She looked at her with that concerned look she normally had when people say that they have a question for her. Sure, she gave advice, but not much. "What can I do for you?" She asked, suddenly embarressed by her outburst about Matt.

Before Taylor could change her mind she blurted out, "Why do you hate my family and me? What did we do to earn your hatred?" She blushed and shut up but then said, "Sorry....."

"I don't hate anyone..." Siobian sighed, "I know it came off that way but I don't... I just have a sore spot with Chelle... She... She had an affair with my father while my parents were still married..." Siobian fought back tears, it still hurt, "And now... She waltzes right back into his life... Eleven years after she had Lori..." She didn't want to bad talk anyone but the next part slipped out.
"Why now?" She shook, whether with fury or sadness she wasn't sure, "Why does she come back now, she already helped in their divorce, she managed perfectly well on her own obviously... I honestly think she's just after my dad's money." She covered her mouth before she could say anymore.

"You seem like you hate us." Taylor frowned, "Sorry to hear ab out your parents, I had no clue." She sighed, "My aunt isn't a gold digger, cousin." Taylor thought back on what happened yesterday. She let a single tear fall but kept a tight grip on the rest.

Siobian looked down, She sure seems like it at times... She kept the thought to herself.
Lori had once again, told her about what had happened, "Yeah... I can somewhat relate... My dad never wants me around anymore... Not since..." Siobian couldn't fight the tears, "Not since... he found out I was a witch." She shook. Why couldn't I just be normal muggles, like my biological sisters? Why do I have to be such a freak?

"How can you relate?" She snapped, "Your father didn't die on you, i would of prefered him not wanting me around over his death any day." Taylor glared at her cousin, "On top of my father's death, my brother lefted his wife, whom i'm close to, for someone knew, claimly he didnt love his wife anymore. They are getting or had gotton a divorce! You didn't have any of that happen to you so how can you relate?" She didn't mean to be mean and rude but she was upset about what happened yesterday. Taylor was crying hard now.

So his original plan was to go up to his common room and finish his homework there. But Mikey thought against it and went to the courtyard, due too some much needed air right now. He was still in a bad mood because of the dead slug and the vampire not really believing what he was telling her. But it was all because he didn't want to make things awkward between them if he ever told her. Though Mikey was really hoping it would all go away sometime soon. Sitting down on a bench, Mikey took out his books and some parchment, along with a quill and started finishing his homework. Or at least tried but his concentration was too off right now.

Hopefully no one would come disturb him or he might as well blow.

Hailey was now aimlessly walking around the castle, bumping into statues and suits of armor along the wall. How she ended up outside and in the Courtyard, she'll never know. But once she was there, she had adequate time to wipe up all the tears behind a bush and then turn her still-watery eyes to the benches nearby.

And who would you suppose was sitting there? If you guessed Merlin, you'd be very wrong. It was Mikey, of course. The best friend who hated her now. (Of course Hailey doesn't understand that a slight argument is not the end of the world--or a friendship--but she was cousins with a drama queen. It was in their blood.) The brunette stood quite near the boy but never moved or made any noise--except her sniffling, of course. A runny noise was hard to avoid when you were crying your eyes out over someone.

Instead, she just stood there and watched him, too afraid to approach.

As Mikey was scribbling away on his homework, he heard the constant footsteps of people walking about, but a pair stopped in front of him. He didn't have to look up at the person to know who it was. Her sniffing gave her away. Mikey sighed, still scribbling away on his paper. "It's okay to come near me, I don't bite," he said, not looking up from his paper. But he was used to Rose crying over almost any argument or conversation they both had. Like that time at Diagon Alley when he said he was going to send Rose to a retirement home in the future.

Yeah, it was a typical Rose thing to do.

He knew. How?! He didn't even look up! Hailey pondered this silently but coming up with no clear conclusion, she slowly walked past and sat beside him. Still sniffling, though no tissues were at hand.

She didn't what she was doing here--was she supposed to apologize? She wasn't even sure what she had done wrong. But wasn't that the kind of advice her mother was always trying to give her? Oh well, it was worth a try.

"I'm sorry." Sniffle sniffle.

Siobian glared at Taylor, she may be shy but you didn't want Siobian mad at you, "At least he loves you! And at least you still have a mother!" She shouted, "I haven't seen my mother since the divorce, I may as well not be around my Dad, he thinks I'm a freak, he wants nothing to do with me! It's like I'm on my own at sixteen!" She couldn't stop, "For you brother, you can't be mad at him for his choices! Your brother got married young, he didn't know what he was getting into!" Siobian shook at her last comment, knowing that was exactly what she and Matt had planned to do. Get married as soon as he graduated high school.

Mikey moved a bit to make more room for the vampire as she sat down. He never minded if she was the one who would disturb her during his homework time. Mikey could usually keep a conversation going with her while still being able to jott down everything he needed. But now sh was apologizing? Weird. "Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault you have a cousin who knows how to grind my gears and can't mind his own business or keep his mouth shut," he said, still not looking up at Rose. But seriously, who'd want to be related to Hunter? Mikey felt bad for Rose in a way, but she liked having him as a cousin. Ehh.

"Besides, you were obviously going to take his side more; considering he's family and all," Mikey added, finally looking up at her blue eyes that were filled with water.

Evelyn stood near the entrance to the courtyard and ran a hand through her hair. She'd had quite a day and all she wanted to do was just relax for a while. She'd brought a couple of books along with her..not that she wanted to do any reading but she had to..if she wanted to get her homework done.

Evelyn adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder before her eyes spotted a fountain in the middle of the courtyard. She couldn't help but smile. Wow. Seriously, it was beautiful. In fact, it was simply gorgeous. Sigh.

She slowly made her way towards the fountain, ignoring the loads of people of surrounding her. Why did it have to be so crowded? Jeez.

Adam was walking through the courtyard enjoying the fresh air and watching an owl fly by, heading to the owlery he assumed. He was so distracted by the bird that he nearly walked into a student, who shot him a nasty look. Woops. And geeze, was it crowded today! Adam couldn't help but raise his eyebrows slightly as he observed all the students filling to courtyard. Spotting an open spot near the fountain, Adam went up to it, mostly just to get out of the way of a study that was sprinting past. Unfortunately Adam's being a natural klutz allowed his attempt to be out of the way make him be in the way. Not realizing the brick that was slightly uneven, Adam tripped while backing up, starting to fall backwards and managing to slightly run into a girl before grabbing onto the edge of the fountain wall for his dear life.

WOAH.

Adam flailed his one arm, praying to the fates above that he could find his balance before he went butt over tea kettle into the fountain water. Unfortunately Adam had no such luck, and into the fountain he went, making a rather loud splash as he fell in.

Evelyn continued to walk, humming a tune. She almost reached the fountain when someone slightly bumped into her. Ahhh. Couldn't people watch where they're going? She looked up to find that the guy was actually going to fall into the fountain any second. People did manage to get themselves into weird situations.

o_O

She immediately ran forward and tried to grab him but it was too late. He fell into the water and managed to splash water all over her as well. Great. She placed her bag on the ground and leaned over the fountain wall, offering her hand. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Loved not loves.... he died!" Taylor glared at her cousin, "My mother is a useless snob, whom i haven't seen for most of my life!" Taylor folded her arms, "My brother.... if he can even be called that, is bringing shame to our family. A divorce! That is the worst disgrace ever, cheating would of been better!" She gestured with her hands for emphasis.

After successfully managing to sit up, his whole body now completely inside of the fountain, Adam coughed, trying to spit the mass of water that was pouring down from his hair out of his mouth. Using a hand to flip back his hair so it was out of face, before turning to observe the girl who he figured he had so gracefully managed to run into. And apparently had also managed to get nearly just as wet as he was. Taking the girl's extended hand Adam gave a small nod, before slightly using her hand to pull himself up, while managing his own weight well enough that she didn't pull the girl into the fountain with him.

"I am so sorry," Adam finally managed to get out, the embarrassment preventing him from speaking right away. "I think you'll find if you look in the dictionary my picture will be right next to the word klutz," Adam said with a chuckle. "Are you alright? My sincerest apologies about getting you so wet."

Evelyn gave an amused smile as she somehow helped him to get out of the water. Gosh, the poor guy looked so funny..but, she managed not to laugh. That would be more than a little rude. When he said that he was okay, she surveyed the damage to her clothes. So, her dress was a little wet and her hands were completely drenched but her hair was alright, thankfully.

"That's alright." Evelyn said, with a smile. "No. I'm pretty sure you're not a klutz..at least, you don't look like one." She added with a grin. "I'm fine. I just got a little wet, that's all. Are YOU okay? I hope you didn't hurt yourself."

Adam could tell that the girl was struggling not to laugh at him, and honestly he couldn't say that he blamed her. He was sure he looked like a horrible drowned rat, his pants starting to slid down slightly from the added weight of being wet. "Um...skooz," Adam said with an apologetic little smile, stepping out of the fountain and pulling his wand out of his pocket. With a swift flick of the wand Adam found himself completely dry, before turning around to smile at the girl. "Would you like me to?" Adam asked, motioning that he could dry her off as well if she wanted. Although, the girl did look to be around his age so perhaps she knew how to do that herself. Either way since he was the one responsible for soaking her, he figured it was appropriate and polite to extend the offer.

At the compliment of saying that Adam didn't look like a klutz, Adam felt his cheeks flush red slightly. After all now that Adam was getting a good look at the girl without the water screen he saw that she was very attractive. "That's...uh...nice of you to say," Adam said with a little smile. "And no worries, I'm alright. My name is Adam by the way, Adam Fitzgerald," he said, extending his hand.

Alyssa came out to the Courtyard, dressed up in her thick woolen coat and wearing thick gloves and ear muffs. Tonight was a cold night but at least the sky was clear without a cloud in the sky. Alyssa decided that she would come out here to gaze at the stars and look for a specific one in general. According to her Star Reference Guide today, December 10th, would be a good day to see the Constellation Aries.

She quickly took her bag from her shoulder and unzipping it, she took out a blanket which she unfolded and lay on the ground. Then she took out the case carrying the telescope and opened it. Taking out the telescope, she unfolded it and set it up standing on the blanket. Alyssa then lay down on the blanket and adjusted the viewfinder before looking through the scope. The stars were still a little blurry even after adjusting the focus, so she took out her wand and tapping it on the telescope said, "Lens Focalis". Placing her wand back into this holster, she lay back down on the blanket and looked through the eyepiece. This time the stars looked a lot clearer, just like as if they were only a couple of miles instead of a million miles away.

She scanned the skies, moving her telescope, until she thought she saw the formation she was looking for. She quickly referred to her reference guide to make sure of the formation of stars that formed the Constellation Aries. Looking back and forth through the scope and then in her book, Alyssa confirmed that what she was looking at was the Constellation Aries

She quickly took out her journal and noted the her findings.



Once Alyssa had noted down the location of the Constellation, she placed her journal into her bag, before she lay back down and looked through the telescope eyepiece again until she started to feel cold. Deciding that it was time for her return to the castle, Alyssa folded up her telescope and placed it back into its case. She then placed it inside her bag, picked up the blanket and shook it out, before she folded it and placed it in the bag too. She then zipped up her bag and made her way back to the castle and to the warmth of her House Common Room.

Lilly sat down in the courtyard, with a sketchpad and a pencil. She'd never been able to draw as well as Violet, so this might be hard. It was slightly distracting with it being so busy there, but the young lioness tried anyway. Lilly began to draw the outline of the frame for the transfiguration homework. No, it was too messy. The spell would never work on that. The second-year scrunched up the paper, putting it in her bag to throw away when she got back inside. She was being a bit of a perfectionist. This wasn't as easy as it looked. She tried again, this time with a ruler, but then it slipped and Lilly's hand moved so the line turned swirly, which wouldn't work. No, it was too busy here. She stood up, leaving the courtyard to go to somewhere that she could concentrate.

As the boy stepped away, Evelyn gave a small laugh before she opened her bag and removed her wand. She did feel bad for him but..gosh, he did look hilarious. With the small wave of her wand, she got herself dried up. Phew! She replaced the wand in her bag before the guy walked back. "Uh. No, thank you. I just got myself dry." She smiled. "It's nice of you to offer though."

Evelyn frowned a little when she saw that he was blushing a little..why? She had no idea. "Yeah, well.." She bit her lower lip from smiling again. He was just way too polite..which was actually kinda nice but still funny. "Nice to meet ya, Adam. I'm Evelyn Wellington, but you can call me Eve..if you want." She shook his hand before she continued, "Are you a sixth year as well?" He did look to be about her age so she hoped that she was right.

Looking back at Lewis, she still couldn’t decide if he was just making fun of her or not. Hmm… and I thought I was acting odd, Gwendolyn told herself and realized he was about to --erm--run away? Was he scared of her? Well- this is a first. She’d been mean to other students too, but no one was taking the rude jokes seriously. Hmph.

‘It’s true?’, she said, raising her eyebrows. ‘What is true? The fact that we just met, or that I am… rude?’, Gwen snapped back, trying to sound like she was only joking, but of course, not managing to do so. ‘But anyway … I guess it’s true. Yes.’ And I don’t really care. It is much worse to be lost in the mist than rude, right? Riiiight?

As she heard his comment about the first years, Gwen couldn’t help laughing. She’d been wondering the same. ‘No idea’, she replied, putting her hands up. ‘Some of them actually stupefy me with their remarks’ Incredible how dumb people manage to get everyone’s attention, the Ravenclaw thought, but decided not to say it out loud.

‘Why?’, Gwen puffed. ‘Because… I just think that almost all the characteristics of the Slytherin house apply to me…’, she started saying but suddenly stopped. But don’t get me wrong. I DO like Ravenclaw, and I’m happy I got into this house. ‘Never mind’, she said, gesturing with her hand.

After saying that, Gwen looked back at her copy of the daily Prophet. It wasn’t anything new in there, and the third year couldn’t believe she spent so much time trying to snap the paper from that monstrous owl. Grr. ‘What is that spell that turns paper into other objects?’, she mused and then looked back at Lewis. Any ideas? Meh… if he didn’t know as well, she could always make a plane out of it… or just pass it to Ariadne.

Adam gave the girl a small nod as if to say sure when she thanked him for his offer. He figured she was going to be able to do it herself but it seemed like it would have been rude to have at least not offered. As she bit her lower lip he was getting the distinct impression that she was doing it to try and suppress herself from smiling or laughing. Well he knew he looked ridiculous and the whole thing was quite embarrassing, so he couldn't fault the girl for wanting to have a laugh at his expense. Even he couldn't stop himself from smiling slightly at the whole situation.

"Nice to meet you Eve," Adam said with a small smile before releasing her hand. "I am a sixth year," Adam said with a nod, "but I have the grace of a five year old," Adam said with a little chuckle. "I take it you are a sixth year as well? Is it your first year at Hogwarts?" Adam asked, not recognizing the girl but then again he still felt like even though he was on his second year here that he still didn't know a good number of the students.

Evelyn pushed her hair back from her face before she picked up her bag and looked at Adam with a smile. A genuine smile this time. She felt a little embarrassed about the fact that she had laughed at him..it was rude and she had an idea that he might have figured it out. She hoped he didn't think she was mean.

When Adam said that he had the grace of a fifth year, Evelyn shook her head and grinned. "Well, I don't think so..I mean everyone is clumsy at times." When he asked whether she was a sixth year, she nodded. "Yep and I'm new here. I'm still getting used to everything but yeah, I love this place." Evelyn finished with a grin.