Edric nodded understandingly as Evelyn explained that she was excited for what the future had in store for her. Of course. He'd be excited about that too, if he was in her shoes. Evs was going out to the real world soon. Aaaand he was stuck here for another year. Yay.

When the girl playfully asked if he was going to miss her, Edric turned to her with slightly raised eyebrows. He hadn't expected the question. What did it matter if he'd miss her anyway? She was still leaving and just a few days after leaving she'd most likely forget she'd even met the most Scroogey-like character in all of Britain.

But the boy answered honestly.
"Of course." He gave her a small half-smile before looking away at the hyped-up first years running around the playground. "It's weird, but I think I might just actually miss someone for the first time in my life." Hm. He turned back to Evelyn then, a smile on his face that could only tell he was about to troll her again, 'cause that's what he liked to do. "Don't get too excited, though, I'm just going to miss you slightly." He chuckled softly, and doubted his own words. He'd probably miss Evs more than he's willing to let on.

But then they were back on the duck pond topic. Edric sighed in annoyance at the memory.
"Some terrible little monster. I don't know her name. A blonde girl… she was younger than us, very pretty, and very horrendous. A Gryffindor too; with my luck I'll be seeing her everywhere now."

Anya started to swing a little. She kept her feet planted on the ground. But moved forward and backward lightly.

She smiled. "That's great Tag." It was still weird getting used to the idea that she'd practically been on pause for a month while everything else went on around her.

Like Tag's new jump. She probably missed him falling multiple times in the common room. And someone else probably helped him up and encouraged him.

Which was her job.

"You know, it's a bit warmer than I expected it to be..." she said randomly. Then she remembered that it wasn't January anymore.

Worst. Case. Of. Jetlag. Ever.

Frown. "I asked you first. Hmph." Alice eyed the 'Claw suspiciously. "So you aren't a Legilimens? Good. I don't like mind-readers. No, I'm not one either, so you can relax." The lioness had.. different ways of extracting secrets from people. Not that she could share those with Erin just yet.. they had just met, right? But it felt like she had known Erin for a while. Maybe she already knew Erin because she was a Legilimens and just didn't know it and head read all of Erin's thoughts o___O Ohkay. So that probably didn't happen.

"There are not three Queens! I am the only one! I'm special." BEAM. She was going to rule the world by herself.. but with the help of her partners, of course? She beamed at Erin again, but winced when she asked who she worked with. "Well.. I have two partners, but we're having some.. er.. technical difficulties," the lioness said sheepishly. It was more like violent difficulties. Her two partners were in a big fight because of candy, and the third year was stuck in the middle of it, no matter how much she wanted out. "Hmph. There are going to be fish sanctuaries! We need them. To protect the wittle fishies." Wibble. "Huh. Well, I guess I can add to the laws that have already been made, and I can take out the unneeded, useless ones. Or the ones I don't like." Alice wrinkled her nose in disgust. Some rules were just really, really bizarre. And as Queen of the World, the third year had to make her people happy.. right?

Yes. Erin wasn't a mind reader and Alice too, in that case. Good thing, they're going to have a FAIR conversation. If one didn't want to blurt a statement out, then not. "I'm not...YET. But I believe that sooner or later, I'll be able to learn Legilimency. I'll teach you my learnings too." She had her real parents to ask about difficult magic, right? Now that they owe Erin a lot, they kind of needed to fill up a lot of things. Erin smiled towards her friend. OH. They were friends now. Were they? Hehe.

The two members were having technical difficulties. That sounded awful. In an empire, there should be unity. And if unity doesn't show from the members themselves, the empire wouldn't be at all united. And they weren't eligible to rule the world in any way. They should patch things up sooner or later. "I think, we need a court room for this." Nod. "Who are these two partners again? They should be in good terms as soon as possbile." Erin would listen to the both parties and together with the Queen, they'll decide who's guilty and who's acquitted. Being a Minister was one thing but a judge, she couldn't do it alone. She need the Queen's help no matter how busy she is with her fish sanctuaries. "And about the fish sanctuaries, I will agree if we create a law to protect cats from discrimination... I have met this girl and she doesn't want her pygmy puff getting near my cat. It clearly shows that cats are being discriminated at Hogwarts. My cat only eats cereals and never a pygmy puff." Erin pouted. She needed to fight all the way for this law. And by the way, she needed to hear about the existing laws about the Queen's empire. One of these days. They should arrange an appointment meeting with all of the members. "...Er...so, am I part of your empire now?"

"Thanks." He said turning slightly red. "Oh, and because I missed you so long and much I decided to add that twirl-because it reminded me of you. So its my personal twirl jump for you. Only you can see the special twirl jump." Things were serious if the little irish man decided on dedicating a special move of his for a person. Not just any person, Anya.

"Oh ehh, forget about the weather." Tag told her casually. He regained his balance and went over to Anya's swing and began to slowly move her backwards, holding onto the rungs and then gently let her move backwards and forwards. Yep. Irresistable.

Alice smiled. If Erin and she were both Legilimens, they could have conversations. WITH THEIR MINDS. O__________o "We can like exchange answers on exams and secrets with our minds," the lioness said, excited. But they probably wouldn't learn Legilimency until they were out of Hogwarts. So that possibility was most probably gone. Hmph. Oh, well, plenty of other things to do with Erin, right?

"A court room?" The third year was surprised. Rubbing her chin thoughtfully, she replied, "Oh, no, I think they're going to work it out by attacking each other." Chocolate frog matters could not be resolved in court rooms. Right? Huh. Well.. "Err, their names are Blue and Messer." Her bestfriends! Apart from Emma, of course. "Cats? Wh—" Alice stopped speaking as she realized what she was saying. Oh. She'd had pet problems with Prefect Pygmy Puff, too? "Of course we can help your cat!" she said. BEAM. "My pet owl, Domino, was discriminated against by her as well! She got angry because he tried to eat her Pygmy Puff. But Kent's brightly coloured and looks kind of like food. So it's not Domino's fault, right?" BEAM SOME MORE. "Are you part of my Empire? But, of course! We need a strong Minister while I rule the world!" She beamed at Erin once more, and then relaxed against the bars of the whirling Roundabout. She was all beamed out.

The future. Yeah, the Prefect was a little excited to know how things were going to work out for her and even though she looking forward to moving to Scotland.. she wouldn't admit this to anyone but she was scared. Were things were going to work out the way she wanted them to? And, what if they didn't?

Wait. Did she just hear her friend say 'Of course'!? Like, did he just admit that he'd miss her? Evelyn turned towards him, surprised. That was totally unexpected. And, she raised her eyebrows when he said that he'd miss someone for the first time in his life... HUH. That was just.. wow. She laughed lightly before she draped an around his shoulders for a moment. "Look at you! You actually just admitted to missing me.. you're human, after all." Heh. She was teasing him but she was a little touched. Of course, she was going to miss him too. Not that she'd ever say that to him unless he asked.. and she hoped he wouldn't. "Yeah, no. I'm pretty sure you'll miss me a lot." Smirk.

Gryffindor. Blonde. Horrendous. Yep. Evelyn was pretty sure the girl was Alice. "What did you do for her to push you into the pond?" Evelyn asked, slightly amused.

Alice was a Gryffindor. She clearly was. Erin would never, ever need to try to take an answer from someone during examinations. That never occurred to her mind. However, since Erin didn't want her new friend to get upset, really upset, she did not let the words leave her lips this time. She loved Alice. And she wanted to keep her for a very long time. Even after Hogwarts. They would conquer the world together. Once this commitment of becoming the Minister and the Queen was set into a goal in sight, it'll turn into a determined action and they needed each other one day to rule the world. They would be having fun together, of course with her two partners. "We can still share secrets without using Legilimency. So, do you have a secret Alice?"

Erin eyed Alice as she thought about her suggestion of a court room. And when she denied it, Erin's excited face turned mellow. She wanted them to patch things up in a peaceful way, not to attack each other just like what Alice was saying. Blue and Messer? "I know Blue but not Messer. Blue's a Ravenclaw too, right? " She needed to ask. What if there was another Blue at Hogwarts? And this was the Blue she had a misunderstanding with? The Blue who saw Erin's mean side? She needed to see this two. She needed to talk to them. "What's the cause of their..er..fight?" And her next words put a big smile into Erin's lips. Really big. She could protect her cat, Posy, as well as other animals who were discriminated at Hogwarts by the Pygmy Puff Head Girl. The one who just called her Mango. "The truth is I like the girl but her obsession with her pygmy puff was so over the board. It's not like, all cats were the same. She's clearly and abominably unjust! And she..." OH. Whaaaat? Did Erin heard it that way? Interpreted it right? Alice's owl Domino actually tried to eat Kent? So, she was the person Selena the Cherry was referring to. But, Domino just tried to eat him based from Alice's story. And it never ate Kent. Kent was still all royal when she saw him. And in perfect condition. "It's not Domino's fault? It's...er...do you really wanna know my opinion? Er...I think she's becoming all don't-let-your-cat-get-near-my-pygmy-puff was because of the incident with Domino, the owl." Erin was sorry, she needed to be the one to break it to Alice.

Edric knew this would happen. As soon as he confessed that he'd miss Evs, he just KNEW the girl would take this opportunity to tease and poke fun at him. It seems his evil ways were beginning to rub off on her.

"I never said I wasn't," he said as Evs accused him of being human. Why did everyone think he was a robot?! ;____; Oh right. He had no feelings.

And then the girl was confidently announcing that he'd miss her a LOT. "A lot?" he repeated, eyebrows raised and lips curved in an amused smile. Well. It was true. BUT. He wasn't about to admit that. "What makes you so sure?" he challenged.

And then they were back on the duck pond topic.
"I don't know. Exist?" He honestly didn't remember doing anything too horrendous BEFORE getting shoved into the pond. "She was just mad that I was 'stealing her ducks' supposedly. 'Cause, y'know, apparently she owns the pond."

"I never really expected you to.." Evelyn stopped talking abrupty before she turned away to look at the kids running around the playground. "Well..we'll be touch, I hope." It wasn't like they'd never see each other once she graduated..right? She had no idea. Maybe they wouldn't...

Huh? What made her so sure? Evelyn started to laugh again before she turned towards her friend. "I know it and I know you know it." A smile still playing on her lips, she continued, "Anyway. I guess I'm kind of glad to know that I'll be missed." AHHH. It was february already and just a few more months to go before she graduated. Eeep. Scary.

"I think I know the girl you're talking about." Even though Alice was like the weirdest kid on the planet, she was kind of amusing. Kind of. "She's the one who called me a ghost." But, calling Evelyn a ghost was anything but amusing.

"You hope?" Edric repeated incredulously. HOPE? Hope wasn't a… solid, concrete answer. It was like saying, 'I might owl you, I might not… you shall never know.' Girls. "That's not very reassuring, Casper," he said with a soft chuckle. Honestly, Evs. C'mon. Stop torturing the boy. Just tell him you'll write him.

He narrowed his eyes as Evelyn insisted that he'd miss her 'a lot'. He said nothing to that, though, and listened as she went on to confess that she was glad to be missed. "And luckily for you, I'm sure this ol' grump isn't the only one." Evelyn probably 74857 other friends that would miss her too.

And then the girl was explaining that she knew the little demon that had tried to drown him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise. They raised even further when she confessed that the little demon was the one who called her a 'ghost. Edric laughed at this. What a small world. And of COURSE it would be Little Demon who picked on Evelyn. Who else was insane and evil enough? Maybe Edric… "Why does that not surprise me at all?" He shook his head in disbelief. "That girl's just going around torturing anyone she finds, it seems."

Taylor sat down on one of the benches and started strumming her guitar. She to sing broken road. Her blonde curls were framing her face as she strummed and sing.

o_O Evelyn raised her eyebrows at his reaction. Well, she just thought that.. never mind. And, he called her Casper. AGAIN. Not funny, Eddy. Not funny at all. Hmph. "Fine. I'll owl you, okay? Every week." Evelyn smiled. Huh, it was kind of weird to know that the boy was going to miss him. Frankly, she hadn't expected AT ALL. She was touched though. "I promise." In case, he didn't believe her or something.

"You are not an old grump, Eddy." Evelyn rolled her eyes. "You're a nice guy.. except that you are a little annoying at times." A LOT annoying actually but he just said that he was going to miss her, so she was going to be nice. Heh.

And..was he just laughing again!? GOSH. And, she just told him that he was a nice guy. "What are you laughing at?" Yeah. He was right, though. She really did seem to like annoying people. She was SO glad Blue wasn't like that. GOSH. "Well, I can't believe she pushed you into the pond though." Evelyn said, biting her lip to stop herself from laughing. "I wish I'd been there to see it." Heh. She was just being mean..but she liked being mean to him..for some reason.

Miss Marlow Queen is having one of her special days running around barefoot with hemp braiding weaving from the big toes to the ankles. A favorite hobby of hers was braiding. Even if it was making hemp necklaces to foot wraps, or even braiding another's beautiful locks. Marlow's hair was a casual mess, with golden pixie-cut hair she never had much to work with, only to spike or left a scruff.

today was an amazing site, bright and warming to the skin, she couldn't help to be outside. Lowlow was vibrant today, literally feeling vibrant. She danced around the playground, her long brown skirt swirling around light toned legs, her cut-off band tee giving off just enough breeze through thee shoulders. This day couldn't be anything bad for little miss Raven-Hippie.

Marlow's dance soon caught tune to a guitar being strung so softly, so pleasant. So she pranced over, the back blades of her shoulders pressed against the tree this musical girl was singing on the other side of. Low's eyes glistened, and widened while peeking around the tree, then came a hand that pushed out it's index finger and she lightly touched the girls shoulder. "There's pleasant sounds coming from your vibes," Marlow grinned. "It's a very happy greeting to hear. What's your name?"

Taylor looked up and smiled at the girl. "Glad you like it. I'm Taylor Belle McIntyre and you?" She kept strumming but didnt sing as she waited for the girl's name. Her eyes gave the girl a one over and a smile spread across her face. "Nice outfit, and love the hemp braiding. It is good to know that I'm not the only one who runs barefoot here and there." Tay had sandals on but she sometimes went barefoot. She gestured to the bench beside her, "Care to join me?"

Anya smiled wider. "Aww. Tag. You made a whole jump for me?" Now that was a good surprise too. Anya's mood increased significantly.

She smiled a little more as Tag pushed her. She closed her eyes and just took in being outside. She should just... stop stressing out. It wasn't helping anyone. Yes, something happened. And yes, she missed a lot of things. But at least she was better now.

"So, it's February now, right?" Which meant, summer was coming up!

"That's better." Edric nodded approvingly as Evs promised to owl him every week. That was more like it.
And then she was even defending him against himself, assuring that despite his annoying nature, he was a nice guy. "You think so?" He raised an eyebrow at the girl, a little unsure why she'd think he was nice at all. He was always trolling her and laughing at third years calling her a ghost. You can't blame him, though, it was hilarious. Heh heh heh.

When Evelyn wished she could've witnessed Alice's abuse toward him, the boy looked honestly surprised. "Oh, I bet you would've loved to see that," he said, rolling his eyes. "Honestly. When did it get like this? Now it's third years who bully the sixth and seventh years. Shouldn't it be the other way around?" This was unbelievable! Here they were, two grown students, getting pushed into ponds and made fun of by some evil child!

LOL. Evelyn couldn't but grin. Was he surprised that someone actually called him nice for once? "I guess.. but don't you believe me. Friends are supposed to nice things to each other..sometimes." OMG. What's got into her!? She's never like this but why is being mean to him all of a sudden. Riiight. Anyway. "Um.. when's your birthday?" Evelyn asked, suddenly. Because she liked to know her friends' birthdays..so that she could buy presents and stuff.

"Yes, I would. Make sure you ask someone to take a picture the next time you get pushed into the water." Yep, seriously. It would be quite hilarious. Hm? Oh, right. Yeah, the kids seemed to bullying the older students a lot.. "No, it shouldn't be the other way around. I think there shouldn't be any bullying at all. It's just wrong." She probably sounded like a nerd but..oh well. That's what she felt.

Edric raised his eyebrows at Evelyn, the way he seemed to be doing often lately. The girl was just full of surprises, you couldn't blame him. "Look at you!" he accused with amusement. "Turning into a second Edric, are we, Casper?" He was such an influence.

And then she asked about his birthday. What? "It was last month. January twenty-first. Any reason you're asking?"

"Oh you would say that," said Edric, rolling his eyes as Evs decided there shouldn't be any bullying at all. No wonder she was Prefect. Psh.

It had been AGES since Jezzabelle had been down at the playground and if anything she was ready to tackle the swing and accomplish the high jump. She wouldn't be hurt would she jumping off the swing here at Hogwarts. She was pretty sure it was safe.

Claiming a swing she began to slowly push herself back and forth aiming to go higher and higher and higher. Arms ready, feet positioned for the landing, she made to push herself off the swing WHEN.....

She chickened out. Pfft. Some lion she was. Wouldn't even take the risk to jump off the swing at it's highest point. So she stopped the swing all together and hung her head in shame pushing herself slowly from left to right. Maybe someone would come join her and talk to her. Take her mind off things.

Alice smiled at Erin's enthusiasm. "I do have quite a few secrets Erin. But I'm not sure I want to share them just yet.." God forbid, if any Legilimens got inside the Gryffindor's head, they would most probably die from shock or be scarred for life. But, then again, secrets were made to be kept, correct? "Do you have any secrets, yourself, Erin?" BEAM. The future Minister would most probably have quite a few things hidden inside her head.

The little girl's smile faded as Erin's did. Alice felt kind of sad as well, since she had found the courtroom idea interesting, too. "Yes, Blue is a 'Claw. Are you two friends?" It seemed like everyone she knew had known each other and then they knew her, so it was as if fate had meant for all of them to be known. Wait. Did that make sense? o____________O "Err. Well. Messer ate a Chocolate Frog, and Blue thinks that they are alive and that eating them is inhumane," she said sheepishly. The lioness wished her two bestfriends could push past their differences to scheme, but she didn't think that was going to happen any time soon. "Anyways, I don't want to get into, and neither should you. I have a feeling if we do, we'll get attacked as well." Giggle. "Do you eat Chocolate Frogs?"

The third year frowned as Erin started elaborating on Selena. "Oh, no, I think it's sweet that she is so loyal to her pets! it's just.. Kent kind of annoys me. But I love the crup. The crup is cuuuuuute!" Clarke. Heh. She liked Clarke. She was thinking of getting a crup, too. 'Cause Hogwarts would need another awesome crup when Sellie left. "Unjust? How is she.." Alice trailed off. Erin and Sel had obviously had a disagreement, and the Queen disliked arguments very much, even though she was a pro at arguing. "Domino didn't actually try to eat him.." The lioness interrupted. "He was hungry, and Kent is quite a vibrant shade of purple, not unlike grapes or plums. He never even set foot near the thing, but right away, Prefect Pygmy Puff accused him of trying to eat her beloved pet. Nothing ever actually happened!" Her owl was a good owl. He was just sometimes misguided as for what and what not to eat.

Wow. Ronnie hadn't been to the playground in like, a million years. And the playground was the best place on the grounds. What in the world was wrong with her. . .?!

Hmm. She had no clue.

She skipped down to the playground, eager to get on the swings. Those were real fun. So was the dragon spring rocker thingys. Oh boy did she loveee those. As she made her way to the swings she saw. . .what was her name again? Jezzabelle? Yeah that sounded about right. Anyways, she saw Jezz swinging by herself, looking rather lonely. Ronnie could fix that!

So she walked over and pointed at the open swing next to her. "Mind if I join ya?" she asked with a smile.

Jezzabelle had become so preoccupied with staring at the ground that she hadn't even heard the sound of footsteps approaching her. It wasn't until the person had spoken to her that she had realized someone joined her.

Looking up she gave a big smile and said, "Sure you can Ronnie." She hoped that was the girls name. She hadn't spoken to her but a handful of times.

"How has your year been?"

"Thanks!" Ronnie replied, hopping onto the swing next to her. She swung back and forth a little, looking at Jezz as she asked how her hear has been. "It's been awesome! I'm really enjoying it." she said with a sigh. She was so glad to be back. She had missed her friends so much, and all the awesome places around Hogwarts. "What about you?" she asked.

"You're welcome!" Jezz pushed herself some more and shrugged, "It's been an okay year. I mean less dramatic than last year but pretty busy ya know?" She looked down at the ground again. "I feel like I've been really busy and haven't talked to many people though. What with Quidditch and classes and homework." Sigh.