Jonathan was always the quiet sort, but there were some silences that Kurumi could sense were not the good sort. Her free hand toyed with the pendant around her neck and looked up at him. "Okay, what's really bothering you?" she asked. He should know that he could share anything with her, right? She was nothing but an open book with him, so he could be the same. That is, if he was willing to talk. She couldn't force him to. "I-I didn't mean to say something to upset you..." Because, obviously something had been said that had been upsetting, and she had the feeling it was related to the reason behind the Howler.

No more ghost stories...yes, this was a good thing. Kurumi wasn't a fan of them and thinking about zombies was even worse. She didn't remove herself from being wrapped around Jonathan though. There might be zombies looming somewhere nearby or something...

She was being rather ridiculous though, and she knew it. But, Jonathan's warmth was comforting, so staying right where she was seemed like the best option for her.

Her eyes drifted back to the lake, still blushing up a storm and she peeked up at him. Jonathan said he liked Professor Scabior, right? Would he still feel the same thing if he had been in THAT lesson? "If I tell you something...will you promise not to laugh...too hard?" Because, she knew Jonathan was going to laugh anyway. Her face was blushing and she was going to get even more awkward looking recanting this story.

Jonathan paused when Kurumi asked the question.

Are they really going to talk about it? Jonathan had never opened up this topic. He would talk about it mostly to Ryu or to Ayumi or maybe, to his uncles but never in school. Jonathan gave out a small smile but it looked more like an upset smile... is there such an expression? "If your brother gave you a howler when he knew I'm a snake. Then I'm expecting a lot worse from your father" he looked at a tree.

Jonathan doesn't really talk much about it because it wouldn't just make sense. But at least he got that part out.

Jonathan looked at her as Kurumi kept hugging him. "Do you want to sit down?" he smiled. It's hard to walk that way and Jonathan isn't the most muscular guy around. Or, it just kinda feels awkward to walk. Sitting is fine too.

Jonathan was still looking up in the sky, "Hmmm?" he heard her wanting to talk about something and hoping that he wouldn't laugh at all. Jonathan nodded "What about it?"

Oh...that was an awkward smile. One that Kurumi hadn't really seen before and she was unsure whether or not to be frightened by it or mildly intrigued. Kurumi frowned a bit when he spoke and she took advantage of his pause in movement and spun in front of him, taking his other hand in her free one and looking right up at him. "Is that what has you worried? What my father will think? Father just wants me to be happy," she said simply. Truth was, he probably already had his chance to make some sort of statement, but he hadn't. In fact, her father was more against Hufflepuffs than any other house at the moment. "And he knows that you...make me smile..." Cue more blushing. "Isn't it something that you are sort of helping redefine their image of what a Slytherin is? Your parents were not all that thrilled when they heard I was a Gryffindor, right?"

Kurumi looked up at him again and giggled softly. It was sort of hard to walk and hug, so sitting might be a good idea. "Do you mind?" she asked, glancing at a rock that looked like it was rather bench-like off to the side. Still holding on to both his hands, Kurumi walked backwards as she lead him to the rock and sat down, scooting over enough for him to join her.

And then...her eyes were looking at the lake. "Um...well...in Care of Magical Creatures and History of Magic's joint lesson we...we reinacted one of the Triwizard Tournament's tasks in the lake. You know...the one where something precious was taken from the champions and they had to get it back?" She was full on blushing now, her gaze flicking between the lake and her shoes. Jonathan was smart. Maybe he would put two and two together.

After hearing what Kurumi had explained, Jonathan nodded. He understands it and all but "That's not---" he stopped. He then shook his head immediately "nothing" Jonathan wasn't really worried of what her father might say about him, that's not kind of what he meant. Still, he didn't want to further go into it anyway. And then she told him about his parents. Jonathan wasn't really sure about that though. But he deducted their expressions when he told them. Especially, his mother, and here he thought she liked him to socialize with other houses rather than just being with the Slytherins. Victoria didn't really say anything and Alexander is really hard to read... at all. "They're too happy to be Slytherins" he murmured under his breathe.

Jonathan sat down next to Kurumi on a.... rock. He was staring at the lake this time as well, what's with the lake anyway? Why was she looking at it alot? Then Kurumi started to explain about the joint classes. "Yeah?" he listened while he kept staring at it too. He heard about that story from his grandfather... or was it his father? About the Triwizard Tourament at Hogwarts' Lake. Too bad Jonathan wasn't there at the joint class activity. "Wait! The ones under the lake are real students right?" he asked. Wasn't it like that back all those years in that tournament?

It was a nice day and Ella could use some fresh air. She had been hitting the books hard, trying to make up for years of knowing nothing about magic. Needless to say, it was taking quite the toll on her. She breathed in deep as she walked along the pathways, enjoying the breeze that was blowing her long hair all over the place. It was nice, this whole slowing down to enjoy your surroundings thing. Her mom had scolded her in a letter for not taking the time to enjoy Hogwarts. Now she was determined to do both, study hard and play hard.

Kurumi watched Jonathan and tried to deduct what it was he really wanted to say. Most of the time, he was very easy to read, but there other times where he wouldn't allow himself to be easily read. "Then...what is it?" she asked softly, not wanting to push too far, but still hoping that he would tell her. "Or...is it that you aren't really ready to talk about it?"

Ug, see, this was why she knew he was going to laugh. "Y-Y-Yes...back then it was real people...but for us they ended up only being dolls that had been charmed to look like someone precious to us but...we weren't told that. And, we, um, we used gillyweed to get there and when the merpeople began to sing and told us we didn't have much time to save someone precious to us and...um...well..." Ug, this was awkward. Only, it wasn't really that awkward she supposed. Some people would even think it was cute. "And...um...well...the person down there for me was...was...you." And she had been having a full on underwater panic attack thinking that she wasn't going to be able to save him. It had been one of the more frightening experiences of her life so far. Subconsciously, she hugged his arm a little tighter and rested her head on his shoulder.

Jonathan shook his head "it's not that I'm not ready to talk about it..." technically true "...it's just that I don't like talking about it." which is also technically true. Whenever he and Ryu are alone before, they would mostly talk about it. He didn't like conversing this topic to his uncles, they were too biased. At least Ryu had it differently.

Jonathan smirked at the activity they had to do. "I didn't miss out on much" yeah, he was kinda there too. Well, his dummy that is. Whoah! It would have been cool if he could see it. Does it look like him perhaps? "Hope they should have more of these activities next term" he said randomly as Kurumi rested her head on his shoulder. Next term full of fun games in each class, that'd be totally fun. Especially because he'll be graduating too. It'd be worth it.

Sometimes Ellie took things too literally. Questions especially. And she had no idea how to answer Spike's question. He really couldn't help...she had nothing for him to help her with. She hesitated.

And decided to just ignore his question. "You wanna know where I just came from?" HUH? DO YA?

Kurumi nodded her head. Some things were just really hard to discuss with people, but now he had her interest perked. This topic wasn't one that they had ever discussed, but now it was out there on the table and avoiding it seemed like a silly thing to do. He couldn't just brush this one under the rug, it was clearly something that upset him and Kurumi didn't like that one bit. "I see..." she said softly, unsure of how to go about this now. "I...I want to know what you are thinking though. I mean, this seems like it is something that you have a strong opinion about. You shouldn't have to hold back...especially with me."

He was smirking. She KNEW he was going to smirk and she felt like poking that smirk, but refrained. She was far too comfortable in her current position. Instead, she just wrinkled her nose at him. "It was frightening. I thought...that...if I failed that you were going to drown," she retorted, her lower lip quivering just a little. This HAD been Professor Scabior's idea. That said the world about the activity. "It was a mean trick, a REALLY mean trick." Activities were one thing, but making students think that themselves or someone they cared about were going to perish beneath the dark waters of the Black Lake, well, that was just mean.

Wist was walking down the pathways, planning to visit the Willow. Then she paused. Why not draw everything? So she sat down and decided to draw this place as well.
And maybe she could eavesdropp on an interesting conversation among those few students.

Logan laughed. "It was, wasn't it?" he asked laughing. "Stupid squirrels made me crash..." he said.

"Stupid squirrels richochet off cheeks,"Cardigan replied.And they do other evil things magical squirrels do,like ride brooms and take a ride on/in hair.Great.Just another enemy of Cardigan's in the animal kingdom.That made Flying Squirrels,Chimpanzees,and Ducks so far.What animal will be next?

Jonathan does have strong opinions about it maybe he grew up in a family with very strong opinions about these sort of stuffs. Evidently doesn't really want to talk about it because of so many reasons. Sometimes, he can no longer act modest about it. So he shook his head again "No, really. I insist." he's afraid he might just say things that are too mean and he didn't want that. No.

Jonathan looked at her. Really? Now, he regrets not to have come in that class. If only he knew Scabior would have done something so exciting as that, Jonathan would have definitely came and participated "Naaaww. You just need to trust the professors in this school. After all, it's just a reinactment and not the real Triwizard Tournament" he nodded. But still, it sounds like the activity is too awesome.

Kurumi frowned ever so slightly, but still gave his hand a gentle squeeze just to let him know that, well, she was as alright as she could be about it. From the little they had discussed about houses and what not, Kurumi knew that he and his family had a lot of pride in being Slytherins. Kurumi sort of felt bad that she didn't have that sort of family connection. It may be more of a school spirit sort of thing. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, with what I said," she whispered, just to bring that conversation to a close.

Now Kurumi's nose was full on wrinkled now as she looked at Jonathan. "You look far too pleased with this idea," she grumbled. It had been very scary for her and if it were possible to cry under water, then she would have. "And I do trust professors...most of them anyway, thank you." Yeah, she stuck his tongue out at him again. Her face did grow serious again for a moment though. "Jonathan...I thought I was going to lose you down there....and it was really scary. Reenactment or not, it was scary." And with that, she snuggled just a little closer to him and looked up at the red, yellow, and orange leaf canopy above them.

Spike watched Ellie hesitate, and gave a small frown. He was sure Matilda was safely hidden in his curls, so she really didn't need to worry about that. HMM.

"I'm supposed to know where you just came from?" He tilted his head slightly, looking at her thoughtfully. "Well, you were on the grounds. But your hair's not wet enough for a swim in the lake. I guess you could have still been down there though." He mused for a moment. "I was wondering if I might get the chance to tickle the giant squid today, but something tells me that isn't quite the news you've got for me." He scratched his head. "That leaves you Care of Magical Creatures, the greenhouses, or, ah..."

Ah.

"Maybe the pitch?" he almost whispered it as it dawned on him.

He swallowed slowly, and felt suddenly nervous under Ellie's gaze.

Jonathan nodded. See? He never really talks about these stuffs anyway. It'll just make him moody and cranky. He's just glad that he already talked to Ryu about it from before. It was really nice to talk to him.

Jonathan smiled "The idea of me under water? Nope, not really." he said "But the awesome idea of reenacting the tournament... yes" he nod. He hasn't been able to experience the triwizard tournament from before. Now he's wishingthat he could experience it before he graduates. Doubt it though, graduating at Hogwarts will be happening next year for him. He poked Kurumi's forehead "I wasn't in the class in the first place. You should have known that was not me" he smiled.

A single eyebrow was slowly rising up her forehead, threatening to leave her face completely, or at least blend into her hairline. It was a bit astonishing to her, that Spike wouldn't think of the Pitch first. Ellie wasn't much of a swimmer, after all, and she hated plants, hence dropping Herbology, so she wouldn't exactly just hang out in the greenhouses. Creatures she might visit, but it would probably be with a crup or something she could pet that would shed short little hairs over her robes, which were clean aside from grass stains, so that couldn't be the case.

And there it was. The Pitch. The Captain studied her young friend's expression as it changed from confusion to understanding to...worry?

Well....WHY DID SPIKE HAVE TO BE SO ADORABLE. She wasn't supposed to pity him. She was supposed to be annoyed that one of her friends and good players didn't even have a chance of being on HER Quidditch team anymore.

Was it a personal offense, perhaps? Did she do something to lose Spike's trust or admiration or friendship? It didn't really seem that way by his greeting and by the tones he'd been using in conversation thus far, but....it was always a possibility.

"You know," she said, her voice much gentler than it had been before, more gentle than she even wanted it to be, "I'm a bit," understatement of the century, "disappointed to see....or to NOT see your name on the list this term...." It was actually awful. She wanted him on the team so badly. What was Quidditch without Spikerdoodles? Without that curly head to kiss after a victory? It just wasn't right.

He swallowed again, before biting his lip. "Yeah, about that..." Spike said quietly, his usually cheerful face falling. Even his curls looked to have lost a little of their bounce, as he looked down at his feet.

He glanced up slowly, not wanting to focus on Ellie's face. He stared at her red hair instead. "I can still put it on the list though...right? Maybe?" Or not. The fact Ellie had been at the pitch suggested tryouts had started, and that meant it was far too late. Sadface.

His lips turned up a little as he realised she was disappointed he wasn't signed up. "It's not like I don't want to play," Spike said after a while. "I do. I really do." He wrung his hands together in frustration. "It's just that Matilda's been really poorly, and then Mum and Dad have been pestering me about my grades, and I want to do well for them because otherwise they won't get me a new broom. And I'm a fourth year and I thought I was doing well at quidditch and I'm fed up of just using a school broom, and I'm rubbish at transfiguration, I really am. But apparently Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures isn't enough to get me anywhere."

He paused a moment to catch his breath. "And then in worrying about that, I seem to have totally missed sign ups." He sighed.

"I'm sorry, Ellie. I didn't realise they'd closed already."

And now he didn't know what to do. A whole year of 'proper' studying without Quidditch to take it out on? It was gonna be hell.

Logan sighed. "They're now my least favorite animal, no matter how cute they seem." he said chuckling. "Making me crash...they're gonna pay one day." he said, grinning.

"Don't worry,"Cardigan said,patting Logan sympathetically on the back." If you were me,you'd have more enemies in the animal kingdom than you can count!No matter what I do,animals always wind up hating me."That really bothered her.It's like animals bit her even if she just sat and stared!What the heck was wrong with them?!?!

"Hating you?" he asked, looking at her. "How could an animal hate you? You're awesome!" he said.

"I don't know!"Cardigan said with a laugh,not that it's a laughing matter or anything.Why did the animals "hate" her?It was like a magnetic force was causing the animals to dislike her.That's what makes it "funny"!Like one look and bam!The animal goes all mingo!

Okay, NOW Kurumi was sure he was missing the point to her freaking out. Jonathan was always so cool and collected while she was a walking mood ring. Her eyes followed his finger as he poked her forehead playfully. "Well, in my defense, you not being in class made it see MORE real," she retorted, grabbing his finger before he could retract. "I thought that since you were not in the lesson that you being stunned and under the water was the reason." Forget that Jonathan wasn't much of a creatures sort of guy, it made logical sense that way.

Maybe she had been jumping to conclusions, but it DID make sense! "I suppose you would have remained calm and collected as usual if it had been the other way around?" she asked jokingly. You know, if she had been missing in the lesson and Jonathan had been the one swimming in the Black Lake and found her under water.

"It's real curious they'd hate you..." he said, looking at her and cocking his head. "Well, this animal loves you!" he said, laughing and pointing to himself. "He's like a dog, excited to see you whenever you come to him!" he said. "If he had a tail, it'd be wagging quickly every time I see you!" he said smiling.

Gideon had to admit that while he had been doing his best to keep an eye on everything, he had been taken off guard by the action that had knocked him off his broom. It had happened so fast but was proof why it could be dangerous. The fifth year had headed to the locker room to wash up and return to his school cloths before debating which direction to head next...back to the pitch to watch the rest of the tryout or simply head to the castle.

As if psychic, Selina made that decision for him, the captain able to be heard closing up the tryout after one more play. Deciding not to stick around the older Gryffindor headed across the grounds leaving the girl to her duties as he dealt with the ache in his wrist while he slowly walked.