That was okay. Treyen could take his time replying to that. Did he realize how wrong that was? That she was perfect? Was that why he was taking so long? Because, you know, he could just admit she was right...again. And that would be completely and totally fine.

But no, he continued with loving her. Well....heh....fine. Not that THAT made any sense whatsoever. He had to be crazy. Merlin, even she knew how stubborn she was to some extent. And hadn't he just said how he hated arguing with her? And yet they argued all the time. So the fact that he was capable of loving someone who often provoked something he hated, all while being sane was unfathomable. He was crazy. At least a little bit.

Suddenly, she found herself with her lip in her teeth. Not for long, as his chuckle made her smile. Again, Treyen had said nothing. So she took his silence for her being right again. Not that it was 'convenient' that she missed those matches, but that those off-days didn't exist.

Treyen should probably speak up more.

Yes, this was the pace they were walking. Outside trumped inside any time of the year. Especially when she could feel so warm with him. So, they were going to take their time to the castle, okay? Maybe she'll actually become cold by the time they reached it and grab a hot chocolate. Or something. Unless Treyen was cold already...but he didn't feel cold. Not the hand that was in hers, at least.

Her eyebrow went up again. She was about to retort about that. That he'd better NOT LET her win. And certainly he shouldn't even THINK about doing such a preposterous thing. But Treyen continued. Good thing it did, too. Actually, Ellie went ahead and said what she was thinking anyway. "You better not let me win." Heh.

He DID avoid playing her! But that..that was just...that was just STUPID, Treyen Lockhart! Once more, he went on, keeping her from retorting. Smart technique he had there. Ellie could only blink and listen.

So, he'd be focused on her? He purposely tried to not play against Ravenclaw, because he'd be focused on her? That was STILL stupid. Ellie rolled her eyes and tugged him gently to continue their walk. "How could you possibly not pay attention to a Quidditch game? Especially when you're playing in it?"

Not that she realized it, but it was nearly very hypocritical of her to say. For one, she tended to focus MOST of her attention on Treyen when he was playing. As long as she was in the stands, of course. That was actually one of the perks of him being a Chaser. He was actually where all the action was taking place, instead of getting occasional attention when the opposing team tried to score.

His suggestion, though? Brilliant. Even if they'd already discussed it. He sounded much more on board just now. "We should." It would be incredibly nice to fly with him. Especially without the pressure of an actual match.

Treyen probably should've said something, but what was he going to say next? That she was perfect? Everything he said was only a confirmation on what was said before, hence why he didn't say it again. As long as Ellie didn't think she was right or anything...

...truth be told, he started to get worried by the fact that she was being too quiet, and then the lip biting begun.

Since it didn't last long, he let it go.

Okay. They'll walk slow. Got it. His other hand was too cold, though, he hadn't felt the need to wear gloves that morning and the Locker Room only had the Keeper ones...and he wasn't wearing those. Nor the others, for that matter.

Ha. Sure thing, he WON'T let her win. Her words. "I'll try my best to not let you win." Smirk.She won't be too upset if it isn't a game, so, it really didn't matter if he ended up victorious...AGAIN. It felt good to win, no? Even more to have a great time with the teammates. The teammates. He forgot about them until now.

Well, no, she didn't need to roll her eyes. Thank you, but no. That was hardly necessary.

How come it sounded as if he was being lectured by his own Captain? This is the part when he should've sighed...but refrained from doing so. He'll just answer this time, while a small smile played on his lips, "Some things are more important than Quidditch." Some people are more important than Quidditch. Ellie will have issues trying to understand his words, surely, because she believed the opposite, no?

His smile only widened when she agreed once again to a simple practice session. No one, we repeat, NO ONE will be getting inside any stands whatsoever. Not on purpose, anyway. "Good."

Now they keep on walking, right?

The smirk threw her a bit. She was very serious about that. Treyen really had better not let her win. Whatsoever. Plus, it would probably help her loads if she had Treyen for competition. And he performed at his best.

"You've said that before." Or something similar, at least. And maybe it was true...for him. For some people. Not for her, though. She depended far too much on Quidditch for anything to be more important. As important, perhaps, but...not more. Quidditch was her everything.

But what if...what if the Snitch went into the stands while they practiced? Because they were going to practice with a Snitch. They could wear gloves. But if it did, then...who was going to get it? Treyen would obviously rather be the one to go in there, but what good would that do? He didn't need the practice under there.

Ellie wasn't going to voice that, though. They'll see when the time comes.

And her answer only confirmed what he'd thought. She didn't agree. Of course she didn't. Quidditch was her everything, and he had plenty of things that completed his everything, her included.

It was certainly nice to know where he stood against Quidditch, though. VERY nice to know.

See, this is why the sport shouldn't be brought up. Ever.

He nodded, "I truly believe so." His beliefs were mentioned more often than not, and she had great memory which is why she was better at recalling stuff than he was. There was a smile on his face, a smile that didn't match Ellie's expression. Something was worrying her still, although he wasn't sure, she wasn't biting her lip.

The Head Boy felt the need to ask what was wrong, but his mouth closed just as soon as it opened.

"I wouldn't mind walking a little faster, Ellie," honestly, "I want some hot chocolate," AND the Great Hall was too far away, so they better speed up, at least one gear.

Of course he believed so. And why not? She was just telling Eve about how he played Quidditch just for fun. Treyen had many things that were more important to him. She was positive books were somewhere up on that list. Along with plenty of other things. Those necessary for survival, like food and water, aside. "I believe some things are more important to you than Quidditch, too." To him.

And then Ellie absorbed herself in thinking up a list of things that just might actually be more important. But it ended up only consisting of things you either couldn't live without, or couldn't play without. Like, what was the point of Quidditch if there were no broomsticks? Or Quaffles, Bludgers, and Snitches? Or players because there wasn't water for them to drink to survive? Those things.

It was the mention of chocolate that brought her mind back to reality. "I want chocolate," she said, her face lighting up. And if getting chocolate sooner meant they had to walk faster, then so be it.

Zack's face got all covered with snow as it him straight on his face thrown by Gwen. All cold, he was shivering now with all the coldness around him. He sneezed aloud as his tried to remove the snow from his face.

He looked at the snowball that he threw at her once he wiped the snow from the snow. "Yay! Look at you now" he said and laughed.

Oh! he thought as he saw her making some more snowballs to hit him. But then started laughing again as it didn’t even reached towards him. "Haha!" he said and looked at her giving it one more try "Oh yeah! You can still make some more to hit me" he said all laughing and began making one more to throw at her again.

Well, he wasn't counting water, nor food.

And...that was more than a confirmation that she believed Quidditch was the number one thing on her list. Yeah, that was always nice to know, wasn't it?

His smile wasn't as wide as before, but it was still there as he squeezed her hand. That must bring her out of all that terrible thinking she was doing. It was highly probable that if he talked some more, she'll think less, yes? Instead of having a few silences that allowed her mind to wander?

Anyway..., he chuckled at her reply. Of course. He'd be surprised if she'd said she didn't want chocolate. Eve also loved chocolate, they didn't discuss that in the stands? Clearly, he was more important than chocolate, right? He hoped so.

"Then we walk." The former wide smile returned, as he started to walk only a little bit faster.

Off to the castle they went.

Lily walked along the long winding pathway as she passed a few first year students running shouting "quickly in case she catches, hurry up!". Then it went quiet. She began thinking about how amazing her years have been at hogwarts. She was just thinking about all the friends that she has made and how much hogwarts means to her. The pathway was cold and a light breeze blew making her wonder about life after hogwarts....

Vindictus was the first to emerge from the Forbidden Forest. The path up to the Castle was lit by the full moon overhead. "Merlin's Beard! Have you ever seen such a bright moon?" he asked William and Dash who were lagging behind him. "This would have been a perfect night for midnight Quidditch! There's a special charm you put on the equipment for obvious safety reasons but it's pretty cool to watch it from the stands. My kids think its better than fireworks."

He went on and on about midnight Quidditch until they reached the steps leading into the Castle. Max lept onto the first step and unbeknownst to him (and the others), the orb fell out of his pocket. It landed on the grass, where it bounced twice before rolling away from view.

The moon was bright. Great. Oh, Quidditch talk too? Riveting. Dash just rolled his eyes as he trailed behind Max. Merlin the man could talk....and talk...and talk.

Usually he would care but at the moment he was just enjoying the fact that he would not be attacked by another Chimera any time soon.

Giving William a slight jab with his elbow Dash nudged his head to Vindictus. "First sign of someone becoming senile,....or maybe that's just what crazy looks like since you're the same way with your little creatures." He smirked before hopping up the steps, taking no notice at all of the orb which had rolled onto the grass.

Avery walked down the moonlit paths, keeping her head down at all times. She was feeling as nervous as she had in her first year. She had spent years one and two in Hogwarts, but had to leave in year three and remain away in years four and five because she had become ill, nobody even told her what was wrong with her, but she was apparently better now and could come back to Hogwarts to join in year six.

She peeked up and looked forwards, she was close to the Castle and she could feel the nerves growing in her stomach. She would have no friends this year and although she was quite good looking, no boys would flock to be around her. Even though she was the 'new girl' all over again, and she might have enjoyed the attention, if only she wasn't so shy.

She hoped she would find a friend soon before things could go bad, but there seemed to be no one around here. Avery flicked her glossy over her shoulder and carried on walking.

Teddy still wasn't used to Hogwarts. It was his first year here, because his cousin Jack had taken him from Sallaskay where he was literally starving with his brother.

He walked through the pathways, it was late evening, but too dark to read the time with his watch. Romantically, he had had no luck so far, but to be fair he hadn't tried very hard. He was so busy trying to settle in.

As the ground beneath his feet began to feel porous, he found himself trudging rather than walking. He realised he was no longer on the paths, but quite near the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

He wasn't scared, he very rarely was. He began to run though, surely it was past curfew now. After making his way through a patch of long grass, he emerged on the pathway, straight in to someone else, nearly knocking them over.

He quickly grabbed their wrist to prevent them from falling. It was a girl, he recognised her from his year. Avery. She was very pretty, but it seemed she was new, like him.

Avery kept walking, not really knowing where she was going, but hoping she didn't get caught, because it must be past curfew now. Then something, no, someone crashed into her. The blow threw her backwards and she was caught by the wrist before she could be hurt.

She straightened herself up and looked in the eyes of her...attacker/rescuer. Teddy, from her year. She blushed and looked down at her feet. Her hair curtaining half her face.

Teddy was very cute/good looking and Avery didn't know what to do, or what to say..should she run off into the woods? No, that didn't seem smart. Instead she just there blushing and peeked at Teddy from behind her fringe.

"Hey, guys! All of this work has made me hungry. Let's stop by the Great Hall and grab some grub before we give the orb to Tatertot," chatted Max excitedly. "A short detour isn't going to harm anyone - let's go!"

He bolted past two students and disappeared into the Castle.

The bright little ball might have rolled out of view of the professors, but it was not about to go unnoticed by the animals that inhabited the grounds. The orb rolled away from the pathways and came to a stop near a pile of dead leaves. A hungry squirrel, woken by the noise of the rowdy Quidditch professor, blinked at the bright light coming from what he thought was a nut and scampered down his tree to investigate.

Shiny nut was shiny. Nibble nibble nibble CRUNCHHHH. And hard. Hmm. The squirrel paused in his biting of the orb and started banging it on the ground in an attempt to crack the thing open. Surely something so shiny had a tasty interior...

Jez was walking along minding her own business, innocent (if you'll believe she ever was that) and carefree (well, almost). Then she heard the crunch, and saw a flash of light. She stepped closer, and saw a squirrel trying to break open a shiny ball. She raised her eyebrows. What, did it think it was a nut or something?
Whatever, now Jez wanted that orb too.
"Hey little weird forest creature," she whispered, getting down on her hands and knees and shuffling closer to the squirrel and the orb. Her free hand dug around in her satchel, finally coming out clutching a small paper bag. Without taking her eyes fully off the squirrel, she took some almonds out of the bag and laid them out in her open palm. With a flick of her wrist, she threw them a little away from the squirrel, close but far enough away that he'd have to abandon the orb to get them.
She looked at it hopefully. Go get them, little guy! And let me have your shiny thing ...

Still banging his shiny nut on the ground, the squirrel let out a tiny squeak and looked up, frightened by the shadow looming over him. He clutched the nut to his chest and eyed the tall creature making rustling noises and scattering something that smelled A-MAZ-ING.

"SQUEEEAK!!!!" the squirrel flipped out, recognizing the sight and smell of tastyliscious almonds. He quickly dropped the orb, which rolled toward the Ravenclaw's foot slowly, in favor of pouncing on the almonds. The squirrel continued to stuff as many almonds as he could in his bulbous cheeks, the bright, shiny nut already long forgotten.

Nate was wandering around the grounds when he saw a ball of light coming from the pathways. So he ran to the lights direction. When he reached there he heard a squirrel scurrying off to who knows where! Then he saw the ball of light roll to a ravenclaws foot. He then asked "What is that thing!?!?" Then Nate thought about the stuff that has been happening lately. Maybe that is what's been causing all of this commotion in the forest.

Jez waited for the orb to roll to her before picking it up,just to make sure the squirrel had well and truly abandoned it. A bite from a squirrel was no joke.
She turned to the Hufflepuff boy behind her weighing the orb in her hand. "No idea," she said, inspecting it. It didn't seem to be damaged badly - only a few scratches and such. Tough ball. "Thing is, what do I do with it?" she asked, more to herself than the boy. The orb was glowing white, making it even more mysterious. Jez quickly pocketed it, glancing around warily.
The weirdo glowing ball was hers now, and she really didn't want to have to give it up to some teacher.
She looked back at the Hufflepuff and smiled at him. "I'm Jez by the way," she introduced. "Jez Black."

"Nice to meet you Jez. I'm Nate. Nate Jones. I think we should take it back to the teachers. At the sleepover they went off into the woods. They might've found it there and picked it up Then when they were walking by here it might have fell out of where it was. Then you came. Then I came. That is just a suggestion though. What do you think we should do with it?" Nate asked Jez while staring at the orb like thing.

Nate. Jez's smile grew slightly. Now she knew two. She took the ball out of her pocket and stared at it too, debating on what Nate had said. "If they really want it back," she said slowly, "they'll put up a schoolwide notice. I'm going to hold onto it until then. Who knows, maybe it's some kind of voodoo thingy." Jez looked up at Nate. "You can't tell anyone," she basically ordered the younger student. "It's our secret until the teachers want it back. Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise, and if we tell anyone, we'll ruin it." Twelve-year-old logic. Jez didn't really want to tell him the real reason she wanted to keep the orb was to see if anything bad did happen.

"Yeah that sounds good too. I like your thinking. I wouldn't be suprised they come to look for it." Nate said still staring at the orb. The orb looked weird. Maybe she was right. Maybe it was a voodoo thing. Then Nate finally said this "Wait a minute. Now that I really think about it that might be the thing that is driving everything out of the forbidden forest. There was a acromantula and a chimaera at the vegetable patch. The thestral by the front gate. A blast ended skrewt in the pathways. Bowtrucles in the topiary garden. And a hippogriff at the duck pond."

Jez nodded slowly. "I saw the thestral and head about the rest. But what makes you think this orb has anything to do with that? It could just be an enchanted crystal ball someone dropped. How could all those potentially dangerous magical creatures be scared of it? I mean, this is chimaeras, acromantulas and blast-ended skrewts we're talking about here! They're usually the ones doing the scaring. They could all destroy it with one good stomp." Jez held the orb up so it caught the sunlight, staring at it. "What are you hiding?" she murmured.
Then she came back to herself. If she hung around here any longer, the orb could be seen. She wanted to test it further, see if it really did hold some kind of curse or enchantment. "I'm going back up to the castle," she told Nate, turning in that direction. "Coming?"

"Yes I'm coming. Don't want to wait here with all sorts of chaos happening." Then Nate ran to where Jez was standing and started to walk back up to the castle. "Oh boy I have a feeling this is going to be a crazy day."

The Skrewt was quite comfortable on top of the tall human but did not appreciate the small mans trying to poke at him and push him away. To be honest, he did not even feel their touch, thanks to his thick skin; but then again, to be honest, he felt something else instead.

It was the same feeling that had driven him out of the Forest in the first place. Only now it was out here. The feeling was out here. Near the pathways. On the move. Toward the castle.

The skrewt churned its lobster-like legs up in the air and made a mad scuttle off the human man. It started toward the forest in a manner faster than one would expect of such an awkward creature. Every so often, the skrewt's rear let out yet another powerful fart blast of fire that sent it propelling forward even faster, back toward its original home and away from the silly students.