Not all hope was lost, right?

NO. Even if she was terribly wishing Spike was still at Hogwarts, she also wondered how selfish that thought was as she kept on looking at the plants surrounding her.

This was far better than the Castle, and she'll go to the groundskeeper to thank him for keeping the most important part of Hogwarts still intact. The part of Hogwarts she spends most of her time in, actually. The grounds. Plus, the library was still the same, so it was a safe spot. But the whole Common Room and Great Hall incident.

Well, it didn't matter, truth be told, because she'll be seeing Garrick soon, right? Right. BEAM.

She just kept herself busy looking at the leaves of the nearby bush.

Laura decided that she would go for a walk, she was worried about those firstie she had sat on the train with, she wasn't sure if they had an knuts on them but when she next saw them she would find out and if they didn't she would give them some of hers, she had plenty on her.

Laura was so busy walking and thinking that she was actually looking down at her feet and not looking where she was going, for all she knew someone could have been coming the other way or she could have been heading towards somewhere she shouldn't she had no idea of knowing.

Garrick WAS a bit troubled about the state of things at Hogwarts, but he also didn't want to think about that... so with his hands shoved in his pockets, and a smile on his face he headed down to meet Lotus.

It was crazy... he felt like no matter was going on either Benjy or Lotus could make him forget about it. So here he was.

And THERE she was.

His smile widened when he laid eyes on her. It was crazy how his heart did this weird pitter patter thing... and his palms started to sweat. After wiping said palms on his jeans he moved up beside her and took her hand in his before placing a small kiss on her cheek. "Hey Lotus." Did she notice how much he blushed? Heh. "This place is a mad house." Fact. "But it's always so peaceful out here."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

Garrick WAS a bit troubled about the state of things at Hogwarts, but he also didn't want to think about that... so with his hands shoved in his pockets, and a smile on his face he headed down to meet Lotus.

It was crazy... he felt like no matter was going on either Benjy or Lotus could make him forget about it. So here he was.

And THERE she was.

His smile widened when he laid eyes on her. It was crazy how his heart did this weird pitter patter thing... and his palms started to sweat. After wiping said palms on his jeans he moved up beside her and took her hand in his before placing a small kiss on her cheek. "Hey Lotus." Did she notice how much he blushed? Heh. "This place is a mad house." Fact. "But it's always so peaceful out here."

The third year Hogwartian wasn't phased at all by the sound of someone coming, she was far too busy looking at the leaves. Memories of Spike flooding her mind, he was the one who taught her, see. It was all too ironic how she didn't even like Herbology. She should, right?

Either way, her attention shifted once she felt her hand being taken, and the kiss on her cheek. That could only be one person. Hopefully Garrick, otherwise that person was about to be hex out of Hogwarts. But it was him, and her smile simply widened, "Hi."

Oh, Hogwarts? She made a face at the Castle, and might have rolled her eyes a bit, "I'm not particularly fond of the Castle right now," or Hogwarts for that matter, "But I've always loved the grounds," always, from day one.

"We need to walk for a bit, I know which tree I want to climb," because they were still climbing a tree, okay? Her tone was sweet, not demanding at all.

Garrick smiled wider in reaction to Lotus'. It was a thousand wonders that his face didn't ache every night when he went to bed with the amount of smiling he did. But... it was better to be happy than perpetually grumpy, no?

"It is great out here, yeah. I mean... I always like being outside when I can. No matter the weather." Taking off in step beside Lotus he smiled around him. He liked Herbology alright, personally. Plants didn't typically hex you or make you want to say mean things. Which he was not allowed to do. So...

He didn't, for one second, think her tone was demanding and nodded his head. "Lead the way, Miss Lotus Acacia." He would follow that girl anywhere... And that thought alone made him blush. Merlin.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

Garrick smiled wider in reaction to Lotus'. It was a thousand wonders that his face didn't ache every night when he went to bed with the amount of smiling he did. But... it was better to be happy than perpetually grumpy, no?

"It is great out here, yeah. I mean... I always like being outside when I can. No matter the weather." Taking off in step beside Lotus he smiled around him. He liked Herbology alright, personally. Plants didn't typically hex you or make you want to say mean things. Which he was not allowed to do. So...

He didn't, for one second, think her tone was demanding and nodded his head. "Lead the way, Miss Lotus Acacia." He would follow that girl anywhere... And that thought alone made him blush. Merlin.

Yes, she was entirely agreeing with that. And she still needed to go to the lake with Lex as well, she'd rather be around trees than by the water, but the Giant Squid wasn't, so...issues.

However, that thing he said about being outside? That got her to eye him curiously, while blushing at the same time. She was actually wondering if he was real, because he couldn't be, right? Though, most boys liked the outdoors, right? Well, her father did, and so did Ollie...she was almost certain he didn't enjoy the way she did. But...back to Garrick, her hold on his hand tightened a bit, just to prove that she was actually there. It was rather hard to believe, sorry. "Yeah, I know what you mean...," she said, after laughing softly, "...I love being outside, or high up in the sky...," hence why she liked to fly. "Except, perhaps, winter sometimes. My favorite tree looks rather grim during the winter." And winter was coming.

Sad times ahead.

"Of course, Garrick Morpheus," she beamed and nudged him to follow her. Question. "Do you blush often? Or is it just with me?" Fair question, right?

"I don't mind the cold so much, personally. I do like to fly, but quidditch is out of the question as you know." He was still rather cross about that little fact. And well... he wished he could be rebellious and try out anyway, but he would never do anything to upset the elder Ogden's. Ever.

He was too busy looking around to catch her eyeing him or the blush. Although the slight squeeze to his hand made him turn and smile at her. And then her question...

BLUSH!


"Well, I wouldn't say often, but it seems to happen more frequently around you. And what about YOU? I have seen you blush a few times, as well," he said with a light hearted chuckle and a small nudge right back at her.

Text Cut: ^_^

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

"I don't mind the cold so much, personally. I do like to fly, but quidditch is out of the question as you know." He was still rather cross about that little fact. And well... he wished he could be rebellious and try out anyway, but he would never do anything to upset the elder Ogden's. Ever.

He was too busy looking around to catch her eyeing him or the blush. Although the slight squeeze to his hand made him turn and smile at her. And then her question...

BLUSH!


"Well, I wouldn't say often, but it seems to happen more frequently around you. And what about YOU? I have seen you blush a few times, as well," he said with a light hearted chuckle and a small nudge right back at her.

Nod, nod. "Yes, I know," that was probably the first thing she found out about him. That, and the fact that he had the power to render her speechless. That was not too easy to do. It was quite impossible. Very few people could do it, and her father didn't count, so...not so many.

Also, "It's not the cold, it's the leafless tree." A small frown made an appearance. "It's the cherry tree, it looks its best in spring," and even then, it didn't last long.

Haha! Funny.

Not really.

She just beamed. "Well...," she pretended to ponder on her answer while looking to the front as they kept on walking, even if she already knew it, "...only with you, actually." Fact. Or whenever she discussed anything remotely related to him, which was constantly because Lex and Lottie knew a few Ravenclaws, see?

"I wish I could convince them otherwise... or even do something they didn't approve of." But as he had already thought... he could NOT. It was out of the question for so many reasons. SIGHS.

Ah. Garrick nodded and smiled over at her. "You are rather interesting, Miss Lotus." He was pretty much always learning something about her and was typically impressed with her. She was intriguing. Yep. "Why the Cherry Tree?" Not that he thought it was an odd choice, he was merely curious on her reasoning. "I would have to say the Weeping Willow is my favorite tree. They are quite beautiful, aren't they?" The non violent kind of willow anyway...

"Well. That's interesting. We cause one another to blush a lot. I find that... quite alright with me." Yes he did indeed. "Are you okay with that?" He flashed her a smile and then looked back toward the path in front of them.

Text Cut: Lottie's like staaaring, idk why. XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eriin

"I wish I could convince them otherwise... or even do something they didn't approve of." But as he had already thought... he could NOT. It was out of the question for so many reasons. SIGHS.

Ah. Garrick nodded and smiled over at her. "You are rather interesting, Miss Lotus." He was pretty much always learning something about her and was typically impressed with her. She was intriguing. Yep. "Why the Cherry Tree?" Not that he thought it was an odd choice, he was merely curious on her reasoning. "I would have to say the Weeping Willow is my favorite tree. They are quite beautiful, aren't they?" The non violent kind of willow anyway...

"Well. That's interesting. We cause one another to blush a lot. I find that... quite alright with me." Yes he did indeed. "Are you okay with that?" He flashed her a smile and then looked back toward the path in front of them.

Well, you know, she had reasons for not wanting to get involved in any family issues whatsoever, but....no, never mind, she won't comment. Unless he wanted to talk about that, but he's always changed the topic once too much information is given. He even apologized at Diagon for it, so she simply nodded.

Honestly, she couldn't understand that side of him. Mainly because her parents have never told her she couldn't do something. Except the whole deal with the invisibility cloak, but she knew that was entirely silly. Compared to what Garrick had commented, anyway.

Do his parents approve of climbing trees?

Only, she didn't ask or anything because she was laughing next. "You're wrong," VERY and extremely wrong, "I'm interesting, not rather interesting," seriously, we mean that. The laughter, and maybe the smile, subsided a little, why? Because she took her favorite tree rather seriously. Or the reason behind her favoritism, rather, "It may sound weird, but... it makes me look forward to something," she'll explain, because it may be a bit complicated, or simply strange, "I love it in spring, I love it when its full of cherry blossoms," she was definitely smiling now, "But I also love it because it doesn't last long, it gives you a glimpse of this wonderful thing and then vanishes just like that," she snapped her fingers for the sound effect. She also disliked that a lot, because she didn't get to see it for long, but that's what made it special.

It was also nature's way of saying that things cannot be helped.

The way she probably couldn't help disliking Aidan.

Oh. The Weeping Willow? Really? She smiled. "They are, but I like mine better," not really, his choice was a good one, "Why exactly?" He also asked 'why', it was only fair.

Lottie was positively beaming now. "I don't mind that at all." Her eyes remained on him, though.

A walk around the grounds was nice, but sooner or later Lexi realized that she had no idea where she was. She was just walking along the path aimlessly until she quite literally almost ran into someone.

"Ahhhhhh....I'm soooooo sorry I almost ran into you," Lexi said super surprised to the girl she had almost ran into. Fortunately she had sort of tumbled to the side and now she had to keep balance on her unsteady feet the had caught her. Carefully making sure she was sorry she looked at the girl. Hufflepuff! It was a house member. "Hai, I'm Alexia Thorne, Lexi, I believe we are in the same house," she said with a smile as she introduced herself to the girl hoping she wasn't mad at Lexi for almost running into her.

Laura was walking around not paying attention when she heard someone speak. "That's okay Alexia." Laura smiled. "I was thinking about thing so wasn't paying much attention to anything myself." Laura giggled. "I'm Laura Hope Hyde, but my friends call me Laura" Laura was sure she had heard about this girl being sorted into Hufflepuff. "Congrats on being sorted into Hufflepuff." Laura didn't know what else to say so decided to just ask her if she was enjoying herself. "You enjoying your time at Hogwarts so far?"

With a basket hanging on her arm the now second year walked through The Pathways, searching for flowers. She hated it that her Common Room was so dirty and that everything needed to be cleaned, and because of that she wanted to bring some flowers inside the common room, but… She wanted only pink flowers! Pink was her favorite color and Sonea wanted only to have the best for in her common room! But when Sonea had walked this pathway earlier that day she had seen that there were almost no pink flowers and the flowers who were pink were small and they all and all seemed the same! No, Sonea wanted big flowers and in all different forms! But if she wanted to have all those flowers she needed to use magic to discolor the flowers like her maid had done to Little Princess. But, if she was honest she didn’t knew how to do it, she had not paid any attention to her maid when she had used her wand and now she had no idea what to do!

But… she had asked a girl who was a few years older to help her, the girl was also a Slytherin so she knew that she could trust the girl. She would never ask anybody from a other house to help her with this because she only knew a few people from the other houses and the people she knew were not much older than she was and they were probably even worse in using magic than she was!

While Sonea walked to the place where she had promised to meet the girl she picked all the flowers she liked and had put them in her basket, she had already a few pretty flowers but they were still not perfect because they were all not pink but yellow, orange and even a few flowers were purple! *Not that purple was a bad color, it looked a little like pink, but darker…*

When Sonea spotted the girl she had asked to help her she waved happily and immediately shoved a dark lock of hair behind her ear, showing her new pink and heart shaped earrings. She was really proud about her new earrings because she found herself really brave that she had taken them, the shopkeeper was really dangerous with his big needle! She could have died there if he had done his work wrong! *She exaggerated the whole thing because she was so proud of her new earrings.* She wanted to show everyone how pretty they were!

It's a nice day to have some time to enjoy the scenery. Apparently everything around Hogwarts right now is like a business. Everything and anything has an amount. Not that 1 knut is a big complain but imagine yourself going in and out of the room 4 times a day, that's 4 knuts and if that happens a week. Well, let's just say, people should start camping out in the forbidden forest. Plus, the dorm rooms are filthy and has the stink bomb around. Ugh. Juliet cannot stand staying in such a place. That's why she's out here, where she can enjoy a clean place with free air. And besides, she did promise a younger Slytherin to come pick flowers with her. Odd how they were at the pathways and not back at the greenhouse but anyway, Juliet is more excited of bonding with other Slytherins that's all.

She was walking for awhile now that the moment she realizes she's already on the pathways. That was fast. She was quite enjoying the view. Summer break was short but seeing this part of Hogwarts and the last time she was here felt like ages ago. A few minutes later, Sonea came in walking. She waved at her and gave her a friendly smile.

She looked at the younger snake and at her basket as well. "Flower picking isn't my forte" she giggled. "but I'll try my best" and that's a promise. "What's the plan today then?" she is here to help.

Sonea’s smile disappeared for a short moment when the older girl didn’t say anything about her new earrings and stroked her hair behind her ear again and stepped this time closer to the other girl, giving her a few subtitle hints that she had new earrings and that the older girl needed to give her a compliment about it. Sonea stood on purpose in the sunlight so that the sun would let her earring sparkle and she was sure that the other girl would see it! She had that day not only her new earrings but she was wearing her new pink hair Ribbon. also. She had decided that she would wear ribbons in her hair that she had bought…or rather that her maid at home had bought for her…throughout the year

Her smile returned and she looked at the ground if it was clean and without spiders so that she could sit down. But because she was still afraid that there would be insects and spiders in the grass she hadn’t seen she placed her rat Little princess on the ground and ordered her rat to search for spiders and all the other dirty insects. “Kill them” whispered Sonea but her rat who was now strangely too fat didn’t see anything or she was simply too lazy. Sonea sighed and hoped that Little princess had done her job good and that there were no longer insects around her . She sat down and placed the basked next to her in the grass. “No Little princess, I don’t want you to go back in my pocket, you are already too fat so I want you to walk for a few minutes” said Sonea strictly and looked at the older girl.

“You can sit too if you want, and don’t be afraid of the spiders and all the other dirty insects, they are all gone now!” Sonea smiled and took a few flowers she had carried in her basked in her hands. “I have already picked a few flowers, but I want them to be pink, but I don’t know how I need to do it.” Sonea frowned when she looked at the yellow flower she had in her hands and tried to remember how her maid had transformed the color from Little princess from brown to the better color she now had, pink. But she had not paid any attention to what her maid had done and now didn’t know how she could do it for herself.

Autumn breeze and lovely weather. What a nice day.

Guess what? Time for rollerblade!

Christina enjoyed rollerblading very much, it had been like her most favorite thing to do when she was bored or when she didn't have anything to do. Despite of the mess that happened in Hogwarts (which most of the students thought it wasn't common) at least this school still had a nice outdoor spots which was better than her former school, she admitted. And she chose to enjoy it with her rollerblade. Yup! Putting the protective pads on her knee and her elbow, she walked barefoot to the pathways because it would be nice if she started her rollerblading journey from here.

"Knee and elbow pads? Checked. Helmet? Check." She muttered to herself checking her equipment. Christina put on the rollerblade shoes after that and started gliding. "YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!" She screamed happily as she'd never done that after a very long time. Seriously, rollerblading is the best thing to do in the world!

Yes, the outside was definitely better than the inside of the castle. But that was true even when Hogwarts wasn't completely broke. Penelope had always liked the grounds and being outside, possibly because she'd usually spent most of her time outside over the years of her life. Except when it was cold. She didn't at all like when it got really cold, which it probably would be doing within the next few months as winter came. Meh.

Stuck in her thoughts, the fourth year continued to make her way aimlessly down one of the paths, not really paying attention to anything around her...

Nicola was rather enjoying the day, she wasn't lost..yet, she had her brush at the ready in case any sort of mishap were to happen, so what better way to spend her time with the required necessities to get through her day? Anywhere outside the castle! Besides, it was all still too confusing for the redhead to figure out her way around the school. It was still too much for her to figure out! And this frustration would just lead to stress? And you know what happens after you stress? Gray hairs? And you know what happens when disgusting gray hairs ruin her perfect locks? AN UNHAPPY NICOLA THAT'S WHAT!

Speaking of which, she pulled out her brushed and figured why not fix it up a bit while she had a free moment. Without any hesitation she was immediately in her usual calming mantra of running the brush through her hair for perfection. Everything was seeming to be so perfect until before she knew it, BAM!

She had been walked into and lost her footing, unable to catch herself. She let out a loud,"OOOW!" Practically throwing her brush from the impact, she felt like she were falling in slow motion watching her prized possession go up in the air! Luckily though she had been able to prevent her brush from reaching a terrible fall. Unfortunately for the fifteenn year old, her petite derrière hadn't been so lucky! And now it was throbbing in pain!

"UM...Yeah? Mind watching where you're going there.." She looked at the girl,"Walking into people? Not the brightest thing to do..Especially one whose wearing very expensive pants!" She almost wanted to cry, just at the thought that her pants were now ruined!

Wandering... Wondering... Wondering while wandering...

OOF.

Penelope was suddenly knocked back, nearly losing her balance but managing to stay up by stumbling back a few steps and putting her arms out to help maintain her balance. Blink. Blink. What had just happened?

Oh, someone was on the ground. Someone she was pretty sure she hadn't seen before. And apparently she'd run into them...or had THEY run into her? Who really knew?

This girl, apparently, was blaming her for it however.

"Sorry?" Except she wasn't really sure she WAS sorry considering the girl's attitude about it. "You are just as capable of watching where you're going too. You could've walked around me." It wasn't that difficult. And really, her pants and how expensive they were were what this girl was worried about now?

Merlin help her...

Oichi was out of the stuffy castle ready for a break from all the craziness and money issues that lied on the inside. The great outdoors was staying put. They could take away all the special plants and creatures (which thankfully they did'nt yet) but there would still be blue skies and fresh air for miles. She headed out and then took out her parchment explaining her Ancient Runes project. She could not wait to get started since she had so much fun in Ancient Runes. The first instruction ws to choose a type of wood for gladyr. She thought for a moment and ultimately decided on birch. Now she just had to identify the tree.

Melanie hummed to herself, fiddling with the cord that went around her wrist and connected to a polaroid camera. It would be just like last term - taking pictures. Though the inside of the school seemed to have changed loads, the outside didn't seem to change too much. Because out here, the stuff was all like... natural so it was up to nature to take care of the way things looked. The leaves on the trees were going to turn gold, orange and red soon and then they'd all be able to rake the leaves and jump into big piles.

Or not because that would be dirty. The Gryffindor continued to hum and walk, stopping every once in a while when something caught her eye to snap a quick picture of it.

Gliding below the trees effortlessly, Herjenmie's large owl eyes scanned the pathway, gliding over the faces of each student as he flew over them. It didn't take him long to spot the person he was meant to deliver this package to. He hooted and swooped down to place the package on a tree stump, landing beside it.

The Penelope person got intent stares as he waited for her to retrieve the items. And feed him chocolate frogs.

He was obviously deserving of them.

There was no creature in the sky (or on the ground) that could match Waful's level of awesome. Not one of them was carrying a letter and package to a Hogwarts student as imposingly as he. And on time at that. His head was held high, and he didn't even acknowledge the other lowly creatures as he searched for the student he was delivering to.

They were not worthy of his awesome.

He descended gracefully once he spotted the girl, hooting as he placed the package beside her, and landing beside it with ease. His yellow eyes staaaaaaaaared her down as he waited for her to accept the package and treat him.

The girl stopped for a moment to take a picture of a tree. It wasn't a particularly interesting tree, but it was a tree and for some reason, Melanie had been compelled to take a picture of it. The tree wasn't doing anything special and the colors were the same as most of the other trees that lined the pathways. But she supposed that she'd be able to look at the picture and see what made her take a picture of it.

That was when she noticed a white bird flying with a package. Curious, Melanie watched the bird, which she could now see was an owl, lower from the sky and towards the ground.

And it was staring at her.

Melanie blinked at the snowy owl, wondering if the creature would attack her randomly. Giving the bird a small smile, she pulled the photo paper that the camera had decided to spit out and wave it back and forth, waiting for it to develop before putting it in her pocket. "Hi," she said, giving the owl a little wave of her fingers. She hoped the owl didn't bite.

She opened the letter first, reading it through and smiling to herself. Melanie missed Miss Kurumi. She made a mental note to write back to the elder girl later before opening the box. "Do you want something to eat?" Melanie asked the snowy owl, crouching down on the ground and sifting through the contents of the box. What did owls eat? She peeled away the wrapping of a granola bar and held it out for the owl. "Want some of this?" she asked. And by 'this', Melanie did not mean her fingers.