"I..um..alright." Yup. Ella Bishop was being extremely articulate at the moment. She did appreciate the reassuring words, though. The badger had beaten herself up quite a bit about the whole thing, despite people telling her that voicing her feelings made her brave or whatever. She was definitely no Gryffindor. Not at all.

So...they weren't talking about Justin? Ella was seriously confused. He was the only other boy that had even been mentioned in that conversation besides Oakey, and Ella was sure that Harvey didn't mean him. And why did Harvey seem extremely nervous right now? The whole thing was a bit odd, truthfully. "Alright so if you didn't mean Justin..." Someone she hung out with and knew very well? That could be SO many people! Merlin, Ella had a lot of friends that were boys against her Ogre's wishes. How was she meant to figure out who he was-

O__________O

HarveyWatsonSayWhat?!

Blink.Blink.Blink. "You meant...you?" HUH?! "But you...and I thought..." What in Merlin's beard?! "Wait...what?...but how? I...huh?" Yup. Explain yourself, Watson.

He smiled and nodded as she seemed to kinda.. yeah kinda agree with him. That was good that was, he could then see that she seemed to be a bit confused as he said that he wasn't talking about Justin. Merlin where did she get Justin from? she wasn't liking him now was she? oh boy was Mins right.. was she moving onto other guys already just as he is realising how he feels. He seriously hoped not cause he had found out and had worked up the courage to tell her the truth. Just as he was getting ready to tell her she was kinda questioning who he was talking about oh she was not making this easy on him was she? He then told her and didn't look at her and waited for her reaction on his truth.

He nodded silently and after her babbling he knew he had a lot of explaining to do, he looked at her "Yeah I.. I was talking about me" well he had better start explaining everything now "Yeah.. I.. I wasn't... thinking straight. I guess with Ameliah I .. could have been denying what was there.. in front of me." well that was a good start right? he hoped so "Well after we talked at the willow, a day after I was at the lake when Mins came over and we had a talk.. and as always she helped me clear my head." he said, wanting to move closer but thought it was best not to.. he didn't want her trying to leave "I then realised and knew that I had a blindfold on and wasn't seeing things clearly just because I had someone else. But when we talked and I thought about how I had felt hanging out with you.. it was clear to me what the truth was." he looked at her closely now "Ella... I.." oh boy he was going to say it wasn't he? well he had to.. he had to tell her that was the whole points of meeting up here "I.. like you... the way you.. the way you do me" oh boy he was going to faint! she had better say something quick before he collapsed... he casually leaned against the counter as he waited for her to say something. "I am .. sorry? for... everything?" was all he could think of saying right now as he waited for her to say something.

Harlan entered Honeydukes with a nervous smile on her face, she was going to or was there already Hogsmeade with Mason. She smiled, he was super cool and.. oh, nerves again.
Ooh. Sweets. Perfect. Harlan loved sweets. She eyed the displays in search of her favourites.. or one of her favourites anyway. Hardly anything beat Skittles, but crystallised pineapples were awesome and perfect and... Skittles, but different.

She fidgeted around with her purse in her hands and slowly forgot about her nerves as she inspected all the different kinds of sweets. One kind of sweet seemed to be missing out though.. Harlan frowned. This couldn't be possible. She neeeeeeded those crystallised pineapples.

'Nooooo.' Harlan whispered to herself, this would ruin everything. And he'd probably not like her and and.. Harlan's thoughts trailed off, thinking up the biggest disasters possible.. She wasn't usually like this. Never ever, actually. Right.. The girl huffed and stomped her feet. 'Stop being a baby, Harlan.'
She was just going to go eat sweets with Mason and be super cool, cause they both were super cool. And that meant no baby-stuff like this.

Ella was staring right at Harvey now, mouth slightly ajar. This was... completely unexpected. Why was it that when you want something really bad and then you finally get it, you're not even sure how to handle it? So he had been denying...things? WELL DUH. Ella wanted to say that out loud but held her tongue, knowing that was besides the point. Oh. And Minnie had been involved in this? The third year wasn't surprised, really. Not after the whole talk at the Willow. She definitely had to find the older badger and have a chat with her, sooner than later. "Minnie...right." She said thoughtfully, nodding her head in understanding. "About time." She blurted out in response to Harvey finally figuring things out. Meep. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "Sorry." She added just as quickly, allowing Harvey to continue. "H-how exactly do you feel when you're hanging out with me, then?" She asked, trying to figure out what little thing had suddenly helped Harvey see things more clearly. And then...

O__O

OHMYGOSH.OHMYGOSH.OHMYGOSH. A million and one emotions were surging through Ella right now. And she kinda felt like jumping up and down. She also kind of felt like hitting Harvey over the head with one of those giant lollipops...or giving him a HUGE hug...or both. MEEP. "You like me?...like that?" Yes, that's what the guy had just said. Sheesh. "I..." Oh goodness. Her heart was beating SO fast right now and her brain felt all fuzzy, making it really hard to think of the right thing to say. "Well...good, then." Blush. Cue nervous feet shuffling. And then he apologized for all of it and Ella gave him the first genuine smile she'd had in quite some time. "Me too." ButWhatNow?

Maxwell sighed feeling bad, she noticed him being a little too curious about Min. "Sorry about that...It's been a weird summer and it's hard to get over someone who just up and left...I mean i thought i'd never see her again and now we're just nothing...but that's what she wants so it's whatever." He said with a shrug, he was over Min but he knew he wasn't about to get her back either.

Maxwell nodded. "Yeah, Her name is Tabatha..." He listened to what she had to say about her sisters. "Well then i would send Dani a few chocolate frogs and maybe get Sam some every flavor beans."

Seri scrambled quickly through the door, she was on a mission. Well, a mission to grab as many sweets as possible. She as hungry, and apparently Hogwarts did NOT like sweeties as she did. Well, they had some of those boring mint humbugs, but nothing INTRESTING. She grabbed one of those baskets, and looked greedily around the shop.

She came across the sugar quills and grabbed a few. They weren't her favourite, but would be PERFECT for when during class she was bored and needed something sugary. And then she saw... Cassidy? Casey? Cassia! The girl she'd met in the bookstore. "Hi," Seri greeted her, whilst grabbing a load of liquorice wands, which were her VERY favourite except Pepper Imps.

Harvey nodded.. yup Mins.. it had always been Minnie that had cleared his head, maybe it was time he did some things himself.. he couldn't rely on Minnie all the time but that didn't mean that she couldn't help him with other things. He chuckled as she said about time "No its ok.. you are right it is about time" he said as she apologised to him for blurting it out. Then came the hardest question how did he feel when he was hanging out with her. How could he explain that.. well all he could do was go back to when they were hanging out and bring out all those .. feelings? yeah those things.. "Weeelll.. I feel.. happy.. that I am with you, when time comes to leave I kinda wished the time would have stopped so that we could hang out even more. I loved seeing you blush, your nudges and more. You smiling.. that got me... feeling all... fluttery or that butterfly thing inside." he knew that he could go on and on about his feelings when he was with her but right now it was best not to go longer than necessary "Ella.. basically.. anytime I am with you I am happy.. and not wanting to leave you even though we have that curfew each night. I really do like you.. I was told to listen to my heart... and thats what my heart says to me... it calls only your name" he hoped he hadn't said too much, but she had asked him how he felt when he was with her.. and thats how he did feel.. he just hadn't seen it until now.

He nodded as she asked him the most important question, looking at her "Yes Ella.. I do like you.. like that" he said taking a small step closer towards her hoping that she didn't mind that he had just done so. His heart was beating faster than it had before whenever they were hanging out with each other, he waited to see what she would say. But what he saw was better than any words that could be said, she had blushed "I haven't seen that color on your face in a long time.. it still looks good on you" he chuckled a little as she smiled.. wow! that smile.. why hadn't he seen the magic in that smile before. Merlin he had been blind to alot of good things about her.. she then said me too "No.. you dont need to apologize.. it was me that was ... very slow in working things out." yeah and he needed to make it upto her, it would not happen with the small gifts that he had he would need to do alot more.

Elliot watched his face very carefully. Was he over her, though? Elliot wondered. He certainly didn't seem to be. But she didn't ask him about that...for now..."Er, it's all right...I understand.." she heard herself saying..but NO she did NOT understand...and she didn't really like it.

She was too happy to just have him as a friend...to want to ruin that.

Tabatha. "You have a lot of siblings, though right?" She remembered that he had a really confusing family. And boy, was she glad her family wasn't that complicated...although, it was complicated in other aspects. "Okay...sounds good..." she nodded, grinning at him as she picked up two boxes of the every flavored beans and put them in her bag as well. She wondered if they sold butterscotch...

Presley giggled. Blacks were adventurous. Manolo knew the things they got up to when adults were discussing politics at boring formal parties. He was there the time they'd dared Dani Morganzo to jump in the iced over lake in her party dress. Truth be told, most kids who grew up in that sort of environment had a wild streak. If they didn't, they wouldn't have ever survived.

Support his mum? What was her cousin talking about? Hadn't her uncle left them a huge sum when he'd passed away? What was Presley missing here? She knew fully well that if her father should pass away, Leo would inherit a vast fortune. And when Presley was four and Leo eleven they'd made a promise, when he inherited it, he would split it evenly and give Presley exactly fifty percent. Which would set her up for the rest of her life. Weren't circumstances similar for her late uncles family? If they were struggling to make ends meet, there was no way that Presley could go with them to Spain over the summer. It would feel like too much of a burden. She couldn't burden someone with her presence. Which took away her last option. It looked like she would be spending the Holidays at Hogwarts after all.

"Leo's doing great," Presley answered, pushing the thoughts of money out of her mind. She didn't really know how Leo was. They hadn't talked properly since June, but she wasn't willing to admit that her relationship with her only sibling was balancing on a cliff and very much in danger of tipping right off. "He's engaged. I don't know if he's sent out announcements yet?" She made it a question, asking Manolo if he'd received an announcement. If he had, she had an excuse ready for why she hadn't, and if he hadn't, well, Leo and Maine needed to get on that. The wedding wasn't that far away.

"Zebhidiyah?" Presley used her fathers given name. "I would assume he's fine." They weren't exactly on speaking terms. As for how Presley was doing, what was she supposed to say? I'm fragile, I feel like breaking down every three minutes, I don't have anyone, and I've been cut off from dance lessons. I don't know what to do, or even where I live anymore. But other that that, I'm doing great Manolo, thanks for asking! No, there was nothing to say. So she left that part of the question unanswered, and hoped he wouldn't notice.

Presley took a half step back, leaving the path between Awar and her brother clear so that Pres wouldn't end up with an elbow to the face like the poor girl that got in Presley's way.

Maxwell smiled as she said she understood. "Thanks...I know it's weird." He said happy to have an understanding friend for once, he being a 14 year old boy didn't know that sometimes when girls say something to you they mean the opposite.

Maxwell nodded. "Quite a few, actually. I know the whole family thing is a bit complicated.." He said with a laugh, thinking she didn't even know the half of it.

Ella smiled sheepishly, looking at the floor. At least Harvey wasn't mad at her for blurting that out, though she'd blurted out much worse before. Something about Harvs being an idiot...though that didn't seem very important anymore. And then the third year was blushing like mad as Harvey continued talking, not exactly knowing what to say in response. It just felt nice, having somebody notice you in that way. It made her quite special. "The butterfly feeling? I get that too...it's strange, yeah?" Though Ella was relieved she wasn't the only one with those little guys fluttering around in her belly all the time. And that feeling? She was definitely having it right now. "I...well erm...thanks for telling me the truth." She said in reply, a small smile on her face.

Ella's green eyes grew wider when Harvey took a step towards her, confirming that he did like her. SQUEE. She wanted to take a step forwards too but she was kind of rooted to the spot at the moment. And then he was calling her out for her blush, which reminded Ella of old times and without thinking about it, she shoved him playfully. This? It felt like the way things used to be. "Heyyy." She said before giggling. "No talking about the blushing, okay?" Yup. She still wasn't a fan of it. Ella couldn't help but laugh when Harvey said he was very slow in figuring things out. Nod. Nod. Nod. VERY slow. "Yeah...wasn't very Ravenclaw-like, was it?" She said teasingly, a small smile on her face. And the blonde had one more question for him, too. "Harvs? Um...whatdowedonow?" Now that everything was out in the open, and all.

Weird. Elliot wouldn't have picked that weird, but hey. Whatever. "Yes...odd. Have you talked to her lately?" she tried to sound very casual, but she glanced at him, very carefully surveying his face...for any inclination that they had made up OORRR fought more. And his body language would be the one to tell her the answer, not his actual words.

She managed to smirk..."Yeah, but everyone has a complicated family. Mine is complicated, too, just it other ways. Stupid ways." Yes. Elliot had been forced to say that her family was UTTERLY STUPID right now.

She missed Dani a ton, she missed her father even more, and her anxiety over her new brother was mounting almost daily....

Maxwell shrugged. "Well, kinda...We ran into each other at the 3 broomsticks. But it was me talking to my friend, Ariana and her also being there we didn't say much to each other."

"Yeah i guess, I just feel like mine is especially weird..." He wondered if his life would ever really be normal, even by wizarding standards.

He watched as she looked at the floor, but he just kept his eyes on her. Now that she knew there was no way these eyes were letting her out of his sight! When she did look at him he saw that she had gone an even deeper red and this made him smile even more and made him chuckle too! Gosh he really did love it when she blushed so maybe he could calm down now.. but this heart of his was not calming down at all! It was beating as fast as it could, he nodded as she asked about the butterfly thing in your stomach "No not strange really, they just show you how happy you are to see the person that makes those butterflies fly around" in this case it was Harvs right? thats why he had them right now.. if they would just settle down then this would be a little easier. He nodded "No problem, I had to tell you sooner rather than later" yeah cause later could have been too late and he didnt want that, he wanted to be just in time with all this and not be late.

He saw her eyes go wider.. oh so she wasn't expecting that? oh well we might just have to do more of those, he then chuckled as she shoved him playfully.. and he was back into the past where she had said the same thing "Oh but come on its so much fun.. besides.. have I told you how cute you look when you blush" nope he hadn't cause he had never been able to tell her but now that he had told her his feelings he could say things like that.. yes? he sure did hope so. He then saw her nod when he said that he had been slow figuring things out "Well you didn't have to agree with it.. wouldn't want people thinking that you are with a slow guy now would we?" he chuckled a little as he nodded "Yeah it wasn't very ravenclaw like.. nor hufflepuff like" yeah he was neither at the moment. But he knew that she was joking with him and then another important question "Mm? thats a good question Ella.. well I do need to give you some things I should have given to you a long time ago. So I guess I could start with that" he opened his bag and started pulling out some things for her. The picture of Peanut, a picture of some pyramids for their adventures like she had given him. He took out a bag of gummy worms and finally he took out a box that contained her birthday gift, her favourite turquoise gem necklace that he had his mom buy for him. "The necklace is your belated birthday gift that I wanted to give to you on your birthday but never did manage to give it to you. The rest is just some nice stuff that I hope you enjoy, especially the picture. He hasn't left us Ella, he is still there" he said talking about her beloved Peanut.

Uh-huh. The Three Broomsticks, ehh? Just a run-in? Elliot wasn't so sure, but she didn't say anything. Plus, she shouldn't care, should she? No.

"Oh, you've mentioned Ariana...before." Another ex, right? Or was she remembering wrongly? Probably the first, because Elliot wasn't usually wrong.

Hmm..."Well, at least you're with you father now, right?" She asked. She wanted to cheer him up...he looked a bit...down...

"HEy, is anything wrong? You seem..I don't know, sad or something." And Merlin, Elliot wished that he was all right. And not because of him, no. Her reasoning was much less selfless. She wasn't good with people's problems. Maybe Maxwell was different, though..since he did seem to have a lot of those.

"Yeah i think i have.." He said nodding. "Yeah, it's nice being with Dad.."

He grabbed a few more candies. "No, i'm fine...i just miss Tabby a little, I haven't seen her since Mom passed. But i'm okay." He said smiling at her. He used quite a bit of nerve and kissed her cheek. "Thanks, it's sweet of you to ask.."

"Oh...is that what that is?" Ella asked, feeling her stomach with a small smile on her face. "Interesting..." And annoying sometimes but still... "I um...yeah. I'm glad you finally did...tell me, I mean." Nod. It was certainly about time.

She looked cute when she blushed? Why were people always saying that? It wasn't cute...it was-Wait. Harvey had just said that out loud...without being awkward or anything. Huh. That was different. Grin. "N-no...no you haven't but um...thanks, I guess? Istillhateiththough." She didn't enjoy being a tomato. And she giggled as he told her he didn't have to agree...though she couldn't help but tell the truth, even if it wasn't exactly the nicest thing to say. He knew she was joking, yeah? ...kinda. Wait! And had he just said O__O So Ella was um...with him now? "Harvey, what do you mean...with?" Just so there were no misunderstandings here. Oh...and he agreed. That was good.

...

Presents? GRIN! And Ella watched as Harvey showed her each thing, smiling wider as he went along. EXTRA points for the gummy worms, that was for sure. When he was finished she BEAMed at him before running at him and giving him a huge hug. "Thankyousomuch." She said before stepping back and turning away from him, hair lifted up. "Helpmewiththenecklace?" He didn't mind, did he?

"Tabby, oh, Tabatha," she said, the nickname sinking in. Oops. Elliot was never a fan of nicknames like that. But she supposed it was easier to say 'Tabby' rather than Tabatha. "Are you two close?" she asked, her eyes flickering to his for a moment before scanning the shelves for some butterscotch...

Elliot felt herself BLUUUSSH madly, and quickly turned away so he wouldn't see. But she was smiling, pretty broadly, too, now.

"Erm...Maxwell, do you see any butterscotch?" she asked, still looking at him directly, and her voice was all high pitched...

Sweet. That word had never been used to describe Elliot. Ever. Never. Ever. And this would probably be the ONLY time.

Cassia was still trying to remember the name of the candy. Mmm.....it started with the letter..f? Maybe. Well,she will remember the name if she sees it. So now back to the shelves before her. Cassia glanced at what she grabbed. OH NO. Those chocolate frogs aren't enough! What was she thinking. Cassia grabbed some more. Well yeah that was more like it. Though she had to make sure to have room in her hands to grab other candies.

As Cassia walked a couple of steps to check another shelf she was greeted by someone. The second-year looked to see who was it and grinned at the fellow first-year-snake. "HEY Serenity!" She greeted the girl. Oh yeah and she had liquorice wands, Cassia grabbed some too before turning to the girl. "How're you doing?" Cassia hadn't spoken with the girl since....they met in the bookstore. Though she had spotted around several times in the common room and the start-of-term feast and Cassia intended to say hi hadn't Serenity been involved in serious discussions so Cassia hated to interrupt.

Well, at least now the girl didn't seem to be occupied."So, how're you liking Hogwarts?" Cassia asked remembering how many times she had been asked this very question last year. Probably Serenity got bored of it. But she'll understand its importance next year. "Any friends made ? Enemies?" Cassia winked at that.

Maxwell nodded. "Yeah, we're pretty close. We write all the time.." He said wondering when he'd get the next letter from Tabby.

He just slight saw a blush as she turned away, and he smiled a bit. "Yeah, right here." He said grabbing the bag of butterscotch and handing it to her.

It was funny, sometimes she seemed distant, harsh even. And others she seemed so sweet and kind..he didn't understand it. Were girls really this complicated?

Elliot took the bag and grinned. "Thanks. My sisters and I are pretty close as well." Which is more than could be said to how she ever feel towards her brother as he grew up. The age between them was just too much...plus, she still felt bitter about him.

"I love butterscotch, by the way...you know, for future reference..." she said with a wink as she shoved the bag of butterscotch into her bag....wow...she sure did have a lot of candy..."my sisters are lucky I buy all this for them!" Hmph.

He nodded as she asked if that's what it was, well that's the only thing he could come up with to explain the butterfly feeling in their stomachs. He smiled and was more calmer now that she knew everything, he was glad that she didnt run away from him when he told her. "I am glad you didn't freak out and run out the store" he chuckled as he half joked, cause he reall was glad that she didn't run out of the store freaking out and running all over the place.

He smiled as he had just told her she looked cute and he didn't have to be all weird about it, now he could tell her how cute she was whenever he wanted. He smiled a little more as she confirmed that he hadn't said that even though he has told her she was pretty at one point in time. He chuckled "Dont worry with me saying it, you will grow to love it" he knew that she would still hate it but that was the whole part of the fun of her blushing and him commenting on it. He loved the fact that she disliked being told about her blushing. He heard her giggle, he sighed happily man he loved that giggle too! What was it about her that made him love everything about her, smile, laughs, her green eyes, everything. He then heard her ask him what he meant by with, the hard part. He moved a little closer "Oh! Er.. I guess the er.. kind of ..er... with that ..er.. allows me to do this" he slowly reached down and clasped her hand in his "Without feeling so weird about it, er... what do you think? Too much at once? I mean we could keep away from the hand thing for a while" cause he didn't want to rush into anything that she was not comfortable with. So he waited to see what she would say as he very gently held her hand between them so no-one could see their hands together just yet.

He watched her smile get bigger each time he took out a present for her to see, what he wasnt expecting was the big hug she gave him. That hug made he I feel all dizzy that's for sure! "Er.. no worries. I had to make it upto you just a little for taking so long, and the necklace was for your birthday" that he never got to celebrate with her cause they were not on good terms. He was still all dizzy, heart racing in his chest when she turned away from him and lifted up her hair and asked him to help with her necklace. So with trembling fingers he helped with the necklace and after a few tries, why did those claspy things have to be so difficult to handle. But after a few tries he had managed it, he held both her shoulders very gently "There its done" he told her as he waited to see what she wedged say. This was one of her favourite things that they had talked about, the other was her beloved Peanut hence the picture. And their adventures in Egypt together, although only time would tell if they would be able to go in their adventures, but he sincerely hoped so.

Maxwell nodded. "You're welcome.." He laughed a bit at her talking about butterscotch. "Good to know, i enjoy future references." He said with a wink back at her.

He nodded. "I agree, they are lucky."

She actually couldn't wait to check out...so that she could eat her butterscotch..."You want anything?" she had seen him pick up something....and she was quite sure that he could pay for it himself, but Elliot was just used to offering to buy things for people.

"They are lucky...and to have such an awesome role model..well, it just makes them luckier..." she said with a small chuckle.

"And Tabatha is lucky to have such a thoughtful brother." She added, smiling nervously...this whole complimenting thing was new to her.

Manolo raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Engaged?? Wow. That's great news! No I haven't received an invitation yet. Wow. That's really, really great!"

Assume he's fine? He hasn't heard from his uncle and cousin in the longest time, shouldn't she know exactly how they're doing? She was hiding something. He put it aside as he prepared himself to be tackled by Awar.

Awar dove right in her older brother's arms and embraced him so tightly. She got this overwhelming feeling of being back home. The first question she asked right away was about her mother.

How was Mum? Precious, little Awar worrying about her mother, but what would he say? Their mother had sunk back into the stage she was in when they found out their father had been killed. Dropping off Awar at the Hogwarts Express reminded her how much she needed him. At the funeral, she was silent and as Manolo comforted a bawling Awar be remembers feeling his heart wrenching as he heard the cries of Awar and saw the devastated, lonely look in his mother's eyes.

He hadn't cried until he had gotten home and locked himself in his room. Every night for a week, he would lock himself in his room and just cry. He started his last year at Hogwarts three weeks later. He had to admit if it wasn't for his girlfriend, Cara Castelo, he probably wouldn't of made it through the year.

Now, Cara broke his heart by leaving him for someone who works at the ministry and the money that his father left them went missing. They weren't broke or anything. His grandparents in Spain were humble, but wealthy. They sent a huge sum of money to replace the missing inheritance. But, he and his mother decided they should put that away in the bank for worse days and so now he was looking for a job, so they wouldn't spend the savings. But, enough of that. "Mom's fine. We're fine. I'm just here buying her some candy." He sighed and put his head on top of his sister's.