"Why would you have gone back there? I thought you said you hated that school." He always ended up butchering the name so he wasn't even going to attempt.

Tay looked at him, "Because of my twin and because i still cant stand that Maxwell and my parents are.... married." She grimaced and sighed. "I hated it there but it would of been better than here if you werent here...."

Selina was amazed by her good fortune with the weather at the beginning of this term. She could not remember the weather being as good as it had been the past few days at the beginning of any other term. Most years, the weather was nice, but it was on the wind heavy side. This usually made Selina prone to avoiding the outside with the exception of the Pitch, but this year was blessed with beautiful day after beautiful day.

As she wandered the grounds, she saw a familiar figure murking about looking positively forlorn. Selina had not yet gotten used to seeing Christopher up and about in the castle. The pair had not spoken since she had seen him at the feast. She had not known what to say, so once she had seen Christopher and the Headmaster was done with his speech she had collected the first yeas and marched off to bed.

Since then she had not been able to face him... what would she even say? What could she even say?

Damon looked at her, "Why should I be the reason you come back here just because I'm here?"

She sighed and looked away, "You make it tolerable to be here... sorry i shouldnt of said anything...." Tay stepped away but looked at him again. She whispered under her breath so that he might not hear, "And you keep the nightmares away...." Taylor wanted him to hear that part but yet she didnt also.... Tay sighed yet again.

As he began to fade from his spacing out, a short figure with bright red hair caught his eye, and he knew all too well who this figure was. He hadn't even spoken with Selina since he'd left. In fact, they had only silently interacted but once at the feast before she whisked all of the first years off to bed with Kurumi and Gideon leading the way as prefects. He wanted to speak to her, but honestly, he was afraid. He didn't know how to even begin to apologize. It'd been ten months since he'd left without a word. How could one apologize for that? However it was done, he knew it was owed.

Without a word, he stood up and began to slowly approach her and with much caution at that. He opened his mouth to speak. But nothing came out. His eyes were sorry, but they were still cold. He was almost without emotion anymore. He didn't know what to do about himself at this point.

"I..." he began, but he trailed off. What could he say? How could he get the words he needed to say?

As Selina stood speechless for a moment, she decided that she should probably get moving. The longer she stood there the more she opened herself up to the possibility that she would start a conversation with Christopher. In all honesty, she was just not ready to talk to him yet because she had no idea what she would say to him. Over the months he had gone missing she had practiced daily a speech that she would say to him when he returned. She had practiced it so often and so emphatically that she could recite it in her sleep. Now that she was back though, her words no longer expressed what she wanted to say to him. Anger would get her no where with him... she was too dissapointed in him to result to anger.

Instead, she turned to walk away, but she was stopped by the soft sound of his voice barely reaching out for her to stop. She stood stuck in her place trying to decide to continue walking or to turn around and stay. Finally, she opted to stay, but not turn around, so her back stayed facing him. Her lungs sucked in a huge gulp of air before she started with a simple question, "Is she gone?" It was something that he OWED her... Elyie was her sister too. But she already knew the answer to that question... she had seen it... she just wished her visions were wrong.

He shook his head, "You havenothing to besorry for."

Tay looked at him, "Yeah i do.... I am a brat, i know...." She sighed.

When Selina uttered those words with her back turned to him, it was as if someone had punched him so hard in the gut that they'd knocked the breath out of him. In fact, Christopher couldn't breathe. He sucked in a shaky breath and squeezed his eyes shut. He stayed silent for a long time, until he was relatively sure he wouldn't cry or something, but then again, he wasn't sure anything could make him cry anymore. Slowly opening his eyes, he stared coldly at the ground. He hated just about everything for her being taken away.

He began to wonder how she knew, how she could have possibly known when he'd been gone for so long. But then again, Selina knew a lot when it came to reading him. With that and her visions, she must've known every single detail of what had happened while he was away. "How much did you see?" he asked softly and coldly, answering her question and still avoiding having to say it. However, he owed it to her. She deserved to hear him say it. But he didn't want to say it, because saying it out loud would make it true. He wasn't ready for that just yet.

"Enough," Selina said coldly with her back still facing Christopher. She had seen enough to know that he was alive and well after he had gone missing. Violet had been beside herself, but Selina assured her that Christopher was fine because she had seen that he was fine. The one problem with her ability was that she could not locate where he was, or else she would have gone and found him herself. She was in the dark, a mere spectator to Christopher's life as it crumbled around him and as Elyie lost her mind and her life.

Biting back her emotions, which Selina had always been so good at doing, she said lowly, "I saw as you ran and let her whittle away into nothing as I watched from a distance. I didn't even get to say goodbye, Chris. Not to either of you." Her goodbyes still hung to her lips, the words that she wished she had said to Elyie, the words she had never gotten the chance to say. It was not as if she could say them now... not that she was gone.

Sophie had nothing to do now. The good thing about start of terms was that she had a looot of free time to do... nothing! And she enjoyed doing nothing.

Skipping, as usual, she made her way to the pathways. She had never spent too much time there, so she decided to take a better and slower look around, not really expecting to see anything or anyone in particular.

Selina's words stabbed at him like a knife with each syllable spoken. What right did she have to say these things? Who did she think she was? He wanted to get angry with her, to scream and yell, but he knew it would be to no use. They could scream and yell until they could scream and yell no more, but it would do nothing. He would speak to her calmly and coolly, but he knew there would be no stopping any venom in his voice when she began to accuse him of letting Elyon die.

"I'm sorry there wasn't time for goodbyes, Selina. There was no time. She was sent to St. Mungo's immediately but they couldn't do anything for her. She needed a Muggle psychiatrist. And you know what that meant, where she had to go," he explained, his words icy and his voice hard. "I never left her side once. I did everything I could to protect her. But it wasn't enough. So don't you dare even suggest that I let her..." he stopped, unable to finish his sentence. He'd watched her die right in front of him and he couldn't do a thing to stop it. Maybe if he had she'd be with him now. He'd carry that weight on him forever.

And just like that, it was like Chris had never left. He had always been impulsive and prone to hear what he wanted people to hear and he had not changed a bit. Not even after he had lost his sister and his father; no, he was still the same Christopher who had left Hogwarts without so much as a goodbye last year. He was still a boy who was trying so hard to channel his anger into a false bravado that he thought made him a man. And it was still as pathetic as it was ten months ago. She had forgotten how much she had loathed his self righteous tendencies of making everyone else the bad guys. It made her furious.

But she kept her calm. She slowly turned around to face him and said calmly, "Don't raise your voice to me, Christopher. I did not do it to you so have some respect. And I would never blame you for her passing, she was sick. But I do blame you for keeping her from me. From never letting me say goodbye... because I will never get that chance again." Because once someone was dead they were gone forever... and that was a sentiment Selina understood very, very well.

Upon hearing nearby footsteps, Ellie became hyper-aware of her surroundings. She stopped pitying herself and kept her breaths steady while she listened as the footsteps got closer. And closer. And then she could feel them right near her without seeing them.

She opened her eyes and squinted up at the voice belonging to the footsteps. Stella. The redhead shrugged. Was her dormmate so concerned because she thought she fell or something? Or did she know, as Ellie was sure she did, seeing as Ellie herself knew about Stella?

Shrug.

"Are you?" she asked. "Wanna join me?" On the ground. 'Twas nice to lay in grass, you know. But that might just be her. And Treyen. Heh. He'd lay in the grass, too.

Her eyes travelled to the pygmy puff. You know....she should have brought Bunny out here with her. How stupid of her not to. Meh.

Letting out a shriek, the fourth year brought her hands up to her face as some GIGANTIC giant loomed over her and began to erm.. cradle her head. 'Get OFF!' She commanded, trying to brush Paulosaurus away. Waving her hands about, and him still trying to cradle her head, they must have looked like total fools. 'Paulie you gigantic, fool. Stop..'

Scowling, she took her sunglasses off,which were once again, askew on her face. She didn't even bother to pat her hair down. It was a birds nest. Didn't help that a bird had actually tried to land in it moments earlier.. MOVING ON.
'Please tell me they don't do some hidden drama class in this place, 'cause you need extra if you called that acting.' Thea punched him gently in the arm.
Well. This all was just extremely embarrassing. 'Please never do that again..' Thea stared at the seventh year.
And then.. and then she spotted the BADGE. AHA. 'Oh, oh. I see where this was going. HEAD BOY.' Thea mock bowed, even though she was still sitting down. 'Just because you're 'in charge' doesn't mean you need to swoop down and pester people younger than you.. that are simply HAVING A REST..' Aaaand breath. 'Do you know how long I've been out here!?!?' Leaning forward, Thea simply prodded the badge. 'I see you're polishing that regularly.' Thea grinned and nodded approvingly.

ALL HAIL PAULIE

Awwww, shucks. Shortstop wasn't a fan of his theatrics? Booooo! Still, Paulie laughed and leaned back on his palms. He gave a dramatic sigh. "They should have a theater program here. You know, I don't think I'd be half bad. Then, when I'm all famous, you'll be beggin' for me to bug ya." When she requested that he never do anything of the sort ever again, he smirked. "I make no promises, Shorty." heheh. In other words... he most likely WOULD do it again.

Aaah, she spotted the badge. He glanced down at it for a moment, then looked back to her. "Excuse me, but I was going above and beyond my Head Boy duties by making sure you weren't dead." Well.. that was his story and he was stickig' to it. "And what exactly were you doing, anyhow? Turnin' your hair into a nest?" When she made the polishing comment, he simply rolled his eyes. Okay, maybe he'd polished a FEW times.

Damon sighed, "You're not a brat."

Tay looked at him, "Okay...." She sighed and leaned up against the wall.

Stella wasn't oblivious. She'd noticed that Ellie had literally just stopped as she'd approached. Not that the redhead had really been doing much, but she'd definitely stopped. She'd sort of frozen, as if not moving, controlling her breaths, would mean that she'd just walk right by and not notice. Unfortunately, Stella wasn't in a place to not notice. Especially not if she actually was right, and the other girl was likely in the same position as herself. She hadn't spoken again after the initial question, in any case. If Ellie wanted to be alone, she could take a hint.

She certainly hadn't expected her question to be answered with a shrug. Maybe the look, seeing as she knew that there was every possibility Ellie would think she was crazy for asking since they'd shared a dormitory for two years already and yet never oddly talked. She knew the main reason for that, but it wasn't the redhead's fault she stayed away from Quidditch. Only Matt knew that reason, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to get into it with anyone else. It seemed almost like Ellie had gotten into her thoughts, though, and she blinked as the shrug was followed by an entirely unexpected question. Am I alright?, she wondered. She'd told everyone else she was, but then she wasn't entirely sure it was true. Maybe Ellie did know more than she thought.

"That's not really answering my question," she pointed out, even as she stepped off the path and sat down on the grass. Nuage squeaked slightly until she reached up and set her down on the grass too. Honestly, she was more curious about why Ellie would have asked if she was alright. "Do I seem like I'm not alright?," she asked, starting to wonder. Maybe she wasn't doing such a good acting job, if Ellie could tell there was that hole inside her. Or maybe it was like attracting like.

'Oh how grateful I am that they haven't.' Thea smiled and clapped.
Famous?.. 'Famous?..' Thea repeated, trying to decide if he was serious.
Thea didn't even bother to reply; she just gave the Head boy a withering look. Uhuh.
'Why would I be dead?! Falling into a bush doesn't often prove to be fatal.' Thea rolled her eyes. 'Not that I even fell!' She quickly held up her hands. 'I sat down for a rest and.. ' She coughed. 'Erm.. leant back.' Reaching up to her hair, she pulled a few more twigs and leaves out of the mess. 'And I've been out here for AGES. I didn't know where anyone was!! It's too warm..' She just thouht she'd throw that out there too.
'What are YOU doing out here?' She cocked and eyebrow. 'Preying on children to come and pester?' Oh wait... that sounded a bit weird. Wrinkling her nose, she tried not to laugh out loud. Woops.

Flicking a leaf at Paulie, Thea sniggered. 'AHAHA, you really have been polishing it? That's hilarious!'

It really good coming back to Hogwarts. He's a second year now not a first year anymore. It feels good to be a second year that mean you're not the youngest anymore.

Since today weather was really nice, Messer decided to go out and enjoy it. The Pathways seem a good place. Oh look it seem he's not the only one who decided to go out and enjoy the weather. "Sophie!" he shouted and ran toward his fellow Hufflepuff. "Hey!" he greeted her after he managed to catch his breath.

Still looking around, Sophie was thinking about this new term and how great it would be! She had already made many new friends and she new she was going to meet even MORE people during the term! That thought put a smile on her face and she spun on her heels for no apparent reason.

Oh! "Hi, Messer!" She said smiling and waving at him as he caught his breath. "Exercising, are you?" He was probably running for a reason, right? "How are you!?" She asked excitedly. It's been a while since she had last spoken to Messer. "Looking forward to this year?? I am! It's going to be GREAT!!" She added, throwing her arms up above her head.

Paulie rolled his eyes, not even attempting to hide it. "You're such a paaaaarty pooper." She couldn't play along with him just once? Or at least LAUGH?! Gosh, she was hard on him, wasn't she? YES. Oh, she claimed that she didn't fall? "Uh huh, sure. Excuses, excuses. Who sits down on the ground and falls back into a pile of leaves to take a rest? A crazy person does. So, you're either a.) crazy, or b.) you fell." Mhmmm, that was pure logic. Paulie folded his arms rather smugly and smirked.

"I am perusing the grounds and enjoying the fine weather. It's not gonna last, so might as well make the most of it!" No use being cooped up inside when the sun was beckoning so brightly.

"Hi Sophie!" He managed to give her a small wave after he caught his breath. Exercising? Him? Not really, but Sophie didn't know that. "Not really. I was just enjoying the weather then I saw you so I ran." And that's not a good idea he almost ran out off breath catching his fellow Hufflepuff. Maybe that's a sign that he need to exercised more. He didn't want to be out off shape when he attend that Quidditch try out now couldn't he?

"Beside breathless? I'm really good." Coming back to Hogwarts definitely boost up his mood. "And how are you?" he turned to ask. "Very much so!" he grinned widely. "You seem very excited, Soph." He chuckled when Messer saw Sophie throwing her arms up above her head. "Yes, I agree with you this going to be very GREAT year!" Yes, a very great year indeed. "So how's second year threat you so far?"