"From what I hear, that's a lot to live up to," Presley said quietly. She had full faith that William could do it, but maybe he didn't have to. "You don't want to do something completely unique?" she asked quietly. She respected his dream of following in his father's footsteps, but she didn't quite understand it. She had never been a follower, so it was difficult for her to understand. "I mean, not that it's bad, I was just wondering," she added hastily. She didn't want William to think his dream didn't live up to her standards or something. "It really is a wonderful dream."

" Sure, but I can live up to it" Wiliam told Presley." Well, I have been trying to learn how to surf, play the guitar or sing and that is uniaue to me" William said to Presley. " My dad can't doing any of those things" William explained to Presley. " I have always had a dream of playing those sports and excelling in them jsut like my father" William smiled. " Mom and Dad never pushed me and also told me do whatever I want in life"" William smiled. "They did have one stipulatin, no being a DeathEater or any person like Voldermort or Voldermortis" William laughed.

"That's really cool, William. When you learn how to surf, you should teach me that one." Presley had wanted to surf since she was small, but had never really taken time to learn. "No being evil? They're ruining all of your fun," Presley joked. The dark arts scared her, and she would never get involved with them, but it was fun to joke about.

" WEll, the one who should really teach how to surf is Cove" William told to Presley. " She is my instructor" William said to Presley. "She surfs in America , owns her own surf shop and had been surfing I thnk since she has been three plus won surfing contests" William explained to Presley." I am good at baseball, football, Quidditch and am being taught to be a pro wrestler.
You are very funny about them ruining my fun" William laughed. " Now, I always thought of being a pirate, but good or bad, I am not sure" Willaim grinned at Presley.

"Cove that we played quidditch with?" Presley queried. She hadn't known Cove was a surfer. That was epicly cool! "Oh, I would be a bad pirate," Presley grinned. "Because I can be sweet and kind on the outside, but on the inside I'm a conniving little sneak." And she would proudly admit it. She was. Not just because she'd been told that, but because she thought it was a little fun to sneak around and learn things few other people knew.

Belle thought it was time to visit charlene and give her a letter to send to mom.She got a quill and paper and began to write.
Yeah that is what my mom used to call me back at home. She licked the envelope and called Charlene down. "Bring this home and make sure you get some sweets from mom." she whispered. Charlene nipped affectionatley to show she understood and spread her wings and watcher her take off in flight.

Carter wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting in that spot. In fact, at the moment the only thing he was sure of was that the sun wasn't streaming through the windows anymore and that Apollo had pecked at him enough that he didn't feel it anymore. In fact... he barely felt the weight of his owl at all, even though it was on his head.

Despite being there that long his parchment was just as empty as it was before. So far the only thing written on it was 'Dear Dad and Mum,' and he'd written that as soon as he got there.

He stared at the Jera rune in his hand. It was crazy how one single stone would make him reconsider his whole summer. But there he was... trying to decide what to do.

Marie had no luck finding Carter after he ran out of class. She was pretty sure he had gone straight to his common room though so she didn't bother looking for him anymore. She would just wait to talk to him at dinner... The dinner he wasn't at.

Not seeing him at all by the time she had finished eating she knew there was something seriously wrong. It wasn't like Carter to skip a meal. That boy LOVED to eat. Trying to remember everything he was muttering as he had rushed out of class she remembered hearing him say something about writing to his parents.

That's it! She would find him at the owlery... hopefully.

Running from the great hall she started to head up the stairs. Merlin, why did she eat so much. By the time she got to the seventh floor she was about to pass out. Taking a few deep breaths she quickly made her way to the owlery where she found Carter... who didn't look so good.

Rushing over to him she dropped down on the ground next to him not even paying attention to see if she was sitting in anything... and not noticing Apollo on his head. "Carter... what's wrong? What happened that made you run out of class like that?" Surly he had to know that she sucked at runes and not to take her readings seriously... right?

Grabbing the parchment from his hand she seen that it was addressed to his parents but nothing else was written on it. Looking up at him that's when she noticed Apollo on his head. "Um Carter, why is Apollo on your head?"

Carter wasn't even aware someone else was in the room until he heard deep breathing. Deep breathing that was practically in his ear. "Did you run all the way up here...?" he asked still staring at the rune. Because it sounded like she ran all the way up here.

He turned the stone over in his hand a few times. He glanced over at her briefly when she asked why he ran out of class. He then turned back to the stone. "Just something you said..." he responded still hypnotized by the rune. "They say runes... like divination... just show you one possible outcome... and it should be used as a guideline..." he said in a strangely cryptic tone.

"Huh?" he asked glancing upward. "I forgot he was there... He must have brought something from home. He goes back once a week just in case my parents have something for me..."

Soon after he said this the owl flew from on top of his head to Marie's lap. "He must be tired of waiting for me to unload his pouch."

Did she what?

Oh right... run. "Yeah I did. I got really worried about you when I didn't see you at dinner. It's not like you to skip a meal." Looking back down she seen the rune in his hand. Snatching it from him she shoved it in her pocket. "Carter, why did my reading bother you so much? What's wrong?" She asked clearly still worried about him. "Is something wrong with Anya? Is that why you asked that question?" Really, she had thought he was talking about his summer plans with her rotten cousin. "Yeah, runes readings are not an exact reading of what is to come. They are just what could come. But really, don't take my reading too seriously Carter. I really suck at interpretative readings."

Jumping back a little when Apollo flew down to her lap she gently stroked his head. "Hey Apollo." It had been a long time since she had seen or talked to him. It felt kind of strange having him on her lap now. Noticing how heavy the pouch looked that he was carrying she opened it. Hopefully Carter wouldn't mind. It didn't seem like he was in any hurry to take the weight off his owl.

Reaching her hand in she pulled out a few tour books of Northern Ireland and Ballycastle. "Um, gonna be traveling are you? I hear Ballycastle has a pretty good quidditch team" She said as she handed the books over to him. She was just about to give Apollo some treats when she noticed there was something else in the bag. Reaching her hand back in she pulled out a little package that was addressed to... her? Looking up at Carter she had a quizzical look on her face. "Why does Apollo have a package for me?"

Carter glanced out the window. "Huh, I did, didn't I?" he said offhandedly. Oh, and there went the rune he was playing with. He ran his newly freed hand through his hair. He stared at her for a second. She seemed generally worried about what was going on... but then again last time he thought that she completely turned it around on him.

Carter then literally shook that thought out of his head. This was way different that some random problem. "No, nothing is wrong with her..." he said avoiding eye contact. "She's almost 10 now..." he said. "Her adoption agent will make her last trip on her birthday. It's so weird that we've been using that lady as an excuse this whole time... Anyway, my parents and I, we were planning on telling her on my birthday. I'll be of age then and, I dunno, it just felt like a good time. Mina was even going to come by for a visit in case Anya needed some girl time to process what was happening." He was rather proud of his plan actually. He thought he thought of everything.

"But something happened over holiday that is making me kind of rethink it..." he said. He watched as Marie went through Apollo's pouch. "Yeah. I know they have a team." he said reaching into his bag. He tossed her a letter. "I got that over break." he said nodding toward the letter. "It's an invitation to come check out the location and do a try-out."

"Huh?" he asked peering over at the package. "It must be from my sister." he said. He then smiled a little. "Look, there's even a few stamps... I bet my mum hid it for a week waiting for Apollo to make a trip out."

As Marie sat there listening to Carter she felt relieved when he said nothing was wrong with Anya. Wait, Something happened over the holiday? She had processed everything he had told her so far. Him and his parents were finally going to be able to tell Anya that her brother was a wizard. Mina was going to be there for moral support, and they were going to do this on his birthday. Okay, sounded like a good plan to her.

Right up until he said something happened over the holiday. He just failed to tell her exactly what it was that happened. "What is it that you aren't telling me Carter? What happened over the holiday to make you think about changing your mind?" It had to be something pretty big if he was in a mood like this now. And part of her couldn't help but feel that it was partly her fault. Why did she have to give him the negative reading of that stupid rune. She should have just told him the positive reading. After all there was more positive than there was negative.

Well of course he knew they had a team. He had only been talking about playing professional quidditch for as long as she knew him. Reading the letter she handed him she finally smiled. "That's great Carter. They would be lucky to have you on their team." It was like she was seeing his dreams come true. Sure he hadn't even had the try-out yet, but still, teams were scouting him. That was a step in the right direction.

Looking back at the package in her hand then at Carter, she still had that confused look on her face. "Why would Anya be sending me a package?" Opening up the package her jaw dropped when she seen what was in it. Earrings that matched the bracelet Carter had given her three years ago. There was also a note.


After reading the letter... twice, Marie finally looked up at Carter, leaned over, gave him a big hug, then sat back. "That was from Anya. She said to tell you she loves you and misses you. She also said these are from you." Taking the earrings out of the box she held them up for him to see. "You... got me earrings... to match the bracelet you gave me?" She was kind of in shock here right now. She didn't understand why he would get her something like this after all this time. Looking from the earrings back to him she felt her eyes start to sting like she might start to cry. Never in a million years would she have expected to get something like this from Carter.

She was so shocked by the earrings that she didn't even think to say anything to him yet about his birthday party and him telling his sister that she would be there. She would get to that once she was thinking straight again.

" Yes, that Cove" William told Presley." You would be a bad pirate, interesting" William said to Presley.Are you sure yo u are a sneak?" William asked Presley. " I am soory but I can not beleive a sweet nice girl like you be a conniving sneak nor a bad piratee" William expalined to Presley.

Presley laughed. "That's what makes me so good at being sneaky. Nobody would think I would do it." She knew what was going on with most people all the time because she would occasionally just sit and listen to a conversation, or infer a lot. She thought back to her second week at school. "I snuck into the prefects bathroom in the beginning of the school year," she told William. "Well, I got caught that time, but most times I don't." Presley was pretty sure that the Finlay, the head boy, Treyen, the hufflepuff prefect, and Hadley all still held a little bit of suspicion of her. In her suprise, that was the worst lying job she'd ever botched up.

" Well ok, but I still have a hard time believing it " Wiliam told Presley. " You are such a wild girl" William said to Presley. " Midcheivious, yes, bad, no" William explained his idea about Presley to Presley." Guess we will have to be bad pirates together" William laughed.

What made him change his mind? Well that was the question wasn't it? Carter took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "I've been thinking that I've been way too selfish with this whole situation. I mean, what are the odds that Anya isn't weirded out by the whole situation? She's going to freak out. What if she wants to leave? Not to mention what it'll do to my parents. Of course they want to tell her, but that'll mean telling her we've been lying to her for six years. I could single-handedly ruin my family." And then there's the opposite of that - she could be completely supportive. Which, in all honesty, would probably be worse.

"You'd think it would be great and that I would be excited..." he said in a tone that was quite the opposite. "But you know what that would mean for me? I'd be moving to Ireland. Which would be comepletely different than if you were moving there. My family won't be able to just 'pop' in for a visit whenever they'd like. And who knows how often I'd be able to visit them."

He then stood up and paced around. "I don't know what to do Marie. I'm muggleborn. I've spent less than half of my life being a wizard. Next year will be our last here. I saw my mum's face when she found this." he said holding up the letter from the quidditch team. "She cried. She knew that this day was coming when I first got my letter to Hogwarts. As soon as she noticed me she smiled. She called in my dad and they both said how proud of me they were. They started making plans right away for a vacation there this summer so I could check it out."

He then sat down next to her again. "And then it hit me. Really it's something I should have known all along. If I do this..." And yes, he did say 'if.' "Than that's really the end of that part of my life. I'd be doing something they'd never be able to relate to..." He then added softly, "Something they'll never be able to see me do." He then cleared his throat in an effort to keep him from choking up. "This is really the last summer I'll have to be one of them. Instead of just a normal summer they want to take me to see the area. They want to take me to see the pitch." He then stopped briefly trying to keep his voice under control. He failed horribly. "You know what they'll see Marie? Nothing. And if they get too close... they'll forget why they were even there..."

He sighed. "In a year from now I'll just have Hogwarts diploma," if there was such a thing, "and Mina. Maybe Caroline if I don't manage to screw that up in the next year..." he said looking down at the ground.

Then he looked at Marie. "Which brings us back to that rune. Sudden setbacks. Conflicts. Bad timing. Anya can't find out yet. And I can't let my family take a vacation to Ballycastle." But most importantly, it wasn't the time for things to change. He then faked a smile. "Besides... you know me. When things look the best, it's usually the time things take the turn for the worst." Which made him extra weary about his seemingly good plan and the seemingly good invitation.

She wanted to know what was wrong. Well... there it was. A little bit of everything that was on his mind.

He glanced over at Marie curious at what his little sister would be sending her. "She was in my room." he said recognizing the little gift box. "I can't believe she found those. When did she get tall enough to see the top shelf in my closet...?" he asked surprised. Oh no, she found the box... which meant... those were the earrings... Before he could stop Marie from opening the box he was attacked with a sudden hug. And then it was too late. "Yeah... I got them for you that summer. I saw them in an airport on our way back... and they reminded me of you." His face flushed. This was a little awkward. He needed to learn to hide things better.

"Are you sure?"Brielle asked, worried. "Cause I saw an owl earlier that...oh, never mind," she smiled, maybe the owl wasn't hers anyway. But she wanted to help the girl anyway, she knew the frustration of not being able to find your own pet. But, anyway... "Nice to meet you Hayley!" Brielle smiled widely. "I'm Brielle a se--oh, your from Ravenclaw too!" she said in surprise, spotting the particular blue marking in the girls robes.

Huhh?? "You saw an owl? Do what? What does it look like? Is it tawny-coloured??" Whoops.. "Uhh.. Sorry for that..."

"Oh, Brielle's a nice name. Uh-yeah. I remember seeing you in the common room.." And Hayley look around-again-to find the owl that Brielle was talking about...

Presley laughed. Mischievious, it was a good word for her. "Yes, and we'll plunder the coast and give to the poor." So, semi-bad pirates. "What's your contribution to the pirate ship?"

" I like your idea" William told Presley. " We could be like Robin Hood type of pirates" Wiliam said to Presley." My contribution to the pirate ship is making you do all the dirty work" Wiliam teased Presley. " I will tell you where we can get the loot" Wiliam smiled.

Presley's eyes widended. "Oh, so you get to sit back and relax while I put myself in mortal danger every day for the sake of gold? Well, if we get caught, I'm claiming abduction and that you forced me to steal the loot." William was a funny person. Presley sort of liked him. Stop that Presley Lynne! she ordered herself. He's not interested in you! And beside that, he has a girlfriend! She smiled at him. Maybe someday, Presley thought.

" How did you guess?" Wiliam asked Presley."Well. Capt. " Bloody William" would be kidnapping a very cute girl, a pricess who wanted to be a pirate" William explained to Presley. " No, we will go together and be neaky about getting the gold" Wiliam said to Presley. " You could trick them with yoru cuteness and sweetness" Wiliam smiled.
William really thinks Presley is cool. He is having second thoughts about another person.

Presley blushed. Cute? Well, she sort of was. It was nice to hear. "William, I like you. A lot," she finally just said. "You're funny, and sweet and nice. I like being around you."

Marie sat there listening to Carter tell her about his concerns about Anya finding out he's a wizard. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "How can you think you're being selfish here Carter?" He was the least selfish person she knew when it came to his sister. He always put her first in everything he did. If anyone knew that it would be Marie. "Sure, there may be a small chance that she will be freaked out when she finds out you're a wizard, but come on, she loves you. She thinks the world of her big brother. She's not gonna let something like this make her want to leave. I personally think she's gonna find it extremely cool the things you can do." What ten year old wouldn't find it cool that their brother could do magic? "You're not gonna single handedly ruin your family Carter. Besides, your parents wouldn't want to tell her if they thought it wasn't for the best. They're not going to do something that could hurt your family. And really, you haven't been lying to her for six years. Have you or your parents ever said to her that you are not a wizard? No. Has she ever asked if you were a wizard? I'm guessing that answer is also no. I also bet there are things your parents don't tell you too but that doesn't mean they're lying to you." Heck, she knew there were things her parents didn't tell her but she never thought they were lying to her. There's just some things kids don't need to know.

"Carter, every since I met you, you have talked about wanting to play pro quidditch." Well once he got over wanting to play pro football. "Just because you may have to move to Ireland doesn't mean you'll never see your family again. It doesn't mean you have to give up your muggle life. That is as much a part of you as being a wizard is. So your family can't just 'pop' in for a visit. Can they do that now with you away at school? No. You playing for Ballycastle, or any other team isn't going to change your life that much. You'll be able to go home to visit when you want... well as long as you don't have to play or practice. Not to mention, quidditch isn't a year round sport. You could spend the whole off season at home with your family if you wanted." He would probably see his family more then than he does now.

Marie knew that Carter was putting way too much thought into all of this right now. He should not be thinking about this stuff. It's not like he was making these decisions alone here. His parents... the adults, were the ones making the decisions too. She just didn't konw if she could get him to see that. "You may be muggleborn Carter, but you're also a wizard who happens to be a great quidditch player." When he wasn't trying to kill her friends. "You can't give up on your dreams of becoming a pro quidditch player just because of your blood status." That was just a silly idea. "Did you ever stop to think that your mum was crying because she was happy for you? You konw, that's what mums do. They cry when they're happy for their kids." Well that's what her mum did anyway so she was sure other parents did it too."If your parents didn't want this for you Carter then they wouldn't be going through the trouble of helping you make these plans. They WANT this for you. They WANT you to be happy and they know THIS is what will make you happy." She said pointing at the letter and tour books.

When he sat back down she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "IF you do this?" IF!? Was the boy crazy here or what. This was an excellent opportunity for him. He couldn't just let it go. "Carter, are you even listening to what you're saying here? You're making it sound like what you're about to do is something totally different than what you've already been doing for the past five and a half years." How many times was she going to have to tell him things weren't really going to be that much different for him? "This will NOT be your last normal summer with them. You need to stop thinking like that. And you know what I think they will see when they take you to Ireland? They're going to see how happy their son is when HE sees that pitch and when HE starts thinking about his dream coming true. It won't matter to them that they can't see what you see. All that will matter to them is that they're helping make your dream come true. I think you need to give your family a little more credit than you are Carter. They all love you and want what is best for YOU."

Hearing him say what he thought he would have after graduation made her frown. "You'll only have Mina and maybe... Caroline? What about your other friends, what about Josh, Simon, Patroclus? What about... me? Don't we count for anything? You think we're all going to abandon you just because we won't be at school anymore?" Sure Marie and Carter have had their problems but she still thought of them as friends. Just friends who fight sometimes. She was actually kind of hurt that he thought the only ones he would have were Mina and her undesirable cousin.

Of course, everything came back to that rune and the reading she gave him. "You don't seriously believe what I told you do you? I really suck at runes readings Carter. Not to mention... I might have picked out all the worst stuff I could for that reading..." she trailed off. Now she was feeling rotten for what she had done. She thought she was only going to be ruining his summer with Caroline. She had no clue at the time that it was about his sister. "I'm really sorry Carter. I didn't mean for you to freak out about Anya. I really thought you were asking about your summer with... Caroline." Seriously, why did he have to be dating her cousin, why couldn't he be dating someone she didn't even know?

Pulling the rune back out of her pocket she held it up. "Look, this rune also says the results of earlier efforts will be realized. You will have a time of peace and happiness. You will prosper and your success is earned." Grabbing his hand she put the rune back in it. "That is the real reading I should have given you in class, not that other negative one. The good outweighs the bad in this reading Carter. The good is what you need to listen to here." Then again, maybe he should just ask the professor to do his reading. He'd probably get a better one.

Hearing his comments about the earrings and his sister finding them Marie felt really stupid for thinking he had really wanted her to have them. They hadn't been a Christmas gift at all, they were something he was hiding because he didn't want her to have them. Putting them back in the box she closed it up then handed it to Carter. "Here, you can have them back. Maybe Anya would like to have them." She was pretty sure he didn't want her to have them. If he did he wouldn't have hid them in his closet for three years, he would have given them to her already.

" I like you, too" Wiliam told Presley. "Well, you are a blast to be around all the rime" William said to Presley." I appreciate you calling me funny, sweet and nice" Willaim smiled." I think some girls like to call me a flirt or a player" Wiliam explained to Presley. " I respect your opinion, what do you think abot those comments from some girls?" Wiliam asked Presley.