Not necessary? Heh. "You haven't seen him, though. I'm sure he was exploding from the inside trying to get Ellie to think and when he failed, he wanted her to explode just like he did." Hmm. Louisa knew everything. "Yeah, he kissed Vashti. Who has a boyfriend by the way and probably got jarred by the liplock." Vashti was more of a shy person. Well, she was definitely shier and politer than Louisa so... "He was a jerk." The girl concluded, stretching her legs and throwing her torso to the back, lying down on the grass. The sky wouldn't hurt her eyes at this time of the day.

Adam's words of wisdom made sense to her. A lot. "Fear of commitment," she repeated, staring up at the sky. "That's very possible. I think..." She turned her head to look at him, "..that people who don't like commitments should not involve themselves with any kind of relationships." Back to staring at the sky, "Like my father. Why marry a woman and have a kid if he was too coward to be a father?" Shifting the blame from Joao to the main source of her demanding a promise from her boyfriend.

Adam had to admit he couldn't stop his mouth from falling open slightly after finding out who Dallin had kissed even if he'd tried. "Um...wow...that's...wow," Adam said, slightly at a loss for words. Of the little that he knew Vashti after helping Louisa and her through their problems last term, Vashti didn't strike him as the type that would do something like that. Although perhaps Dallin had just completely taken the girl by such surprise that she wasn't really sure how to react. "Well...how did Vashti respond?" Adam asked, wondering if she instantly regretted the action, or was too surprised to really have a proper response at the time...

Seeing that Louisa had laid back on the ground to look up at the sky, Adam joined her, listening as she expressed her thoughts about commitment. "I have often asked the same questions of my parents...well...parent now I suppose," Adam replied softly. "Fear really is a powerful thing," Adam said, keeping his eye on a cloud that was drifting above them. "In some ways I think it might be one of the most powerful forces in the world."

Louisa actually chuckled at his 'wow' response. It was indeed wow-y. It was pretty daring to kiss the Head Girl, too. "I know. Well, I didn't talk to Vashti about it. I think it's too awkward for her to discuss it." A naughty giggle followed that, Louisa tried to drown it with a fake cough. "But if I really know the girl, then I say she must've ran away." Blushing, breathless and the like. Hehe. Ahem.

Her features quickly softened at his 'parent' correction. She slid her arm closer to his and placed her hand over it. "They loved each other, though. Your parents. No one abandoned the other." Even if they were quite obnoxious to their only son. Gazing up at the sky again, she pondered his opinion about fear. It made sense. "It is powerful in a bad way." Pause. "What are you most afraid of, Adam?" Totally random, but as a Gryffindor about to become an Auror, she wanted to know.

Adam figured she was probably going to need some time to sort things out for herself before she went spilling her guts to anyone. "I imagine she probably needs to think things out first," Adam said with a little nod. At Louisa interesting chuckle that she tried to disguise into a cough, Adam turned to look at her, trying to prevent himself from smiling. "You think she ran away or you know she ran away?" Adam asked, a small smile finally breaking through on his lips.

Adam lost his smile when Louisa mentioned that his parents loved one another. He appreciated her touching gesture, giving a small nod. "I guess they saved all their love for one another," Adam said with a little smile that didn't fully touch his eyes. "I guess people can just change and grow apart you know? Sometimes there's no defining reason or any defining moment as to when it happened, but it does..."

Adam was quiet after Louisa's question as to what he was afraid of. Him and Louisa were close, but even Adam had never really shared what he was afraid of with anyone. "Dying alone," Adam whispered softly, so that only Louisa that was right next to him could hear him. "Getting down to the end of my life and having no one beside me...Odd, I know, for someone who has spent most of their life alone, but I always kept hope in the fact that once I got older and was away from my parents I would find someone that could honestly say that they love me and meant it."

She shrugged a shoulder, or well she made a gesture as close to shrugging a shoulder as possible while lying on the ground like this. "No, I don't know but I think she might've ran away from him. She is the Head Girl, you know. Younger students know her and all.. it'd be embarrassing for her to be seen in such a situation." The image of Dallin and Vashti snogging, though, was totally wrong.

Louisa sat up slowly when he started talking about his parents loving only each other. She turned to face him while he was still lying back. She offered a very small but sad smile, "Adam... I think you should stop thinking about it." It was one of those times when Louisa found herself not as smart as she thought she was, with nothing comforting to say to a friend.

And then came his fear. The girl listened quietly, and very politely to the whole thing. It made her heart slow down a bit, listening to his deep concern of not retuning to that loneliness state. Very sad. She spoke once he'd finished, her voice matched his tone. "Oh Adam, you're not going to die alone." Again with the know-it-all attitude. Louisa sighed and tried again, "I won't let it." She offered a smile before adding more enthusiastically, "How about we make a promise to each other today?" In fact, the idea was greater than expected. She reached for her bag and started rummaging through her stuff as she talked, "We can do like the people in movies do." Even if she wasn't a fan of non-documentary movies, she knew some. "We write an oath or something and bury it in here. It's like letting the earth protecting it for us... or something." Only they weren't going to return to Hogwarts and take it out. It was just a gesture of commitment.

Adam nodded, understanding Louisa's point. He figured that embarrassment was definitely something that Vashti would be feeling...after all who wouldn't be at least a little bit embarrassed, right? And if she had a boyfriend...well...that just made the whole situation even more complicated and confusing. Poor Vashti. Poor Dallin. And poor Ellie...

When Louisa suggested that he should stop talking about it Adam nodded in agreement. It was time for him to just the whole thing go. It wasn't going to change, the whole situation with his parents...err parent...so it was best to just move on. Adam was quiet after he'd spoken, and he figured that Louisa would work her hardest to insist that that was not going to happen to him, and that she wasn't going to let it happen. He prevented himself from looking towards her because they were entering that dangerous territory that Adam was trying to prevent them from entering anymore. Even though the promise should have touched him and made him happy, it just made him sadder as a part of him confirmed that Louisa would never promise him to that in the way that he wanted her to. She would promise to be there as a friend, and a friend alone, and Adam feared the day that that would no longer be enough for him. Would he be able to survive being at Louisa's wedding when she gave her whole heart and love to another man? When she started a family that he wasn't involved in? He knew it was a long way off, but as time went on Adam's hopes that one day him and Louisa might be more was getting slimmer and slimmer.

Nevertheless Adam tried to prevent the true depression from showing on his face, and sat up along with Louisa. "Sure," Adam managed to get out, trying to keep a strong facade that Louisa wouldn't be able to see through. He could make a promise to her...after all he had just gone on saying if the person was important enough it was at least worth trying right? "What should we write?" Adam asked.

The girl was taking out a parchment and a quill, Adam's sad expression going unnoticed by her completely. His silence, on the other hand, was interpreted wrongly. Louisa thought he was just trying to shake off the sad memory of his parents so she avoided looking at him or asking what was wrong with him. She just laid the parchment down on her held-up leg and started writing, "I'm going to write down my everlasting promise first." She announced, excited for the whole thing. "I, Louisa Mary Carter, promise Adam Fitzergald to never leave him die alone." Pausing as she stared down at the words. "It's too sad. I'll change it to; to never let anything breaks our friendship down." Adjusting the words happily, she passed the quill to Adam while her eyes admired the promise she'd just written down.

"Your turn." She then passed him the parchment. "It's your promise, you have to choose it." Louisa explained with a big smile. This was really fun to do!

"I think thet would be fun" he said with a smile on his lips. He did too, stargazing along with homework, sounded like a great combination. Get the not so much fun stuff done and have fun looking at the stars as well! "One thing I love about here, is there isn't the lights as in a city, it's so wide open here, and can see the whole sky so clearly." It was one reason he hated living in cities, you couldn't see the sky so good. He needed the wide open space it gave him freedom, and the ability to see nature the way it should be seen.

He still wasn't sure if her spending the night would be the best thing for her, if she had that fear and woke in the middle of the night it could be really bad for her. His mum would be there and help but it wasn't the same as sleeping in your own bed he knew. He'd say they could sleep in the same room, so she'd be more comforted but that wouldn't be right either! He didn't know if he could sleep if they'd done that, it would be so awkward... "We'll jus' see what happens." he said softly not agreeing or disagreeing. He was the one who had brought it up and he should know better. He wouldn't mind either way, but knew his parents would be happy even if it were just for a few hours.

Seeing her face of displeasure he wrinkled his nose as well "Very true. Te bad there isn' something thet would work without causing additional pain."

Aurora wandered down to the duck pond, humming to herself. She sat down at the side of the pond and crossed her legs, watching the ducks swimming around. Luckily, she brought a small paper bag of breadcrumbs from the kitchen and was throwing them for the ducks. She kept humming as she waited for Kennedy... she'd missed him... it would be nice to see him again... it felt like she'd hadn't seen him in AGES!

Louisa hadn't seemed to notice Adam's suddenly miserable mood, or maybe she was just assuming it was the whole remembering his parents that had gotten him so down, but either way Adam was grateful for that. The last thing he wanted was Louisa prying and Adam having to lie and pretend that it was nothing. It was something. He was just getting better at making it nothing, and maybe one day it actually would be nothing. Or it would end up destroying him. He watched Louisa with the huge smile across her face as she wrote down her promise before passing the small piece of paper and pen towards him. Adam took it out of her hand and held it for a couple of moments, trying to figure out what exactly he should write on this piece of parchment.

Not being able to speak the words as he wrote them, Adam scribbled on the piece of parchment before passing it over to Louisa so that she could read it:

I, Adam Fitzgerald, promise to stand by Louisa Carter's side as her best friend no matter what unforeseen circumstances come our way.

Watching Adam's face as he thought about the promise made Louisa slightly anxious. Was the subject of his parents that brought him down so much? She shouldn't have mentioned this promise and bad parents thing. And considering that he'd just broken up with his girlfriend definitely didn't make things easier for him. She took the parchment from him and smiled at the promise.

"It's lovely." And comforting. She folded the piece of parchment and stuffed it in her shirt's pocket. "We can bury it later." Why? Her smile was a it restrained with worry, "Once you tell me why you're so silent all of the sudden?" She caught his hand, "I am sorry for bringing that subject up. I shouldn't have talked about such matters when you were just trying to move on from Rubiey." Her smile was totally gone now. "You forgive me?"

Adam had to admit he was a bit shocked when Louisa shoved the promises back into her pocket instead of starting to bury them slightly. Oh dear...this can't be good. And then the question came. Apparently Louisa hadn't been as unobservant as he thought and now he was put into a situation where he had to lie to her, which he hated doing, but at the same time there was no way that he was going to get into this conversation again. There was no way that Adam was going to admit to Louisa that he was still hopeful that one day they could be something, or that maybe she would start to see him as more than just Adam, her best friend. "I'm not that silent," Adam said, with a small shrug of the shoulder that he was sure was not going to fool Louisa. "I was just thinking...and you have nothing to apologize for," Adam said, mustering a reassuring smile. "It's just a lot of stuff all at once, but it's fine. No biggie. Want to bury our promises now?" Adam asked, slightly hopeful.

Okay. Well. That was pretty lame excuse. She opened her mouth to protest and push him further but decided not to at the last second. "Okay," she whispered, reaching for the parchment and nodding her head. Better bury the thing, maybe it'd get Adam's mind off the issue that annoyed him? Yeah, hopefully. It was like this time, too, that she'd envied Paulie for his humoring nature. She didn't know how to make people smile and laugh, not without an effort anyways. And she did NOT believe that she'd just thought that.

With a quick shake of the head, Louisa frowned thoughtfully, "Do you think the groundskeep would let us dig a small hole for our parchment?" And even if he did, Louisa wasn't sure of which spell she'd use.

Adam could tell that Louisa was on the verge of trying to push the matter further, seeing the shift in her eyes as she decided to just let the whole thing go. It pained Adam not being open with her, but why open those wounds when they had been working so hard to keep them closed? Or should he say when he had been working so hard to keep them closed. "I promise you Louisa, I am fine. You worry too much," Adam said jokefully, giving her a little punch in the side of her arm. When she asked about the groundskeeper letting them dig the ground up he bit his lower lip. "Er...I'm not so sure. I guess as long as we conceal it well enough and make sure we repair the hole, I can't see why he'd complain, right?" Adam pulled his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at a little area in front of them. "Diffindo," Adam said softly, moving the wand in a circle so that it cut a perfectly round seam in the grass. Using his free hand, he plunged his fingers into the dirt, cupping the round patch of dirt before lifting it up and setting it beside the hole.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Adam asked, looking at Louisa with a small smile.

His FAKE joke punch was obvious. Louisa knew that nobody gets sad and then starts joking a minute later unless they were hiding something or trying to change the subject really bad. So she submitted to his attempt and forced a chuckle.

Luckily, he'd started into action. She admired his controlled diffindo, hers would've blasted a deep messy hole in the ground to say the least. Her Charms skill was pretty good, though, it was just too strong and untamed yet. Louisa didn't want to risk anything and startle the other students.

Nodding at his offer, she placed the folded parchment in the small hole and helped Adam to move back the patch of dirt, patting it with her hand. "We don't need to mark it, right? It's just a gesture of commitment we made." Or did he think they had to get back here later on should they failed their promises?

Adam smiled as Louisa placed the parchment into the hole before flicking his wand and sending the dirt back on top of it. He ran his wand smoothly over the spot, eliminating any signs that there had even been a hole dug there in the first place. "I don't think we should mark it," Adam said with a little shake of the head. "I think we'll make sure to stick to them, and if we don't...well...." Adam gave a small shrug before looking out at the pond.

"I better get going," Adam said with a little nod. "I'm planning on meeting Paulie in a bit. I'll see you around though?"

"Y-yeah, I do..." Logan said, looking down, blushing bright red. Then he smiled a little. "You like me too?!" he asked in surprise. Then, she kissed him on the cheek. His mouth dropped a little. He felt his heart start pounding loudly against his chest. "I..I-I-I-I-I er..." he looked up and saw that she was running away. He sighed and was about to let her run off...but then he had this weird feeling that he needed her with him. He blinked a little as he slowly stood up and ran after him. "Ella! Wait!" he cried. He finally caught up with her and grabbed her arm and turned her around to face him.

Ella felt a hand on her arm and her entire body trembled with fear. She was so afraid that Logan was going to be cross with her that she couldn't meet his eyes. She stared at his chest, wiping furiously at her eyes as tears threatened to spill. It took her a minute before she could speak. "I-I'm sorry...I shouldn't h-have done that."

Logan's eyes widened as she cried a little. "Ella, Ella it's okay!" he said, lifting her face gingerly with his hand so he could look at her face. "Why should you be sorry?!" he asked, a puzzled look on his face.

Ella wiped her tears away and slowly lifted her head, meeting Logan's eyes. He looked so-so confused and Ella had to admit that she was confused as well. "I-I just-you make me feel-" Ella was having trouble putting her feelings into words so she closed her eyes, willing her mind to help her out. "I get these butterflies when I'm around you and I had the overwhelming urge to kiss you-" Ella felt her face grow hot at her words but continued on, eyes closed. "-and I don't even know if you wanted me to and I-that wasn't like me..." She opened her eyes slowly, wondering if she was making sense.

Logan nodded slowly and pulled her into a hug. "I understand, Ella." he said softly as he began to run a hand through her hair. "If you didn't want to, that's okay." he said. "I really like you too...don't be sorry or anything. I dunno if you did, but I honestly really liked it..." he said, blushing slightly.

"Looks good," Nate conceded after reading over the letter. "But, there's one thing that's bothering me a bit. The illegal amulet scam? What's that all about, Miss Black?" he teased, giving a small squeeze to Jez's shoulders. It was pretty funny that Jez could so readily come up with something like that, which had apparently been real, to use as a blackmail to have a favor done. It was also impressive, though, that Jez thought of all this.

Nate pulled his arm from Jez's shoulders and rolled over--in her direction, of course--with a smirk on his face. "You're still adorable," he said, flicking her nose lightly.

Ella hugged Logan back, feeling completely comfortable and calm in his arms. How is it that he can make me feel this way?She was seriously puzzled at how easily he could change her mood. Then, his hand was in her hair and it felt lovely. Ella blushed, grateful that her face was hidden from view. "No, I did want to. I just-you liked it?" Ella's mouth dropped open, not expecting to hear those words. "Well I'm glad. I liked it too." She was smiling widely now, feeling much better about the whole situation.

Fresh out of the last class of the day, Taryn loosened her tie and grinned happily at the boy who was walking with her. "Remember when I said I wanted to come here every day and visit the ducks?"

Hmm. That could possibly be used as a test. DID he remember that? HEHE.

"So far, I've managed to make it out every day." Though, she supposed that the ducks would go away in the winter, when it got SUPER cold. Hmm. She rummaged about in her pocket and produced a small bag of cookies. "For the ducks." Hehe. "And for us too, obviously."

Auggie too looked at his girlfriend as she asked him about the Ducks proposal and nodded his head as he allowed his own tie to drape loosely at his neck. "Of course I remember that. And it's good to hear that you've stuck to it, or else the ducks could get lonely."

He continued to walk down the slope and then heard the word cookies. "Oh good, I was gonna say we better not use them ALL for the ducks." Auggie wanted cookies too. He needed fed. "So how many do you think will be down here today?"