realized just how big a mission getting up rope ladder was and how the students were able to do it with no problem was beyond him. Man.

Okaay. Time to get up.

Slowly, he got to his feet, looking around. Hmmm, it looked like the students were enjoying it. Yay!

"ZARA!!" said Ness spotting her good friend. She walked up to her then gave her a huge bear hug. She saw one of her best friend yesterday but still missed her as though she hadn't seen her all year."How was your night?" she asked trying to sound more normal.

" WEll, everything is going good between us" William told Zara. " She seems to be in the doem and the library all the time studing" William said to Zara. " Just call her Wisteria, he real name, might be easy for us when we both talk to each other" William explained to Zara.

" Well, I guess it would be weird" Wiliam laughed." Yes, a big family, but I met a girl named Cove who has more in her family than we do" William said to Fee." I bet you are the cutest in your family" William smiled." Yes, I am happy with my girlfreind but I am a little unhappy about classes" William expalined to Fee. " I have a hard time finding partners and being in a group in classes" William sighed. " How come you never partner up or ask me to be in your group?" William asked Fee. " i thought we were good freinds and Rex is my cousin" William cried.
"

Peyton shook her head. She was GLAD her sisters didn't go here or else they would make sure to make her life impossible. They'd probably even throw her into the lake or something. "No, they go to Beauxbatons," she said making a fake I'm-better-than-you-are face; mocking the face her sisters used on her.

Peyton raised an eyebrow when Jimbo started laughing like if someone was tickling his foot. She knew it! Her sisters had tricked her...

Wait.

O_o

It WAS true? "Really?!" she said, her eyes growing wide. She looked down at Pebbles and petted his shell at the middle so her finger wouldn't be close to his mouth. She hadn't seen any donkey around, so P didn't want to risk walking around with a turtle attached to her finger. "So, what if he bites you REAL hard and there's no donkey around?" Would his finger have to be cut off?

Oh man, turtles were dangerous.


Peyton acted like if her hand slipped from Fee's and she fell. The little red head fell ALL the way to the ground...

bounce...bounce...bounce...giggle.

The girl laughed at the thrill she felt. It was AWESOME! She looked up the treehouse where she had left Fee and William and waved. "I'm okay!" she laughed. She had pulled that prank on her daddy, but in the pool. His terrified face was FUNNY, but he ended up getting mad at her.

Oops, hehe.

Smiling Kurumi took a seat, crossed her legs, and set the box of cookies she had with her on the floor in front of her. "I'm Kurumi," she said bowing her head. "I've seen you around Hogwarts before. You're a first year, right?" Her cheeks flushed as she hoped that she hadn't made a mistake. "I never properly welcomed you, or any of the first year Hufflepuffs, so, welcome to Hogwarts."

She reached forward and opened the box of cookies.

"Would you like one? I just baked them this morning," she offered. "I was thinking of eating them between meditation sessions." She rolled her eyes thinking about the homework Lord Borr had assigned them. Her limbs were STILL sore from the run her and Eino had down throughout the entire castle.
Kurumi then looked up and saw the familiar rugged form of the Groundskeeper. She hadn’t really ever talked to him outside of the Magical Creatures lesson last term where they had gone into London to visit the national history museum, but she was glad to see him out and about in the tree house. “Professor Stryker!" she waved from her seat. Should she call him Professor? Or was Mister more appropriate for a Groundskeeper? Kurumi wasn't really sure. "Thank you so much for bringing back the tree house this term," she chirped as her cheeks flushed a bit. "I missed it very much last term."

At the call of his name, and not even pausing to note that he had been called a Professor, Stryker turned and smiled at the young Gryffindor. "Ah, Bonjour, Mademoiselle Hollingberry," he then greeted, approaching where she and another student were seated on the floor.

"I am Chad Stryker, the groundskeeper," he introduced himself to Kurumi's companion, the Hufflepuff. He had never seen her before, so introductions were always a good thing.

Chad chuckled and crossed his arms, nodding his head a little. "You are welcome, Mademoiselle. But truly, you must also give your thanks to Monsieur Masterson. He was very kind to put up with me for so long as it took to convince him to hand over the plans. Did you know he had big dogs? I did not know. Very big dogs."

Waiting for the girl to reach the top, soooo many ideas ran through the Slytherin's mind and it was frustrating that she couldn't do any of them! Knot her shoelaces together, make the ladder suddenly turn slippery, paint ball her back...the ideas were endless! Just have to resist, and it was the LONGEST minute of her life.

Calming herself down so she wasn't all twitchy anymore, she smirked slightly at the mention of the view. Huh, was someone picking on a firstie? Oh she wanted to see that. Climbing the ladder and finally through the hole, she sat on the side and looked out to the view.

No first year being picked on, but it was wonderful. "Yea, you're right."

" Glad you are okay" Wiliam called down to Peyton. "Do not scare Fee and me again" William told Peyton. " Next time, you could really hurt yourdelf and Fee and I will not be around or believe you hurt yourself" William explained to Peyton.

There he was calling her the mad...whatever the term was. Kurumi couldn't help but think that he was calling her a type of expensive cheese, but an older student had explained to her that it was simply a French word that was used instead of Miss. She could understand that.

"Who is..." she paused as her mouth tried to repeat the word he had just said. "...Monsoon Materson?" That didn't sound right. Her eyes grew wide at the mention of large dogs. "Really?!" she squeaked clapping her hands together. "Were they boarhounds?" She had heard those were common for Groundskeepers to keep. Or perhaps they had been Bernese Mountain Dogs. Those were very large and fluffy.

Stryker peered curiously down at Kurumi. She did not know Masterson? Probably best...

"Uhm, yes. Big dogs, but not boarhounds," he answered, deciding to skip her question of who Masterson was. "He had these two German Shepards...and a Siberian Husky. Though, I do not blame him. If I had three kids, I'd bulk up on the animal security, too..." There he went. Rambling again.

OOOOOoooooOOOH! Huskies! Kurumi liked those dogs. They were so beautiful and elegant while also demanding attention. Her home in Japan didn't have enough space for such a large dog. The family's Shiba dog was just about the right size, although Kurumi could tell that the dog often longed for more space to run around.

Kurumi tilted her head to the side as the Groundskeeper talked about children, or lack there of. She thought about asking him if he had any, but that seemed a little too forward a thought to be asking a man who she thought was calling her a smelly cheese.

"What brings you out to the tree house today, sir?" she asked as she reached for the boxs of cookies. "Would you like one? I baked them this morning. I thought they would help me with my Defense Against the Dark Arts assignment."

Perhaps he knew of a fantastic role model for her to meditate about? It couldn't hurt to have adult supervision for these sorts of activities.

Ooh, cookies! Why, yes. Yes, he would like a cookie.

"Thank you," he responded as he lifted a cookie from the container and started to nibble on it. "Mm, these are really good...oh, I just wanted to walk around...see what is going on. Being lazy..the usual stuff." He added a shrug to it and took another bite out of the cookie.

"Oh yeah? What's your defense against the dark arts assignment about?"

Pleased that he had accepted her cookie offer, Kurumi reached into her pocket for the piece of parchment she had written the assignment and a few scribbled notes on the side and handed it to him. "Lord Borr has given us an exercise routine to follow," she explained. "I suppose he wants us to train our bodies and our minds."


Furrowing her brow a bit, she looked up at Professor Mr. Stryker. "I was just thinking about doing the meditation exercise here." Although, she wasn't sure who she would meditate on.

His turn to furrow a brow. Train their bodies and minds? This coming from the man who had more body than a mind?

Chad took the paper from her and took a few moments to look it over, finishing off the cookie. "This looks...interesting? And weird." He shook his head and handed the paper back to her. "Meditation, hmm? That stuff is hard, is it not?"

Weird? That was an interesting term to be used by a Hogwarts staff member about another. Still, Kurumi had to admit that she found the whole concept of running 8 km...DAILY...a bit extreme. Did Headmaster Tate even do that? Made as much sense as him being the giant squid.

"I've done zen meditation back home," she replied shyly tugging on her hair. "Mother always had me do it sitting down." Which, she was already doing. "And then we would kneel with our hips resting on our ankles." She shifted her seating positon so she was doing so. She then placed right hand faced palm up, holding her left also faced palm up gently on her thighs with her thumbs lightly touching. "Then you just clear your mind."

Although, Kurumi was a bit confused on how she was supposed to clear her mind when she was supposed to think about a proper role model...

One afternoon Connor decided after class to take a walk out to the tree house. he hadn't been going out much bur he definitely needed a break. He climbed up into the tree house and wondered if any of his friends or acquaintances would happen by. He hadn't seen Fee since the feast, or Jonathan. he hoped someone came by soon.

"Very weird",Fee giggled and nodded,"seriously?There is someone with even more siblings?"Woooow,some of the Hogwartians really had a huge family.That was cool because when you had a lot siblings you werent alone.Awwww,Willy the charming boy.Typical,hehe."My sisters are pretty cute too",the girl chuckled,"and they are your age."One year younger,actually but that didnt make such a huge difference.Ohh nooo,William had problems with classes?That was bad,the blonde didnt think about that."I am sorry Willy",she said and hugged him,"of course we are good friends and next time we need a partner i'll chose you."He should feel comofrtable in classes.

Fee wanted to scream as she saw Peyton slipping from her,but the blonde was too terrified to get a sound out of her throat.Daaaamn,what would happen?Hopefully P wouldnt get hurt.It would be baaad.

But as the Slytherin looked down to find hurt P laying there,sweet P stood there and smiled at them.Woaaaahhhh this girl."You are sooo dead P",the girl laughed,"i was terrified."If she carried on like this the third year would have to go to st.Mungo's before she graduated.Baaaaad little red head."And how do you think to come up here again?",she asked chuckling a little.



Fee just made her way to the treehouse to relax a little.It was a beautiful day and the leaves of the threes were all coloured.What place would be better to whatch them fall than the treehouse?!Making her way in,searching for a good place to hang around the blonde spotted Connor sitting in a tree.

Smiling the girl climbed up to him and plopped down next to the guy."Hey Connor",she said,"long time no see.How are you?"Something seemed to be up with him.Oh well,maybe Fee would find out while sitting here.

"Nice to meet you!" said Ness as she looked up again smiling. "Im Renesmee, but you can call me Ness or Nessie for short." Nessie then looked at the box on the floor she wondered what was inside. "Yeah I'm first year" she said while her eyes were still on the box. "Erm.. Thanks yeah!" said Nessie taking a cookie. "These are delicious!". She ate her cookie slowly, so she could enjoy it more. "Have you started Lord Berty Borr's homework?" she asked.

"Ohh, I see. Okay, I'll call her Wisteria, then." Zara smiled. She had nothing more to say.
"It's fine," she smiled at Nessie. Fine was the best word to describe it, but Zara felt a bit guilty for not saying so much.

"Oh so what did you do?' said Ness not excpecting Zara to say Fine. it just wasn't her something was deffinatley up. Nessie yawned she was still pretty exhausted and all she ate all day was a cookie. Why couldn't she just get her appetite back and sleep like normal people. It felt as though she would never get over her best friend. "I miss her do much!" whispered Ness without even realising she was saying it. It was supposed to be a thought.

"Hmm, just roaming around the school. Wanna do some homework right now?" Zara grinned.

"Miss who?" She asked, tilting her head a bit to the right.

Then she had an idea. Maybe Nessie could sing her heart out. Besides, they also had homework to sing with a companion at least once a week. Maybe they could do it now, "Hey Nessie, I've got an idea. Why don't we sing a song dedicated to that person you miss?

"Oh um.." Ness only realised now thats he ahd actually said it. "Um.. my best friend". A tear slid down her cheek, but she quickly wiped it away. Nessie didn't want to remember the day she heard he news, she tried her hardest to forget about it. Nessie all of a sudden became really shy. SING!! In fron't of everyone on the tree house, and she would probably end up in tears. She didn't think it was the greatest idea, so she had no idea what made her lips say. 'Yeah, thats a great idea". She had no idea what to do she needed to find a way to get out of this quick, but how. Nessie just stoodthere hoping inspiration would hit her.

"Okay!" Zara encouraged. "But not here, please. There's a lot of students." She said.

"Where do you think we should do it?"

Nessie couldn't speak, as tears started to roll down her eyes. She tried her best to stop them but nothing changed. She really didn't want Zara to see her like this and start worring about her. So she decided she needed to try get away before Zara would see. "Erm.. I"ll.. be.. right .. back" said Nessie climbing down so she could calm herself down. All Nessie could think about was the last time she saw her best friend, why did they have to fight? Nessie would do anything to bring her friend back, but nothing would help.