Lexi put her arm around Orlando and wibbled some more. "I thought I was ready to go, too. Until I stepped foot in here, that is. I can't imagine what it'll be like to wake up somewhere besides Gryffindor Tower everyday..." she trailed off and bit her lip to hold in the sob that was threatening to come out.

"I got you something, Orlando. It's silly... just something to remember me by," she said with a fair amount of sniffling. She dug around in her robes for it... and then Josh Carter happened. Feh. He was even more annoying NOW that they were getting ready to leave the place for good... she looked at him and smiled, though. GOODBYE, she thought at him.

Now back to Lando. Digging in her robes she finally found the gift box. She held it out to him and waited for him to take it. She hoped she had gotten it right... she was not really familiar with Muggle stuff. "It's one of those... CD things with music on it... all the music we danced to the past two years. I just thought... when you listen to it you might remember the good times," she said with a shrug as she averted her eyes.

Selina had been dazing off into space when she felt an arm slip around her. She was startled a bit at first at the contact but when she turned her head she saw Gideon sitting there with a reassuring look on his face. Although she did think nothing was going to make her feel better she had to admit having him there did make her feel a little better, but not enough to eat. She just wasn't hungry.

She smiled at him and said, "Thanks."

But then she saw Gideon's eyes travel over a bit to another figure. She looked at him curiously before joining his gaze and looking at the figure who was now quickly approaching.

When Lexi arrived Selina nodded at the older Gryffindor in return and said, "Likewise. I hope everything works out for you." She really did like Salander and although she and Lexi did not always see eye to eye she liked to think they had an understanding. That was one Gryffindor girl she was not going to forget anytime soon.

Selina's attention was diverted from Lexi at the sound of Josh's booming voice. She could not be so sad when the sound of Josh's voice was just one of pure and utter joy. Nothing could bring that boy down it seemed. He was just an upbeat guy. Of course everyone had heard about him and a certain snake, but he even seemed to bounce back from that. At least from what she could see although the eyes of a fourteen year old were jaded.

She nodded at him and said, "Well how can we not be enjoying ourselves when the fabulous Josh Carter is here?"

Cassie managed a light chuckle. She really had enjoyed her friendship with Carter, hardly any kind of drama at all. That was how she liked her friendships, she just didn't dig the whole drama thing.

"You're not allowed to have any other back up dates, I'm keeping that role, because maybe some days I'll need a backup date too." With her unpredictable boyfriend, that was a given.

Her eyes closed and she smiled as he kissed her cheek. So sweet.

"I can do that." She said smiling weakly. "Its one of the things that I'm best at."

She kept her arms around him as he leaned his head against her and decided that she would probably stay like this for the rest of the feast until perhaps she had to go someone or if Carter had someone to hug, otherwise, she would keep clinging.

Not far along the table was Lexi, Cassie hadn't noticed when she got there but she definitely saw her now. Memories of the passed two years flashed before her eyes and she shook her head to clear them away. It hadn't been always good between the two of them but in the past year they had managed to be civil and work together. And why not? Cassie couldn't even remember why they were fussing in the first place. She returned the blonde's nod and added a little smile of her own



And look who finally made it to the celebration, Mr. Rawr Rawr himself. Cassie was totally more raw just to be clear, but he could take second place. He was a very close second. Josh had been so wonderful to her over the past year and they had certainly gotten up to a lot of mischief together. She wouldn't take it back for anything.

There was absolutely no one better to serve detention with than Joshua. She only wished she had pictures.

In any case he seemed to be doing a lot better than the rest of them were. He was smiling and seemed happy. Though knowing Josh, he was just putting up a brave front. Pfft.

"I am no Lion Josh Carter. Come sit by us.." And give Cass Cass a big hug. Sigh, Cass and her boys were going splitsville. It was such a shame, she enjoyed having both him and Carter on her arms.

Christopher made his way into the Great Hall, feeling... blank.

He had nothing necessarily bad going on. No friends graduating. No unresolved drama sort of. *coughVioletcough* No leaving. It was the first time since he was eleven where leaving the school permanently wasn't a scare. Things were calm.

But he felt empty.

Perhaps it was all the sadness around him growing contagious that made him feel this way, but he still didn't like it. Everyone seemed so down, with all of the wonderful seventh years graduating. It seemed like no one was going to be celebrating much, or eating at all for that matter.

He sat down alone, trying not to worry about OWLS next year, or about the possible conflicts that might come up over the summer about him and Violet. He just wanted to try to stay as positive as possible before everyone in the Great Hall burst into tears. It was going to be a long night.

Jai couldn't believe it was the end of the term already. It was that time for goodbyes and see you laters. He went into the Great Hall for the end of term feast and headed straight for the Gryffindor table.

He saw his friends all chattering away as they enjoyed their last feast at Hogwarts. He wondered over and said,"Hey everyone."

John wobbled his way to the Gryffindor table, as he had several signitures from his mates on his red cast on his right leg. He, as always smiled to everyone in his surroundings as he found a good spot to sit and rest his leg.

"Oh geez, thank the stars it's over" John cheered.

He was at the Slytherin table when he spotted a wobbling Gryffindor. He snickered a bit when he saw his friend in crutches. See, that is the result of why you don't mess with moms. They chase you, causing you to trip over the dog and breaking your leg. Yep, Kennedy got the whole scoop of what happened to the lion.

The snake decided to go over and greet John and try not to laugh at the sight. As he neared the table decorated in gold and red he heard him talk. "Who are you talking to?" Had he hit his head too?

John looked at Kenny and laughed.

"I was thinking outloud bro, thanks for noticing." John teased, as he giggled. He was so excited to finally leave the castle and go to "normal" muggle school in Hawaii.

Kennedy sat beside John and laughed. He didn't know his friend thought out loud. "Interesting," he smiled. He wasn't the only one now. He looked around and felt out of place. He's never been to the Gryffindor table, so sitting here made him feel wary for some reason.

"How's your leg?" he asked, poking at it. Kennedy noticed some signatures on it. That was so wicked COOL, man!

John thought of a master prank.

"You see these people? They're lions, they eat snakes for breakfast." John said as his smile faded purposely. "I'm being dead serious." he added.

He could no longer control the laughter "nah, I'm kidding!" he said as he patted Kennedy on the back and laughed.

"It's healing, but sucks wearing a cast. Want to sign it?" John said as he pulled out a pen.

The force of Kurumi's hug nearly knocked him over. But Carter didn't care. He was going to treasure the image of the Prefect practically acting out an action movie to give him the best hug ever.

He remembered when she was just that weird little first year with the hair problems.

He wrapped his arms around the small lioness and kissed the top of her head.

"I'll miss you." he said softly. And not just her incredible baking skills. Although... he would miss those as well. "Continue to be great."

He pulled back and smiled at her. "Visit me. Mmk?" And that was an order little house elf.



Carter nodded back at Lexi. Sure, other than quidditch a few terms they didn't really spend time with each other. But, that didn't mean he wasn't going to miss the blonde and her smile. They'd made it. They were once little wide-eyed first years together. And now they were... red-eyed seventh years.



Ah. Gideon. The boy that was continually trying to sneak by him. But the younger Lion was not getting away so easily.

"Oi!" Carter called to the fourth year. "Take care of the girls next year, would you?" Not that they would need to be taken care of. Kurumi and Selina were going to rule the world some day, he was sure of that.



Carter looked over to see Ellie elbowing him. "Hey Ellie." he replied. The Ravenclaw had been incredibly supportive this past term. That was something Carter would never forget. "On to bigger and better, right?" he asked weakly. Right there in the moment he was finding that hard to believe. All he wanted was to stay at Hogwarts forever.



Carter then spotted the team ginger. He knew the end was quickly coming after the season ended and yearbook photos and interviews were taking place. But one goodbye was not enough for him. Not when it came to his little quidditch lionesses. "Be good next year." he said to her with a smile. "Try not to take such advantage of Mr. Lovebird." Even if it was hilarious.



And there was his best mate. Carter was beginning to wonder where his fellow Gryffindor had gotten off to. He slipped out of Cassie's grasp and gave his mate a hug... and several good slaps on the back.

Or, in other words, he gave Josh a great big man hug.

Josh was one of the first people he met in the house... and had certainly turned out to be his closest friend in the house.

"Just so you know. This is not good-bye for us. I'm not letting you get rid of me that easily." No, he fully intended on being friends with Josh forever. They had been together for so long the thought that they might not be friends never occurred to him.

Plus. They shared a name. You didn't just get rid of friends you shared a name with.



After greeting Josh, Carter retook his seat next to Cassie. He smiled at her. "Good. Because you know I could never replace you." Even though he hadn't been close friends with her long, that didn't change how much that Hufflepuff meant to her.

"I need to keep on your good side if I want a good wedding some day."

He closed his eyes too. "Good. Because you wouldn't be Cassie otherwise." And he needed to know that things wouldn't change that much.

Why did John go all serious and stuff? This only Kennedy a bit more paranoid, but the words that were coming out of the lion's mouth made him extremely nervous. Lions ate snakes for breakfast?

O______O

Gulp.

Kennedy scooted away from the other students and wrapped his robes to him, almost like wanting to make a protective cocoon. "T-T-They d-do?" he said, his eyes frantically looking around. He needed backup... Backup, I tell yah!

Then John began to laugh. That was NOT funny. Seriously, the boy thought he was going to have to race back to the Slytherin table. "That was not...funny," he said, shaking his. For a minute there he thought he was lion-chow.

He looked down at John's cast and at his question he forgot about the scare. "Would I?" he beamed. "Sure!" He took out a quill and signed his name on the cool cast. "There. That is so cool man!...Not the broken leg, but the signatures on your cast," he said, smiling. Yes, he was feeling cool.

"Oh come on chill dude!" John teased as he chuckled.

"I don't even know who started signing my cast. Random people just came up to me" he said he seemed confused, but shrugged it off.

He was about ready to hop his way out of the castle and go home.

Still the smile remaining on his face, Josh had not took a seat yet he was just standing and taking in the sight of the whole Lions' Table. And as he did so, of course ,the idea that how much he was going to miss the unique spirit in this house of red and gold occured to him yet, hopefully, before it could affect him, a lion greeting him back distracted the boy. And when he looked at that direction, there was Orlando!

His smile turned into a smirk and he waved at the other lion boy. ''Hey, mate. Hope you have cleaned your territory well in the dormitory, have you?''

Hahahaha.

And there was the second voice, familiar, which he very well knew that belonged to the younger lion Gideon. So, moving his gaze on him, Josh just stared for a moment or so before saying anything. He just happened to...remember something upon looking at him yet he shoke it off quickly and snapped out of it.

''Gideon! You know what? I still bet you'll win the match'' and grinning he gestured at his girlfriend, the red headed lioness.

Then finally deciding to spot himself a fine enough seat to occupy on the table, Josh moved his dark brown eyes from the younger lion and looked around the table again. He surely needed a spot that had a good view of the Snakes' Table yet the brown eyes' search stopped again when they took in the smile that Lexi, another lioness, was giving him. Right?

Automatically winking at her with a smile back, he nodded ''Hello to you too, Lexi.''

And there was the red headed lioness!! Surely there was roo much to distract him before he could find a suitable spot for himself to sit down. Especially red head distracted him for some reason. He was known to be fishing for brunettes mostly and Selina was too young for him. Not to mention she was Gideon's lovey dovey. So, his staring had nothing to do with that. It was a different kind of attraction but...whatever. Red hair. Ha?

Hehehe...upon hearing the lioness' words, Josh could not help it and laughed rather loudly. ''Proud to be your source of enjoyment, Selina. Anything special you want?''

There was another female voice, a very familiar one, and since he knew who the voice belonged to, a smirk appeared on his face before he could even look at her. Yes, she was a Hufflepuff and this was the Gryffindor table but that could not make him mistake the voice even if he had been blinded.

And she was inviting him to sit with them...them? Ah yes, she had Carter beside herself, of course. It looked like this girl liked at least two boys beside herself. Hehehe. ''Well...what do you offer me? You should make sitting with you attractive for me...VERY attactive''

And grinning, he raised his eyebrows at her giving her the demanding look.

Yes, he was staring at the Hufflepuff girl with that grin on his face however the grin vanished and his dark brown eyes widened with a surprised expression when something suddenly started to attack him. As he blinked, it took a few minutes for the boy to realise what was going on as he had not been expecting.

It was neither something nor an attack. It was his bestie Carter giving him a hug. Finally, figuring it out, the boy laughed and gave a man hug back to his friend. ''Carter! I thought you were trying to kill me.'' Bahahahahaha. ''And no of course not.'' Of course, he was not thinking of saying the boy good-bye in the near future. ''You know, someone should teach you how to party properly. I have very fun plans for us in mind. It'll be...whatever.''

He did not want to give out much.

Ronnie groaned. Arrrg. The year was over. Why? It went by so fast. She had made a ton of new mates, and a boyfriend. She loved them all and now she had to leave? Arrrg...
She made her way to the Gryffindor table, and sat down. A few tears trickled down her cheek and she quickly wiped this away, and looked around hoping no one saw. She gulped. "Fight back the tears, Ronnie....don't let them come out..." she whispered under her breath. It was no use. She put her face in her hands and began letting it all out, managing to do it silently.

Once she was done, she quickly looked around for Rose or Jordan. Hmm...she didn't see them. She poked her head at the Hufflepuff table to look for Minnie, but she didn't see her. Now she peeked over at the Slytherin table. No Faina. Now at the Ravenclaw table...*sigh* no Harvey.

Ellie smiled when Carter repeated her famous line for him. "Bigger and better". Although it probably seemed difficult to imagine something better than Hogwarts, she really believed that. He was going to play pro Quidditch. That was bigger and better' wasn't it?

"Bigger and better." She replied with a reassuring smile. And then she just looked at him. He looked so sad and beat, like he just never wanted to leave the castle. Ellie couldn't help but throw her arms around him in a hug. Even if they weren't that close, she felt like shnuggling him. So she did. "You're going to be great, Carter Phillips. I know it." And that was the truth.

She could?! Well, that certainly was a good thing to hear. Chances were that Kurumi was going to be a bit distracted from studying for her OWLs with all the letters she was going to need to write. There was Lexi, of course, but also Josh, Jai, Carter, Evelyn, Salander...wait a second...

Kurumi's eyes widened and it didn't full register in her mind what the ring meant. It was pretty and sparkly and a lovely gift. Nor did it really hit her when she saw what finger it was on. It was only when she looked up again into Lexi's eyes that the weight of what she was being shown hit her. "You really are my Mama Lion and Papa Snake!" she chirped, once again throwing her arms around Lexi.

Kurumi had been fumbling with her robes a bit, her small bag situated beside her on the bench, when she heard Josh's voice. Her heart rate immediately picked up speed and she felt her words catch in her throat and probably looked like a fish gasping for breath as she watched him approach.

He probably didn't know it, but he was the first person that she had interacted with in the wizarding world. Usually, she had attoned this title to Adam, but that wasn't entirely the truth. Josh had been the first person from Hogwarts she had spoken to that one day in Diagon Alley when she had run into him and...well...the proof of that was still in her pocket - along with something else.

Swallowing hard, Kurumi stood up and walked over to Josh, not saying any form of greeting, but instead simply threw her arms around his waist and hugged him.

Oh good...Jai had his shirt back on. Kurumi had had to take several hours after the pep rally to recover from all the MAN she had seen that day. Jai may have surprised her the most, considering how reserved he was usually.

"Good evening, Jai," Kurumi smiled, a slight wibble appearing on her lips as she reached for her small bag. Of course, her co-prefect was getting a little something special as well.
Kurumi squeaked...or maybe it was a whimper...or perhaps it was a squeamper since it was clearly a combination of the two actions when Carter kissed the top of her head. Her cheeks did flush a bit - she still wasn't used to such gestures - and her grip around him tightened just a bit. While she had decided to give up Quidditch next term, she had to thank the sport for many things. Without it, she probably wouldn't have found Carter as a big brother. The two did live in slightly different social circles and Quidditch is the one that had finally brought them together.

"I'll miss you too," she squeaked back, a small stream of tears now trickling down her face. Great? She wasn't sure she would agree with that, but seeing as this was his last night at Hogwarts she would let him go on thinking that. No sense in arguing, right? "Of course! As long as you promise to write and always wear this under your Quidditch uniform."

She then reached down and began to rummage through her small bag for her little something special to Carter.

Scarlett was just about ready to go back home. Sure, she would miss all her friends, but she couldn't wait to vacation in Spain with her family. It would be great visiting her abuela and abuelo. For the next school year, she was sure to have an awesome adventure.

o_______O

Why was that other Gryffindor looking at Lex? Weird lot of children around this place. THAT was one thing she would NOT miss. Ever. Heh.

Shifting her eyes back to Selina she smiled. "Thank you very much. I am sure everything will work out lovely," she said even though she had no idea. Heh. The joys of growing up.

Lexi merely waved at him. She was no fan of Josh Carter. Once upon a time she had considered him something of a friend, but now... not so much. She held no hatred for him contrary to popular belief, but a smile and a wave were all he was getting from her.

Lexi laughed heartily for once that evening. Hugging Kurumi once more she patted her back. "Yes, I suppose we are. Just let's not make a big deal out of it, okay. I wanted to keep it quiet until after graduation, but I figured I could tell you," she said quietly and turned the ring on her finger once more.

Kennedy relaxed for a tiny bit, but not completely. "I-I'm chill," he said, acting like if there was nothing wrong in the world. He could take a joke. Yeah. It was just a tad hard when he was surrounded by lions. He looked around and noticed a lot of crying. Maybe they weren't as bad.

"Wow," he said, finishing his signature. "You're lucky no one wrote something silly on it." Yeah, like something rude. He put the quill away and said, "Are you going to miss this place?" Because he sure was.

SPOILER!!: Selina

Quote:

Originally Posted by fanficfanatict

Selina had been dazing off into space when she felt an arm slip around her. She was startled a bit at first at the contact but when she turned her head she saw Gideon sitting there with a reassuring look on his face. Although she did think nothing was going to make her feel better she had to admit having him there did make her feel a little better, but not enough to eat. She just wasn't hungry.

She smiled at him and said, "Thanks."

But then she saw Gideon's eyes travel over a bit to another figure. She looked at him curiously before joining his gaze and looking at the figure who was now quickly approaching.

Gideon watched her reaction seeing her start but then relax when she realized it was him. "Yer welcome," he said giving her arm where his own rested a gently squeeze before freeing her so she could interact with the others as they responded to her presence and words. Hearing what she said to Josh, he couldn't help but chuckle at the words.

Yes...Josh was usually a good source of entertainment. He would be missed for that.

SPOILER!!: Christopher

Quote:

Originally Posted by meganelizabeth

Christopher made his way into the Great Hall, feeling... blank.

He had nothing necessarily bad going on. No friends graduating. No unresolved drama sort of. *coughVioletcough* No leaving. It was the first time since he was eleven where leaving the school permanently wasn't a scare. Things were calm.

But he felt empty.

Perhaps it was all the sadness around him growing contagious that made him feel this way, but he still didn't like it. Everyone seemed so down, with all of the wonderful seventh years graduating. It seemed like no one was going to be celebrating much, or eating at all for that matter.

He sat down alone, trying not to worry about OWLS next year, or about the possible conflicts that might come up over the summer about him and Violet. He just wanted to try to stay as positive as possible before everyone in the Great Hall burst into tears. It was going to be a long night.

Looking around himself once more he caught sight of Christopher sitting down the table. Gideon tilted his head slightly wondering just what his tone of mood was but then figuring it didn't matter he should join the crowd. "Hey Christopher!" he yelled waving him closer to the gathered group.

SPOILER!!: Carter

Ah. Gideon. The boy that was continually trying to sneak by him. But the younger Lion was not getting away so easily.

"Oi!" Carter called to the fourth year. "Take care of the girls next year, would you?" Not that they would need to be taken care of. Kurumi and Selina were going to rule the world some day, he was sure of that.


Carter then spotted the team ginger. He knew the end was quickly coming after the season ended and yearbook photos and interviews were taking place. But one goodbye was not enough for him. Not when it came to his little quidditch lionesses. "Be good next year." he said to her with a smile. "Try not to take such advantage of Mr. Lovebird." Even if it was hilarious.
[/QUOTE]

His attention was brought back to said group when Carter called out to him causing him to turn back to the seventh year. He nodded at the suggestion knowing he'd be doing his best to do just that without it being said. "I will do my best," he answered leaving it loose. Gideon wouldn't want Selina to think he was being controlling or too protective of her in any way.

He behaved himself as Carter switched to Selina, telling her to behave. Yet when the comment refered to him and his apparently acquired nickname from the boy, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

SPOILER!!: Josh

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lara_the_Firelady

And there was the second voice, familiar, which he very well knew that belonged to the younger lion Gideon. So, moving his gaze on him, Josh just stared for a moment or so before saying anything. He just happened to...remember something upon looking at him yet he shoke it off quickly and snapped out of it.

''Gideon! You know what? I still bet you'll win the match'' and grinning he gestured at his girlfriend, the red headed lioness.

And there was the red headed lioness!! Surely there was roo much to distract him before he could find a suitable spot for himself to sit down. Especially red head distracted him for some reason. He was known to be fishing for brunettes mostly and Selina was too young for him. Not to mention she was Gideon's lovey dovey. So, his staring had nothing to do with that. It was a different kind of attraction but...whatever. Red hair. Ha?

Hehehe...upon hearing the lioness' words, Josh could not help it and laughed rather loudly. ''Proud to be your source of enjoyment, Selina. Anything special you want?''

Then Josh decided to add his two cents in. Gideon was confused at first, his eyebrow raising in question until he gestured at Selina and it sunk in. The king of the lions was refering to the competion between boyfriend and girlfriend that had started in the locker room clean out that Josh had sided with him about. "Maybe..." he said simply.

Lexi laugh! Kurumi had missed that look. Lexi had always seemed to have so much on her mind this term that she hadn't been able to really see a smiling and happy Lexi when they were together. It brought her back to last term when they had had a hot chocolate party in the common room by the fireplace. Those days had been carefree and light, not that things were all THAT different now, they had just grown up a bit more.

"Oh, of course," Kurumi nodded, slightly bouncing in her seat a bit. "Just as long as you promise I can bake a cake." She had baked at least three of those things in her career at Hogwarts.

John chuckled and rested his foot down while he sighed, as he thought about Ken's question.

"To be honest...not really. I can't wait to leave!" John replied with a huge smile.

So that was it. The end of her first year at Hogwarts. It had been a wild ride, that was for sure. She had made friends, but thankfully, no enemies (or so she thought). The classes had been fun, and sometimes difficult, but all in all, she was satisfied with how things had played out.

Kourt glanced up and down the table before taking a seat. She spotted Kurumi, and tossed a wave and smile in her direction. She would have to find Indy in a bit, for for now, she would stay with her fellow housemates.

Whaaat?!

Kennedy's eyes widened. "Really?" He already wanted to come back and he hasn't even left yet. "Well, what are you going to do without Hogwarts?" he asked. He couldn't imagine himself going back to his old muggle school.

That would be the most horrible thing that could possibly happen to him.