The Duck Pond
 

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Ducks, fifteen in all and quite possibly already named, live in this pond. Go on, take a seat on the rocky ledge and dip your feet into the water! Rest assured, these ducks will not bite, but if you just so happen to have any type of bread or cookies on you at the time, the ducks have been known to take without asking.

Waylon keeps a good eye on the pond and the ducks, so no funny business.

Taryn had caught sight of the pretty new Groundskeeper during the feast and MAYBE... just maybe she'd been hoping to bump into him whilst on a stroll of the LOVELY grounds...

Hehe. Not like she'd even be able to talk to him if she ever DID bump into him. Hehe. She'd have to admire from afar...

SIIIIGH.

But then, she got distracted by the DUCKS. Eeek! Duckies. Clara saw the ducks too, and she crouched down low, looking much like a lioness about to attack. Taryn knew she wouldn't though, Clara wasn't much of an action cat, she was lazy.

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Auggie hadn't seen Taryn at the Feast after they had spent a nice train ride together on the way to school. He had thought about going over to visit her at the Slytherin table but got caught up messing around with Kurumi, Selina, and the new Gryffindors he had met. He was also sort of nervous around a few of the snakes.

But the boy had made a promise to himself that he would find his girlfriend today so they could spend their first day back at school together. He decided that the Grounds would be a good place to look for her. His shoes travelled the lawns until he began to hear the quacking of ducks. Really, ducks?

August decided that was definately a place to look, even if Taryn wasn't there. Ducks were always interesting. They weren't really around his home in the city. They reminded him of the country. As he reached the edge of the pond he, suprisingly, HAD found Taryn. "Hey Taryn, fancy seeing you here." he said walking up to her and playfully poking her arm.

"And I see you've brought Clara." he said crouching down to pat the cat on the head.

Taryn wished she had brought something with her to feed the ducks with, but she hadn't known that there even WERE ducks until she'd found them. NEXT time she'd bring snacks. Taryn was wondering what the ducks would do when winter time came. They would.. fly south? Like other birds? Hmm. This was something that Aspen would know. Taryn lacked knowledge in all things birds.

"Oh, hi!" Taryn smiled at Auggie. She WONDERED when she'd see him next. It was a pretty big school, after all, but she figured it would be soon. Clara was not going to be distracted from her duck watching, but she did allow Auggie to pet her. "Hey." Taryn sat down and crossed her legs, "I meant to ask you this before, but I forgot." OR she'd been hoping that it had never happened...

"Did you happen to get a letter from... me over the summer?"

Oh he was glad that she was happy he was there. Auggie was beginning to feel more and more comfortable around Taryn and the fact they were in a relationship didn't freak him out anymore.

And then they were talking about the letter.

Yeah....that letter had freaked him out a bit, but that was back before he was as comfortable as he was now, well before she had mentioned the thing again. "Umm yeah. It was nice." he nodded. He had the strangest feeling that she hadn't written it herself and her asking about it only strengthened that thought.

Taryn made a face at that. Her nose wrinkled and her lips pouted. She'd been HOPING that it had gotten lost in the post or that the owl had... died or something. Sigh.

"You might not believe me, but.. I didn't write that. That was Tori. I asked her not to, but she wouldn't listen." Just so he knew... because that first letter had been borderline creepy, she didn't even WANT to know what the second one was like.

Eugh.

The embarrassment was somewhat apparent on Taryn's face and it made Auggie feel bad to talk about something she had so obviously not been completely partial to.

"Um...do you mean that it was Tori, not you, that thinks Hogsmeade is such a beautiful place this time of year?" he teased, to lighten the situation. Like he had thought before, it was Tori who had written the letter and he wasn't really weirded out by it. He knew Taryn was more...descrete than that.

"Only a gift from Princess Bunbury, I understand." he said sitting down beside her and patting her knee as he looked out at the ducks on the pond. "You would like to go with me there sometime though right?" he asked smally.

"Is that what it said?" Taryn didn't remember the specific wording of the first letter, she'd been too annoyed and embarrassed at the same time to really process. "She didn't let me read it, she just ran off and borrowed an owl from some random dude." SERIOUS.

"I guess I should have written to you myself." Taryn hadn't actually thought about that before now, "I think, if I can guess correctly, that letter was a little... much. Right? Too...thick, too soon."

Really.

"To Hogsmeade?" She glanced in his direction, "Sure, we can go there." She didn't object to THAT part.

O___o

"Seriously?" Tori was his friend and she had once even been the center of a crush he had on her but looking back, she was sort of out there sometimes. He loved her to death but she was. Remembering the way the letter had been written, some of the phrases that just shouted the Slytherin's name, and the way Taryn was appologizing for it sent August into a small fit of laughter.

"I'm s-sorry." he said finally catching his breath. "No need to worry Taryn, I sort of had an idea that it wasn't really from you." It was good to know that Taryn wasn't a crazy girl who wanted to be all love-dovey soulmate boyfriend/girlfriend right off the bat. Comforting to say the least.

"Good. It's a date then." he said with a confident grin at her. See they would get better at this stuff.

Why was he LAUGHING? This was embarrassing and Taryn kind of felt bad for it all. It wasn't her fault that Tori had sent that letter, but she felt like it was.

Auggie didn't seem to mind in the slightest, so she supposed that she should probably just get over it, right?

"Let's not tell Tori about it, though." She laughed at that. Even all the way at Beauxbatons, Tori would find a WAY to "help".

Auggie was glad that Taryn wasn't taking this all too seriously. He now knew that it was all sort of a joke and that Tori had been very instrumental in the writing of the letter--Taryn, not so much.

"Deal. But we should definately write to her soon. I would like to go with you when you send your first letter. I will write one too and we can share an owl." he nodded. Auggie wanted to stay in touch with Tori as best as they could, she was their friend even if she went to stinkin' Beuxbatons now.

"Wish we had something to feed to these ducks." he said after a minute of silence. They were probably hungry.

"Maybe we can take a walk up there later." Taryn suggested, nudging his shoulder. She didn't exactly have a letter ready, but they could... walk? Er... that was a bad suggestion, huh?

"I was thinking that too." Taryn grinned at the DUCKS. As if they could tell that she was TOTALLY excited about them, "Maybe I'll come out every day and bring them food." Right? She was sure that the pretty Groundskeeper fed them well, so she'd only bring a little snack.

Ummm...

"Maybe we can walk up to Gryffindor Tower and let me get us some parchment and quills and we can take them to the Owlery with us and we can write our letters up there?" he suggested to make her walking plan a tad bit more...better?

"Oh I will join you every now and then." Everyday was a bit much for August, he was going to have classes and a House Cup to help win afterall. But he was definately looking forward to getting to feed the fat little ducks some bread or something else.

For Nina and Ellie xD
 

Well, he's officially in Hogwarts! Now where to explore first? Hmm..Maybe he should start from the grounds and enjoying the weather. Maybe he could meet someone he know or someone new.

KWEK!

Messer was enjoying his walk when he heard that duck noise from the pond near him. Eeeepp! Ducks! There are ducks everywhere in that pond. Wow! He never know that Hogwarts had ducks. No one ever mentioned it to him. The eleven years old boy took a seat on the rocky ledge. He was about to eat his cheese bun when suddenly one of the duck come to him and take his bun. "Hey!" Bad duck!

She had MISSED Hogwarts, okay? She'll admit it. She'd missed it. She'd missed the path she took on her daily run, she'd missed the food (now that the House Elves were back to their usual standard of cooking), she'd missed the people and the weather and the grounds. She'd missed it all and was quite glad to be back.

Note that classes hadn't started yet.

Anyway, she'd finished her morning run, showered, ate breakfast, and now had planned on visiting Vindictus. Only she was meant to do so with Max and the boy was no where to be found. Until the boy showed up, Ellie was going to occupy her time exploring what new wonders the Groundskeeper had for them. Pity it wasn't Stryker, though. Still, the pond was interesting enough to catch the redhead's eye.

That was where she went, where she saw something - or someone - more appealing than the ducks. Messer, wasn't it?! The adorable incoming firstie she met in Diagon Alley!! Ellie made a beeline for him.

As she approached, though, she witnessed the horrible attack of the duck. Which the girl responded to by taking her wand out. "Accio." The bun sailed through the air into her free hand, with a beak-shaped bite taken out of it.

Ellie made a pitying face as she handed Messer his bun back. "Here you go. It probably has duck germs on it, though..." Which she could also take care of if he'd like. A scourgify would take care of that, no? No need to waste good food.

Katie couldn't believe what she was seeing... it couldn't, could it? IT WAS! It was a duck pond WITH ducks! And she though Hogwarts couldn't get better.

She wish she had brought bread with her, she would have fed the ducks awesome bread, note to self: bring breed next time going to the duck pond. Katie counted how many ducks, 15, Katie's age, must be a sign! Or just a coincidence, probably that, but Katie found it cool, because now she can go around saying 'I'm the same age as there are ducks at Hogwarts', which would odd and probably scare some people, but it would be cool, right? RIGHT!

There goes his food. He's trying to put an angry face hoping that the bad ducky would scare of him but unfortunately for him the duck was more scarier than him. He back a little when the duck gave him an angry kwek. Apparently the Groundskeeper forgot to put a 'Beware Of Fierce Ducks' near the pond. He need to go and see him to tell him that.

Then suddenly out of no where Messer saw his bun flew into the air. What? Did the Groundskeeper train it magic too? His eyes followed the flying bun and it landed into a someone hand. He smiled widely when his eyes caught the familiar face. "ELLIE!"Of course he should know better than make an assumption that the duck could do magic.

"Thanks, Ellie." he took his bun from the redhead's hand. Messer made a yuck face when she mentioned about duck germs. He's thinking about give the bad ducky his bun but its his favorite and the ducky only managed to take a small bite. "Do you mind to..umm..scourgify it?" He'd like to do it himself but he still doesn't know to use his wand properly.

Erin was dancing half running around Hogwarts. Surely, there were wonderful additions to it and others were just gone, like the waterfall with a swimming pond. That was quite a popular last term but hey, the duck pond and the topiary were one of the best this school year.

And then she saw the older Slytherin girl whom she noticed last night at the Welcome Feast running 'round her house table welcoming new Ravvies and old ones. She was so friendly and now, she was all by herself? Weird.

"Eh? Why are you alone?" asked Erin confused. She was holding her new pet lizard and she would say, she learned to be quite fond of it. Nora was actually right.

Katie was awoken from her staring at the pretty ducklings and turned to see a girl she had seen at the feast at the Ravenclaw table, and she had been wearing Ravenclaw robes which clearly meant she was a Slytherin Ravenclaw!

*mini silent YAY that only Katie can hear in her head!*

Katie shrugged her shoulders, "Can't always be surrounded by friends and new people, even though I prefer it that way" Katie smiled, she only liked being alone when she is reading a book, if someone interrupts her again like everyone did last year she would hit them with the book, hopefully she isn't reading a big book when you talk to her or BAM!

There was something different about that girl then she saw her last, hmm, Katie couldn't put her finger on it though... OH YEAH! She was holding an awesome lizard, Katie looked at it interested, SWEEEET! "Can I um hold the lizard? please?" Katie asked, she can be trusted, even if you only just meet her, at least, people seemed to trust her and she hadn't broken that trust so clearly Katie is super trustworthy! "Oh I'm Katelyn by the way" Katie interdouced herself, she had nearly forgotten about her name, but she wasn't that stupid... not yet at least.

"You are so welcoming last night. Even going to our house table," said Erin. Was she picking a fight with an older student...AGAIN? Not again. And a Slytherin...AGAIN? "I've met a very rude Slytherin last night," Erin pouted. She could at least let her sentiments out to a Snake too. A Ravenclaw would be good in giving advices and she already had that but she couldn't forget the fact that she super felt a loser.

Hold the lizard? Was she mental? Erin would trust her cute little thing to a Snake? No way! But how would she say it to this girl without being so rude? "Not today," she pretended a small smile leaning her arms away from the super hyper Slythie. Since the girl introduced herself, might as well Erin too. "I'm Erin."

Anyone…
 

After hearing rumors of duck pond, Sky just had to check it out. So armed with some bread she had taken from the Great Hall, she trotted to the pond that was, indeed, there. Yay! She started by taking off her shoes, rolling up her pant legs, sitting on the edge of the pond and dangling her feet in the water.

QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!

"Okay, okay calm down a minute!" she told the ducks, picking up the aforementioned bread. She tore off a piece and threw it towards the animals, watching them race each other to it. Silly ducks. She tore off another piece and threw it to the ducks, smiling. Yep, whoever came up with this idea was genius…

So, everyone that knew Daichi in his first year must have known that he LOVED ducks. It was his favorite animal. He had dragged a pushed ducky Mr.Duckles with him everywhere aaaand he had almost scolded a professor for killing a rubber duck....chyeaah you could say that he loved the little creatures.

But as he walked over the grounds and tried to find the tree houses from last year, he found something even better.

His eyes literally went wide open together with his mouth. He could have catched flies if he stood there all day. Closing his mouth, the Slytherin took a stepped in the direction of the pond and wondered if he had seen it well.

It could have just been an imagination that he saw ducks right? It wouldn't be the first time. But as he got closer to the pond he knew he wasn't dreaming.

Trying to be charismatic right now was out of question. The third year squealed once and then quickly waggled like a duck towards the pond. "DUCKIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEES~!" He shouted , scaring a couple of ducks that were giving bread by a girl nearby.

"As you might know some Slytherins aren't that nice, I tend to hang with Ravenclaws, they are very nice, and besides, I welcome all to be my friend, I dont care about houses or blood, everyone should be friends with everyone" Katie smiled, it was hard to start a fight with Katie, the only Katie has been in a fight because she had started it, but that was never really. Katie loved Ravenclaws, yes that sounded a bit odd, a slytherin that adores Ravenclaws, but it was true! They are smart and can help her with her OWLS *giggle* but that wasn't the reason.. ravens were AWESOME!

Katie sighed, why are some Slytherins like that? When she hears of them Katie always thinks why she was sorted into Slytherin herself.

"Sorry to hear, who was it? Just wondering just in case I know them" Katie asked curiously, Katie was a very curious person. Apart from the million Ravenclaw friends she had she had many Slytherins too she had met, and who knows, she could know the rude slytherin, though she probably didn't, though she welcomed everyone as friends she tend to try and avoid rude people.

Awww, not even a quick hold? Katie wasn't going to beg even if she wanted to hold the lizard badly, she loved all animals, expect any bugs, they were disgusting and some scary. "I'll keep that in mind" Katie joked, though she will remember that and hunt Erin's lizard down tomorrow, just kidding, Katie will probably forget by the end of the day, Katie was just cool like that, though she would defiantly remember Erin and the AWESOME DUCKS. "Pleasure" Katie grinned, lovely to meet new people, as it was her mission for everyone to know who she is so this was a good start.

A Slytherin Ravenclaw lover? Great! So, she could say anything to her. The truth was, she loved Slytherin. She had so many Snakey friends, Kimalia, Sky, Kat, Cass, Nora and many more. Her all time crush was also from Slytherin, she swore to herself, if she could see Jonathan Kim lingering around here all by himself, she would leave Katelyn alone and go to him instead. It may be a little embarrassing and awkward for the Slytherin girl but she would do it. She would do it like right now! "I love to hear that you like us," she smiled. 'We're basically awesome!' Erin muttered under her breath.

The guy was somewhat her age, she may know him. Just that he was an enemy, why would he introduced himself to Erin? "There's no introductions between us but he must be like in his fourth year?" Yes, somewhere between a fourth and a fifth. Erin loathed him. He embarrassed her.

So, Katelyn was not the ickle type, thank God she was not a first year. "You know Nora, she's a Slytherin too. I bought a lizard to partner with hers," Erin winked. She would say, she was not too fond of those little creatures before, but the fact that she could matchmake the animals, it just felt so cool. "Nice to meet you too Katelyn."

Katie laughed, though it wasn't that funny Katie had found humor in what Erin had said so she laughed not caring what she might think, Katie literally laughed at everything funny, no matter how cheesy. "Of course Slytherin is awesome aswell" Katie teased, a smirk on her face, she did love Slytherin, they won everything last year because they are so skilled! The house she liked the least was Gryffindor, she actually had about one friend in that house, and that would probably be her boyfriend John, HE was awesome, a lot awesome, they had got together at the feast, so clearly that was going to be a feast to remember.

"I see, I may know him, since we are around the same age then if thats true, I'm in fifth year" Katie said, fifth year, OWL year, and Katie hoped to get decent grades, grades she could be proud of, that was one of the few goals she had for the year, she had A LOT of goals, and she was going to accomplish them all, no matter what, yup, Katie wasn't being lazy this year, not at all.

Katie thought, did she know a Nora? Not exactly, "I don't know Nora but I have heard about her" Katie nodded and then listened to the rest of what Erin had to say "Nice" Katie smiled laughing a tad, now she wanted to meet Nora now because she had a lizard too, and maybe she might let her hold it, of course Katie understood why Erin wouldn't let Katie hold the lizard but she did really want to hold it. "Does your lizard have a name?" Katie asked, that would help for future references, so she doesn't just call it the lizard each time she see's it.