*Opening up the card he smiled. It was perfect but the certificate made it even better. Leaning over he gave her a soft kiss and smiled even more.*
"I was going to do something like this as well. With the first being paper... I tried to write you a poem but do you know how hard it is to rhyme? Let alone make something that doesn't sound stupid. I thought a wood box might work..."
*Cupping her face in his hands he looked into her eyes and whispered.*
"I love you... always..."

Marie held her breath as Matty opened his envelopes. She really hoped he liked what was in them. Letting out her breath she kissed him back. "I was worried you'd think these were silly gifts." Well really they weren't gifts, but they were for him.

Opening up the music box so it could play she smiled at him. "This doesn't sound stupid at all." She didn't need words to know how he felt about her. Looking back into his eyes she whispered back. "I love you... forever."

*He didn't think it was silly at all. Far from it. How had he gotten so lucky? Listening to the music Matty slowly stood up and held a hand out to Marie. Bowing a little he looked at her with a warm smile.*
"May I have this dance?"

Taking his hand Marie stood up. "I would love to dance with you."

*With a warm smile Matty pulled her along with him to a clear spot in front of the fireplace. Then pulling her close he started to move them around slowly to the tinkling of the music box. He felt like he could stay like this with her in his arms forever. Not saying a word, or even needing to, Matty just held Marie as they danced together slowly.*

Wrapping her arms around him as he pulled her close Marie rested her head on his shoulder. Closing her eyes she listened to the music as she let him lead her around. Being in his arms like this was the best feeling in the world... and she didn't need any dance lessons given by the grounds keeper to make her feel like this either.

"Have you been taking those dance lessons?" *Matty asked after a while with a smirk. Oddly enough he tested out of the class and got double History of Magic instead of dance lessons. Getting forced to dance all his childhood finally paid off... not. Still it was fun to see Marie dancing.*

"No, I never went. Once I found out you weren't going to be there I decided not to go." He was the only one she wanted to dance with. If she went to that class it would probably be her luck to get stuck with some little kid... or worse yet... Carter. Although it would have been a perfect opportunity for her to stomp step on his feet and get away with it.

"You think so..well I actually prefer pop star" said Nessie still blushing. She wasn't too crazy over rock music it just wasn't her thing. Pop music was awsome and way more popular which was probably why it was called pop."But still..you seriously think I'm good enough?" Giggling a little at Isobel's comment Nessie looked up and smiled. "Well I could try teach you?" Wait..what Ness really didn't know what she was doing. She had no idea how to teach at all nevermind teach guitar. Looking down she sorta hoped Isobel wouldn't agree to lessons because if she did she would see how bad of a teacher Ness was. "Only if you'd like?"

Nodding Ness gave Isobel a smile. "Yeah I'm fantabulous" she giggled a little but she really was doing great especially compared to last year. Also she was looking forward to her birthday which was less then a month away. "Yeah I did..It was LEGEN..wait for it..DARY!" she said thinking of all the amazing memories she had made even though some of them weren't that amazing especially not all the ones with Tyler.

"Why would we lose points? There is flying aloud, they even have a practice pitch." Orchid asked curiously. "Sure, how about we go check out that Giant Squid?" She suggested not wanting to make her friend uncomfortable, if flying wasn't aloud or whatever then she wouldn't drag Lauren into anything.

Reaching the place where the Room of Requirement was suppose to be, Orlando stopped - his arm still hooked with Lexi's. "So madame, what do you want it look like?" he asked, smiling.

Lexi was MOPING. It was clear. She had dropped her rucksack and books off in the common room on the way to the Come and Go Room. Stopping in front of it she thought for a moment and then closed her eyes tightly. Letting go of Orlando's arm she paced back and forth three times and then a door began to appear out of the wall.

Turning to him she smiled slightly. "My favorite place in the world... without all of the noise and the people to bother me," she said as she pushed the door open to reveal the Gryffindor Common Room in all of it's crimson and gold glory. Winking at him she turned and made her way inside.

See. Lexi was all complex and stuff but her heart, it was pretty much like everyones. He had not expected her to think up of the Gryffindor Common Room. Right now, in the afternoon - their common room would be buzzing with first years and everyone. No peace and quite like in this common room. Sure, the buzz and the people around the common room held it's charm but this was so good.

"Lexi .. you .. " he laughed, walking in behind her. "You are unpredictable," he decided. She was. She definitely was.

Lexi chuckled slightly as she walked over to her favorite couch by the fireplace and plopped down. Only to stand back up and pull those stifling robes over her head to reveal her uniform beneath. "There's not much that I dislike more than those drab robes," she said as she discarded them in the floor and then plopped backward.

"The common room was the first place I felt like I was at home in. I have more fond memories there than anywhere else in this place. And not to mention; it's really cozy in here," she said with a shrug as she kicked her Converse off and threw her legs over the leg of the sofa. "You know I haven't been in here in a long time. The last time I was in here it took the appearance of a ballroom so I could dance with Sal," she said. "What would it be if YOU were to have a choice?"

Following her, Orlando took a seat on the arm chair across from her and pulled his legs up to get comfortable. "I honestly didn't imagine you would think of this" he admitted.

Listening to her, he figured out that it was the common room where he had gotten to know Lexi - before that he had been so scared of her. Scared of her because of the rumours and all ... but that chat they had had .. made him realize how stupid it was of him to believe the rumours.

"I don't know .. it would probably turn into a roof where I could properly look at the stars or the sunset," he said - surprised at what he was saying. He had never thought of it before but he knew why something like that came to his mind. It was because of Ryden. He still felt guilty that he had ruined her afternoon .. maybe someday, he would be able to make up to her.

"Well then, what would you have thought it would become for me?" she asked. She was seriously curious as to what Orlando had figured. Hehe. Most people got it allll wrong trying to figure out Lexi's thoughts. Hehehe. "I will tell you a secret... my second favorite place in the Student Garden. Only because I like to conjure butterflies and let them flit around the flowers out there," she said with a giggle!snort.

Yes, the girl with the love for fire also loved pretty little butterflies. Hehe. Odd when one considers all the nasty rumours about her and the fights she has been in. SIGHS. Lexi Kennedy: Sorely Misunderstood.

Lexi smiled as she listened to Orlando and she let her mind drift to a clear sky with glistening little stars. She was thinking something like the ceiling in the Great Hall. "Oh look at that!" she exclaimed as she pointed to the ceiling. And sure enough there was reflected something identical-ish to the Great Hall's bewitched ceiling. "Sorry... it sounded so lovely."

"I don't know .. It just surprised me," he smiled, shrugging a little. "You are different, Lexi" he said, being completely honest. She was different. It took people time to figure that out.

"Student garden? Yeah .. that place is real nice too," he nodded, which reminded him of classes - speaking of which: "Lex .. I haven't been seeing you in classes, lately .. what's up?" he asked, curious. She hadn't even turn up for the dance class .. something he had thought every girl at Hogwarts was planning to enjoy.

But then again, he could never be sure of Lexi. Lexi was different.

He turned his eyes up, following hers ...

Oh ..

It was really beautiful.

Magic was awesome.

He wished Ryden could see this .. he knew she would really like this.

"It's okay .." he said, softly. "It really is beautiful .." he said, leaning back on the arm chair - so he could properly enjoy the view. How he wished Ryden could see this too ..

"Well being like everyone else would be dead boring, wouldn't it?" she asked with a giggle. Yep. It WOULD be boring. She had tried to be NORMAL once and it was terrible. "The Gryffindor stained glass window is one of my favorite places as well."

Eeeeeh. "I haven't felt like going," she said with a shrug and a sigh. "I suppose... I have been avoiding certain people and things. I want to be at home instead of stuck here for a year," she grumbled. Her eyes drifted back to the ceiling, though, and she couldn't help but smile. "I suppose it's an adjustment period or sommat. |I didn't even want to be here, but I need to be so here I am... and so it's taking me a whlie to transition back into the routine of things," she said with another shrug. "I did go to Defense class though. That professor -- she is terrible, but interesting at the same time. If she tries to teach us Dark curses I might really like her more, though." Truth. Hehe.

Brushing her fringe from her face she smiled up at the stars and WISHED Salander was there, but she knew he couldn't just turn up there with her... if he would even be free to enjoy life anyway. SIGHS FOR LIFE. "I saw the most beautiful sunset on the planet while I was in Asia this holiday." GAAAH. She wanted to go find Stradivarius and just HUG him.

Vashti tore her eyes from the sketches when the boy spoke. "You don't?" she asked, sounding a little surprised. "Why not?" It was pretty obvious he was very talented, so why didn't he think so? Sketching something this well and so beautifully wasn't exactly something just anyone could do. At least she didn't think so. So surely he ought to realize how talented he was.

"I think I heard that we're only supposed to use the pitch for flying, but now I'm not so sure," Lauren frowned.

Ellie had held his hand and led Dallin down the corridor of the seventh floor until she got to the bare space of wall she was looking for. She had been planning Dallin's birthday present for weeks now, making sure every little detail was perfect. Although it was rather difficult to come by with a cake, considering the house elves wouldn't let anyone in the kitchen. BUT, after a few more times walking up and down the hallway, being very specific in her requests, Ellie got what she was looking for.

Turning to Dallin, Ellie beamed anxiously. "You ready for your surprise?" She asked in a little sing-song voice. And then she had an idea. "Oh!" Ellie pulled the scarf off of her neck. "I'm going to blind fold you." She informed him. Yeah. He didn't have a choice. Just like he didn't have a choice for this birthday present. He was getting it whether he liked it or not.

Moving behind him, Ellie tied her scart around his eyes. "Is that alright? Can you see?" She didn't want it to be too tight.

Dallin was trying to frown. He did not think that Ellie should give him a birthday present. He had told her that, too. And yet here she was, pulling him to the Room of Requirement. So he was trying to frown at her, but he just couldn't keep that look on his face. It really was sweet of her to do all this for him - whatever 'all this' was. So he was smiling, mostly.

His eyes widened when she told him she was going to blindfold him, then - yep. He squeezed his eyes shut then opened them only to find them covered by something soft. Immediately he held out one of his arms. "I can't see a thing," he answered, not turning around in case she had already moved away from him. He tipped his head up to see if he could cheat and look down... but no. He was completely blinded.

"Hold my hand, then," he said, smirking just a bit. You know, for safety precautions. Didn't want to run into a wall, now did we?

"That's okay, it makes sense, and we can always ask one of the prefects or someone later, right now we can just go for a walk if you want." Orchid said smiling.

Checking to see if Dallin's eyes were visible under the scarf, and nope, they weren't, Ellie grinned. This was going to be absolutely perfect. She hoped. Oh Merlin, she really hoped he liked her surprise. Ellie had spent so much time planning and practicing the- well... He'd find out soon enough.

Ellie smirked at his request. "Oh, if you insist." She said sarcastically. She was, after all: Ellie, Queen of Sarcasm. Hm.

After pacing in front of the wall several times, a door appeared in front of them and Ellie smiled. Leading Dallin by the hand, she opened the door and led him in. Grinning, she reached behind him when the door shut and took her scarf off of his eyes so he could see what had been created for him.

They were in a brightly lit room, filled with birthday decorations: streamers, balloons, confetti. The room wasn't too big, but it was just the right size for two happy people. There was a shiny, black grand piano in the far left corner of the room. Part two of her surprise. On the right side of the room stood a buffet table covered in cakes, cupcakes, sweets, treats and endless amounts of goodies. There was even a giant fireplace on the opposite wall to keep them nice and cozy warm.

Ellie bit her lip to keep from grinning to hard. "Do you like it?" She asked some-what nervously. "I guess I could have invited people. Maybe it would have been more exciting than just a party of two. I mean, we have enough food to feed an army..." Ellie mumbled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. Did he like it..?

"Definitely. Being like everyone else would not suit, at all" he nodded. "Do me a favor and stay like this always, Lex" Orlando was being very sincere with his words. Changing her was stupid .. It only got her upset. And Orlando hated it when it affected her mood.

Her logics threw him off at times but he nodded nonetheless when she told him her reasons to not go to classes. "It is selfish of me .. but I am really glad you are here .. I hate myself for liking it when you obviously hate being here" he added quietly. "Seventh year would not be good .. if you weren't here, Lex .."

Already all his friends were gone .. And in their case, he couldn't do anything. But with Lexi .. he could .. so he had tried and he was still grateful that she was here.

When she mentioned the sunset, Orlando remembered his own plans to tour around a little when the term was over. "You didn't really tell me anything about the trip, you know. Moreover .. you didn't even bring anything for me, Lexi!"