Mortimer was carrying EVERYTHING. HMPH. Princess Tasia was of NO good use as per usual... but he didn't mind too much. He was just glad to have some time to spend with her so they could talk about this WONDROUS PLACE. Hehe.

Finally reaching a small table and chairs he heaved the picnic basket up on it and collapsed into a chair. What? It was HEAVY! Mo had NEVER had an elf or anyone to look after him really... so the house elves of Hogwarts seemed to have a soft spot for him and had given him everything but the kitchen sink for the little event with his cousin. "Okay. What would you like to eat? There is a bit of everything. I wouldn't doubt if they put lamb chops in here..." He was NOT kidding. Hehe.

It wasn't that she didn't want to carry anything: she liked carrying her own weight. But Mo, well, he could use the exercise judging by all his huffing and puffing.

Following behind him with light footsteps, Tasia took her time to explore the flowers and greenery off the side of the path and around the terrace. All with a little smirk at Mo's heaving of course.

Hands clasped behind her back, she glanced over her shoulder from a half-bent position of smelling one of the roses. An eyebrow arched in playful amusement as her gaze flicked from her cousin to the basket. "It couldn't have been that heavy."

Unclasping one hand, she fought a strand of hair away from her face, moving over to peer into the basket with interest. "Oooh. Lots of fruit. Fruit is good."

Mortimer was NOT amused. Not in the slightest. "It could be and it was, thank you very much," he said snippily. Turning his attention to the basket as well he poked around for something EDIBLE. "I can't understand how you have survived in England so long as you have... the food is terrible. Even here it's TERRIBLE."

Still poking about he found... GREEK SALAD. Yuuuum! "I think all of this fried food is weighing me down. It's amazing... we come from a place where there is basically no flat surface. Only stairs to get ANYWHERE -- yet here it seems harder to get around." Fail. Epic fail.

"Have you been attending classes at all?" he asked curiously as he tore into the salad. Mmmmmmm OLIVES and CHEESE. So good.

Tasia let out a small snort. "It's only terrible if you don't watch what you choose to eat." With a self-indulgent grin, she drew out a fruit tray and a loaf of freshly baked bread. Mhm hmm mmm!

Rolling her eyes a little, she flopped down onto the ground and carefully balanced the tray on her knee, setting to buttering the bread. "Perhaps if you came up to the Gryffindor tower more often, you wouldn't feel so out-of-breath." Seven flights of steps up and down every, single, day. It made her dizzy sometimes.

Pausing, she shot a frown to Mo, waggling the knife about at him. "What do you think I am, some kind of slacker?"

"I don't WANT to eat any of the crap they cook here, but I can't exactly starve can I?" he said grumpily as he picked an olive up between his forefinger and thumb and popped it into his mouth.

... "What are you on about, woman. I live in a tower as well. On the same floor as your tower. You should really read more often, you know. Educate yourself on the school you are now attending," he said playfully. But he really DID mean it. She should read more. He was certain of it.

Mortimer smirked slightly and shook his head at her butter knife wavery. "I don't THINK. I KNOW. You have always been a slacker. Waste of brilliance, that is. You should strive to be more like your dear old cousin," he said with a nod. Yep. She SHOULD.

If she had a spoon, she would shove it in his big, fat o'l mouth yes she would. With a ga-fhaw of a sigh, Tasia dropped her hand and went back to buttering her bread. "You complain too much, you know that?"

A pause was given so she could roll her neck on her shoulders to a satisfying crack. "And what it is my dear old cousin does so well? Chases around all the Hogwartian girly-girls with his mouth hanging open and his eyes popping out of his head?" Heh. She was sure he did too.

"And you still smell funny. What's your point?" he asked with a snicker as he stabbed a piece of lettuce and crammed it into his mouth.

Blush colored his cheeks and he shook his head adamantly. "I haven't been doing anything of the sort. I have been too busy with my studies. There is one girl I met... she's a Slytherin, but she has a boyfriend. So we are friends is all. That's it, though," he said with a shrug.

Yes... he was completely oblivious to the fact that he made girls swoon. Call it a geek complex or something. He thought most people thought he was lame because he liked to study more than he liked to chase girls. Oh well... can't please everyone.

She didn't miss the blush that shot up onto Mo's cheeks, but she was more-so trying to hide her own surprise behind the large slice of bread that she quickly crammed into her mouth, to be able to make any sort of comment. Mo, focused on studies? That seemed a new one to her, although then again, she hadn't been around her cousin for some time.

Once she was done chewing the portion of bread, she glanced away from him and covered her mouth, swallowing the last portions. "What's her name?"

Mortimer was avoiding looking at Tasia like the PLAGUE. It was THAT bad. Gah. He sounded so LAME and he KNEW it. She seemed embarrassed by his embarrassment in and of itself. Sheesh. What a mess THAT was.

"Taryn. She's really nice. She transferred here last year so it's a bit easier to talk to her than some of the others. Met a nice boy that just came here, too. His name is Vickers. I guess... we might be friends. We're in the same house," Mortimer said before shoveling more lettuce into his mouth.

"Have you been making friends?" It was TOUGH here, he knew that much.

Taryn and Vickers. She supposed if both of them didn't have such strange names she might have started laughing at the mention of those two. Then again, all names were pretty strange. Even the simple ones, like Bob.

Blinking, Tasia pulled herself back from her thoughts and shrugged. "Eh. Sorta kinda I suppose. They sound nice. Your friends that is." Stuffing another self-rolled piece of bread into her mouth, she chewed thoughtfully. "Why are you only eating lettuce if the elves gave you lamb chops?"

Didn't he need protien for all that walking he was apparently doing?

Grayson had been a little bummed since the match they lost against Hufflepuff. Part of the reason was that he felt that he let down Selina. He wanted to talk to her since he hadn't seen her since that time. For some reason he missed their constant banter back and forth with another. It was her honesty and realness that kept him gravitating toward her.

He sat down on one of the benches and sighed a bit. Still wondering where Selina was. Grayson caught himself, and had to wonder why he was thinking about her so much.

Selina had a serious headache. Her ability had worked up the day of the match; she had not been able to see left from right. All she could see that day was the future flickering in front of her eyes, nothing else. It was a horrible day. Vision after vision. It was an awful lot that she was sorted and she felt horrible about missing the game. She needed to go and relax. The pain of missing the game was a tad too much for her.

Grayson spotted a troubled looking Selina and called out to her,"Selina. Hey, why don't you come join me. I promise to behave since you look like you don't need the hassle today."

He stood up and walked slowly over to her. He stopped just about 4 feet from her. She didn't like him in her personal space and he didn't want to scare her away today. She looked like she needed someone to talk to. Even though she had Gideon, it was strange that she wouldn't be with him now, looking like that.

"I promise, I'll be good. Just come and sit with me." he said quietly.

Selina chuckled tiredly at Grayson when he commented that he would behave. With a small smirk she replied, "Oh will you? How can I be certain of that? Can I have it in writing?" Then she crossed her arms over her chest to almost shield herself. She had not been seeking any sort of companionship for the day. In all honesty, she sort of wanted to be alone, but she could not get away with it, it seemed. Not that Grayson was all too terrible company.

When he invited her to sit she thought it over for a moment and then replied, "Eh sure, why not. Nothing else to do, eh?" So she walked over and plopped down beside him. After sitting awkwardly for a few seconds she said, "So how are you?"

Grayson chuckled deep in his throat before he said,"I would but I don't you to hold me to it all the time. I'm a wild one that can't be tamed. So don't try."

As she sat down, he could sense that she wasn't up for a deep conversation and when she asked how he was he replied,"The question is how are you? Why do you have frown contorting your face?" before he could stop himself. It was a thing about him that he sometimes cared about others more than himself.

Selina smiled at Grayson when he commented about being tamed. The redhead threw her head back in laughter, "Oh I wouldn't dream of it. Although, I can say quite firmly that I don't think there is much to be tamed." Minus his flirtatious attitude, but he wasn't acting that way at the moment so she would not bring it up.

Then she said sweetly, trying to cover up her uneasy feeling at his question, "I'm fine, I promise. Why are you asking?" She hoped he took the hint and left her alone about it.

Grayson, smiled and said,"There is much about me you still don't know." It was nice to hear her tease him. He had to smile at the sound of her laughing. It was the first time she really laughed honestly and openly with him.

"You seemed a bit down. You are my dear friend so I was concerned. Please forgive me if I", prying but then again you are rather private. It would take more than a simple question to get an honest answer from you where that is concerned." he replied honestly with a slight look of concern as he searched her face for an answer he would have to either wait for or trick out of her. She was a mysterious creature that he so desperately wanted to know about.

Selina smirked at Grayson who was once again trying to ooze the charm. Although it had once gotten under her skin, she had to admit that Grayson was growing on her. He was a good team mate and she hoped that they could move past his whole silly infatuation and be friends. She did honestly enjoy his company. He was, all-in-all, a good fellow. Then she touched his shoulder in a friendly manner and said, "Well I look forward to getting to know you, Grayson. All of your little oddities and such."

Then when he started to pry into her mysterious nature, she did what she always did- retreated. Selina was no different with Grayson than she had been with anyone else. She did not like being put on the spot, especially about her emotions. It was not something she liked talking about. Her own personal mind was not something she ever talked about much with ANYONE, "I'm fine, Grayson. Honest."

"You know that actually didn't sound like an insult. Thanks. I'm looking forward to getting to know you too." he replied with a lopsided grin. He knew that getting know Selina will be like handling an onion. Peeling back many layers will involve some bravery and tears but it will be worth getting to that potently flavoured core.

He looked at her long and hard before he leaned back and said,"Fine.You're ok. But if you need someone to talk to, you can talk to me. I don't judge or ridicule. And I don't tell."

Selina chuckled at Grayson when he threw her a lopsided grin. He looked kind of silly, but the grin fit him well in a weird way. The grin was weird and it brought her own silly smile to her face, "Stop smiling like that. It makes me laugh. Seriously.". But she was giving him a hearty chuckle that would not stop.

It eventually subsided when he looked at her trying to figure her out. She collapsed her rib cage a little as he studied her. When he finally stopped looking so intently at her she replied, "I appreciate that, but I'm fine."

Grayson began laughing too."Haha! Tip number one. If she frowns give a lopsided grin. You have a rather funny and goofy looking one too. It does tickle the ribs too." he said as his fit of laughter came on.

She flashed her a smile and said,"I think you made that clear. I was simply offering for future reference."

"I have an idea. Why don't you meet me in the towers tonight and i show you something my best friend had showed me." he suggested."Just friend to friend; no monkey business."

Selina rolled her eyes amused, "Yeah, yeah... Take tips in how to not upset me. May ckme in handy for you. You know just in case I get angry in the future.". She stuck her tongue out at him jokingly.

When he offered to show her something in the astronomy tower she shifte her weight awkwardly and said, "Look Grayson... I kind of only go to the astronomy tower with one person... its kind of our place. I'm sorry..."

Grayson couldn't help but to laugh at Selina. She was so candid and relaxed. It made seem so much different than the usual I'm tougher-than-you-so-don't-even-try Selina. "Now that is insulting." he said, as laughed.

"It's not a date Selina. My best friend showed me and I wanted to show you but since it's your place I guess not." he sat back looking at her with blank eyes and a placid face. One thing he knew about Selina was that with her, pushing only got you so far. But knowing where to find that weak spot was key and right now, she kept up good camouflage even though she was being relaxed. Her defenses were never truly down.

Selina poked Grayson in the side in a joking manner and stuck her tongue out at him, "Is it insulting if I'm right?" There was a part of Selina that was so glad that she and Grayson were getting along much better than they had in the past. To say that they had started off to a rocky start was an overstatement. However, it seemed that their friendship had suited Selina much better than she thought it would have. The more she got to know him the less and less she thought of him as the rude boy who she had met on the train.

The conversation, as it always did with Grayson, took a dive for the worst when she said she did not want to go up to the Astronomy tower with him. It was not anything against him personally, it was just that she had that place with someone else. He had to understand that she was not saying it to simply annoy him, that was not what she wanted. "Grayson, can you show me from the Pitch or something? It's not that I don't wanna hang out with you, its just a personal place for me. I honestly do want to see what you wanna show me."