Logan nodded enthusiastically. "Yep! We can even make it boys against girls!" Maybe his brother would want to play with them. But then who would be the third guy? It wasn't really like Logan had too many male friends.... Unless he asked Chris. Chris seemed like an awesome guy. "I was thinking of asking my friends Ness, Harlan, Chris, and my brother. Do you have anyone in mind to ask?"

Boys against girls, eh? That sounded like a total blast! She grinned. "That's a brilliant idea! It'll be lots of fun!" she said. She then listened as he listed the people to play with. She didn't know who Harlan was...but 'Ness' sounded familiar.

"Okay, that sounds good." she said. She then looked down at the ground thoughtfully at his question. Hmm...she didn't really know anyone. Three against three sounded good enough to her. She shook her head. "No, I think six people will be good enough." she said with a smile.

"Anything that helps you be a better winner is interesting." Was West's two knuts. Practical stuff though... yeah he needed help with that too. "I'm not that good at spells, really. I keep focusing on being the best and not on the spell. My imagination goes ahead of me and stuff."

"Yeah I do have my own broom. So does Theo, my best mate. My dad took us to get custom brooms, from Nikolai Vannacutt. You know? He's a Falcon." Falmouth Falcons. AND a broom maker. Custom only. And a former Hufflepuff. His name was in the trophy room and everything.

West got up and grabbed his things, and then announced. "I'm gonna go now. We should fly and stuff some time. Together maybe." Sounded like a good idea to him, since they both liked Quidditch and all.

So. Um. Bye. He sorta waved. Paused a bit, and then scampered off.

There was something about the mist that sort of creeped Taryn out. It was like walking through a perpetual fog. Though it totally made sense and all... she'd sort of steered clear from this particular area of the grounds. Until today of course. She was starting to feel claustrophobic inside the castle which was certainly odd considering how HUGE it was, but the fact that all of the students were crammed into the Great Hall and not in their respective common rooms was just a bit too much.

With her hands stuffed in her pockets, Taryn slowly circled the hot spring and wondered just how 'hot' it actually was when it was like negative fifty outside.

Dora hadn't been so put by the locked common rooms. With the exception of not having her stuff (and she'd already given up on hoping to get it back in a timely manner, and gave it a good pout too), she thought it would be a alright to share the great hall with everyone, but really it sucked.

People snored, and had nightmares, and SOMEONE kept waking to pee every couple of hours.

The second year wanted her tower back now.

And since she couldn't have it just yet, she decided the second best thing would be the grounds and the crisp cold air. "Did you drop something in there?" Was she waiting it for her to jump out? Dora approached from an angle, and walked alongside the slytherin, curious eyes on the spring, waiting for something to reveal itself.

Errr.. what? Taryn glanced at the girl who had quite suddenly appeared out of nowhere to walk with her. HELLO. She bit back a 'where did you come from?' and shook her head, "No... I didn't. Though I suppose there could be a great many things in there." Yeah, no. She wasn't planning on even touching that water any time soon.

"Afterall, there is a giant squid living in the lake, what do you suppose is living in here?" Well, she was a Ravenclaw, right? Surely she had some interesting ideas.

Excited. That was an understatement. Bliss hadn't seen her best friend, Terry for ages and now they were meeting up again. She was more than just excited, she couldn't describe it. Out of all her friends, Terry was the best and she also saw him least. That's if you don't count Blue. Blue being her twinneh, was always top, but Terry was right beside her. Of course. Bliss and Terry had agreed to meet here, perhaps because it was a place they both liked. The Hot Springs, it was one of the places they'd been to together.

BRRRR. It was chilly. Really chilling.

Time to warm up a little, Bliss thought while she waited for Terry. She walked over to the edge of the hot spring and took off her shoes and socks and sat down on the grass. It might not help much, but at least her feet would be warm. She dipped her toes and hummed. Now Terry just needed to turn up. Shouldn't be too long, she thought and wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm.

Right, well this cold weather wasn't doing anything great for Terry's health. He had been wrapped up inside sniffling and snotting everywhere, trying to keep himself warm. But he felt much better now, good enough to go outside and meet Bliss whom he hadn't seen in a while. He was wearing the Slytherin hat she had bought him and the scarf his mum had sent him was curled around his neck keeping off the chill. His jacket was fully zipped up and he shoved his hands into his pockets as he headed outside through the large door.

When was it going to warm up?!

The boy dodged other students, aiming for the Hot Spring as he passed the Lake and headed towards where she would be waiting for him. He spotted her almost instantly and slid down the hill to sit next to her, digging his feet into the ground to stop himself flying straight into the spring. Perfectly graceful, not. "Hey Blissy" he smiled before hugging her to him. She looked especially cold.

Slowly, slowly. The feeling in her toes was coming back and she wriggled them happily, singing and humming to her self. Did time always go this slowly when you were waiting for something, well someone. Bliss had been waiting for at least ten minutes before Terry showed up and she was pretty sure that she was going to freeze to death. In fact, it was probably definite.

Bliss Hope Mae Ryans. Cause of death: hypothermia. Yeah. That sounded about right.

As Terry slid down the hill she jumped slightly, not the most casual way to arrive, she must admit. Bliss put out an to catch him before he slid completely into the pool. Although it was cold and the spring was warm, getting completely drenched wouldn't be the best idea. Not at all. When Terry stopped, she hugged him tightly. A shiver escaped her and she shuddered, her teeth chattering. "Hey Terry, it's good to see you," she told him, smiling warmly at him, before releasing him from the hug. As soon as she let go, another shiver ran down her spine and her teeth started chattering again. Darn.

Actually, the more time he spent next to the hot spring, the more Terry came to realise that this was probably his favourite place in the entire school to be. It was quiet, peaceful and it was somewhere he could sit for hours and not be disturbed or ever get bored. There wasn't a lot going on but there was enough to entertain the young teenager.

Bliss seemingly agreed with his thoughts as it had been her that suggested they met here today. They could both probably sit there in silence for a while and not want to leave. The ripples across the water, the heat that was radiating out from the pool and providing the pair with warmth for the afternoon. It was quite an enjoyable experience.

He grinned at the girl as she looked at him and shoved her arm out to prevent him from falling into the water. "It's okay, I have these big feet to stop myself" he glanced down at his shoes. They were a size 8 already which he considered quite large for a 13 year old. She hugged him back tightly and he simply chuckled at her as he gently squeezed her before looking back out at the water. He fell backwards so he was looking up at the sky and sighed happily. "This is nice" Much better than camping out of the Common Room. Seriously? He wanted a bed!

Yesh. This was definitely really nice. Now that she had Terry beside her, she was warming up slightly, probably because of his emanating body heat. Or something like that. BLINK. Yeah. Forgetting body heat, Bliss realised that Terry had a really calming effect on her. Normal her head was frantic and crazy, but when he was around, it wasn't. Maybe it was the spring. Hmmm. She eyed the spring carefully.

It was full of secrets. She could tell.

Bliss returned Terry's grin easily and giggled he assured her that he was safely on the bank. She looked down at his feet and laughed. "They aren't thaaaat big," she assured him, looking down at her own tiny size 4 feet. Bliss laiked Terry's hugs, they were nice. Like Blue and Alec's were, she thought. She squeezed him back, before leaning back. Bliss simply watched Terry for a while, while he laid down on the grass and looked up at the sky. "Yeah, it is," Bliss breathed before laying down beside Terry and looked at the..extremely pretty sky. "It's beautiful," Bliss whispered, a smile playing at her lips.

"Some that don't belong I bet," She said with a slight nod. If people were crazy enough to swim in the hot spring, they were probably dropped things into the spring too. At least no one was swimming now though, it was way too cold for that.

Dora DID SO have some interesting ideas, this wasn't her first time out to the spring and she'd observed the place on occasion. "Nothing like a giant squid or average creatures cause it's a hot spring and all. Gotta be something that's capable of living in such temperatures and able to live off the plant life under there, assuming there is some. I don't remember seeing this last year, so maybe the new groundskeeper added it? If so, he probably added plants and creatures that can live in hot waters, reptiles maybe and insects will do fine." She said thoughtfully, eyes attempting to peer into the water. "Some breeds of Plimplies maybe." If he had access to them.

She shrugged her bag off her shoulders, and let it fall to the ground. "You can sit with me if you don't wanna keep walking around." Bending down, she reached into her bag for that stupid sleeping bag.

Okay, yeah. Taryn was impressed. Ask a Ravenclaw a question and get an answer and THEN SOME. Well, most Ravenclaws. This one sort of reminded her of Aspen.

And she was totally adorable.

Taryn nodded about the groundskeeper adding the hot spring, "Yeah, it wasn't here last year." That made her think of the duck pond that was no longer there anymore. She missed it. Though perhaps it was GOOD that it wasnt there anymore. Taryn decided to think on plimplies. "Plimplies are soooo cute. I wouldn't much mind if they were in there." She glanced at the water again, "Though I'm still not going in." She laughed and stepped back as the girl pulled something out of her bag. "Is that one from the Great Hall?" She didn't mind. She'd sit with the girl since she'd offered, it was almost like having a little sister.

Taylor strolled to the Hot Springs. She sat down on a nearby bench, after brushing it off. She swung her feet and went into a deep thought. Tay had tears appear in her eyes that started to run down her face. Taylor was miserable and she finally let it show. She felt like all of her friends were gone since she had been pushing them away. Tay stood up and started to sway to a song that she had been unconciously been singing. It was a slow sorrowful song. It had been awhile since she had danced. The dance started off simple but then slowly got more difficult as she went along. The song seem to be coming from everywhere and anywhere since she didnt realize she had been singing it. Everything reflected the conflict that she had been feeling as well as the depression that she was trying to get rid of.

Minerva decided to venture out in the cold. She had been in a great mood lately and felt like just taking a walk. Looking at her bracelet she wasn't really paying attention to who was around. As she walked she thought she heard some singing and looked up. Who was singing and then she saw someone dancing. Was that Taylor, she thought it looked like Taylor, but this person looked so sad, not a Taylor thing at all. Frowning she walked towards the girl..

"Hey Taylor, what's going on? You seem pretty upset, something I can do to help?" She walked over and sat on a bench near where Taylor had been dancing. It was cold, so she got up and pulled her throw from her bag and placed it down to keep her warm.

Taylor automatically stopped dancing and singing when she heard her name. She blinked and looked at her friend. "Hey Minerva... oh I... I feel like I am losing my best friend... my brother... Max." The tears on her cheek dried and she glanced down. "I started dating someone he doesnt like and he seems really mad at me..." Tay rubbed her arms, "Along with fighting with Damon and everything else... I guess it just got me a little... or maybe a lot... i dont know.... but it has be down..." Taylor sat down next to her and begun to swing her legs. Tay looked down at her feet.

Minerva looked at her for a few seconds. Loosing Max.. She never thought those words would ever be spoken. "Oh Taylor, your not loosing Max, you could never loose your own family." She smiled, knowing that wasn't the case she had lost three of her own family, but that was different. Maxwell was here at school, he wasn't going anywhere. Then she smiled, "Oh your dating someone, who? You have to tell me details." She was excited for her friend, wow Damon.. now Taylor. This was turning out great. All her friends were finding people, which meant maybe they could all come back together as friends.

Minerva frowned when she said she was fighting with Damon, "Still, even now that he is back with Ariana?" She had hoped they would figure out a way to just start getting along. She needed her friends to start getting along. She was tired off all the avoidance and fighting that had went on this term.

Taylor sighed, "He seems really mad... like he would refuse to talk to me." She frowned and tears started to fall faster until she asked for details. Tay looked at him, "Brodie Livingston..." Taylor smiled, "He is really sweet." Taylor laughed until she mentioned Damon and Ariana, "Wait... they are dating again?" She clearly didnt hear about that. "Hmmm he didnt tell me that as he comforted me... but then again how would it come up in a conversation that i threw up on him..." Tay thought about how she felt about it and realized that she was actually happy for them both.

Minerva felt bad seeing her so upset and put her arm around Taylor. "Maxwell is just trying to look out for you. He wants what's best and you know when he gets something in his head that he doesn't like, it's hard to change his mind." Maxwell was a very stubborn boy and he could be very hard headed at times. Oh Brodie, she had heard that name before. "Where did you meet him at Taylor? What's he like?" She wanted to know everything about this boy, so that she could figure out why Maxwell didn't like him. There had to be a reason...

Minerva then shrugged, "Well it just happened like the other day, so you might not have seen him since it did." She didn't want to be the one telling people, if for some odd reason they didn't want everyone to know.Then she looked at Taylor kind of oddly, "You threw up on him? What happened that you would do that?" SHe knew they had there ups and downs, but she would never see Taylor throwing up on anyone.

Tay sighed, "Yeah... I guess he is..." She laughed, "I met him in a teen dance club last year... Lori and I wanted to go dancing and he came over to me and started to chat me up... We became friends and I was still dating Damon at the time..." She smiled, "He is really sweet and has a Scottish accent. He is homeschool but he wants to go to Hogwarts... he isnt rich but actually a little poor." She twisted a curl around her finger, "I was sick and he was comforting me and it was an accident..." She sighed and looked like she was gonna start crying again.

Minerva looked at her a little strange.. "Dance Club.. I have never went to a dance club before, are they fun?" Wait that wasn't the point was it, "Well he seems nice, but why doesn't Max like him? Has he even given him a chance?" Then Minerva thought she understood when Taylor said about he wasn't well off. Maxwell was probably just worried, because their family had plenty of money and that could be a scary thing to have a stranger you didn't really trust. Then she said she met him while still with Damon, was this another dating, but liking situation for her. The thought of Maxwell and Damon came forward in her brain. "Well it's nice your dating now, if you like him."

Minerva then chuckled at the thought of Taylor puking on Damon, "Oh I bet Damon didn't mind, he knew you were sick, I wouldn't worry about it." She tried to be reassuring, "So are you two able to be around each other without fighting yet?"She wondered if their friendship had gotten better.

Taylor nodded, "Yeah, they are fun." She smiled then grimaced, "He thinks that Brodie poisoned me, causing me to break-up with Damon but Brodie's ex-girlfriend was the one who did." She sighed and nodded, "Yeah... I started to like close to winter vacation this year." She aughed, "Yeah, he probably didnt because he is nice like that." Tay shrugged, "Havent spent much time with him so dont know exactly..." Taylor shifted her weight, awkwardly.

Minerva thought for a few moments, "Maybe we should go sometime, I think we could have a blast." Yes, Taylor had been wanting a girls night that would be a perfect one. She wondered if Ariana would go with them to a place like that or not. She hoped so. She then looked at Taylor as a few things fell into place, "So if no one would have poisoned you, you wouldn't have broken up with Damon?" She knew it didn't matter now he was with Ari and she had moved on as well, but still things might be less awkward if that didn't happen. Then the other thing that hit her, "Is this the person Maxwell was upset about, because of the tree accident earlier this term?" Why would Taylor date someone like him she thought, but if it wasn't him then Minerva guessed it was okay. She would have to meet this guy and see for herself how he was.

Minerva then frowned so it was still awkward between her friends, this wasn't good. How was she going to fix this, could she fix it. "Well now that you both are dating other people things can get less uncomfortable." She smiled at Taylor hoping things could start going back to normal with her friends.

Tay laughed, "Yeah maybe we can someday..." She never had thought that Min would like it but who knew... "Eh, we would have broken up anyways probably. I mean we are teens so anything could have happened." Taylor shrugged, "I dont know... I mean the tree thing was me being angry and depressed." Tay laughed, "I hope so because I miss him as a friend..." Sorrow was in her eyes as she thought about what they had been like while Max and her had dated... they were close and were possibly best friends... seems so long ago.

Minerva smiled at Taylor's shocked looked. Why would she be shocked that Min wanted to go to a dance place, was something wrong with these teen places. She didn't know what they were actually like, but she liked to dance. "Do you not think I would like them?" She asked by the way Taylor looked at her. Then she thought of what Taylor said and had to agree with her, "Your right the poison or whatever might not have made a difference, I guess I just miss us all hanging out and being able to have fun together." She was being honest, she hated the tension."I still feel bad about the tree thing, if it wasn't for my dumb game, you might not have been hurt." She still felt a bit bad about that. She was the one that always played chicken with that tree, not Taylor.