Laura just stared into space, seriously couldn't this annoying, little girl, who always acted like she was 10 leave and let her get on with being upset, "Ha ha ha." Laura said finally deciding to acknowledge Hannah, even though she didn't want to. "It's got nothing to do with you." Laura sighed, she would normally have a good come back there but she was just to sad.

Laura sighed, she was going to fail everything and she was so upset about a few fights she had gotten into with her friends and well there were a few other problems but Hannah wasn't one of them, she didn't care what Hannah did, she had bigger problems at the minute.

Finally!!! The girl actually spoke to her... not to some random object that she may or may not even be staring at. She was hoping for more than just a laugh, a sarcastic laugh at that. It had nothing to do with her huh? Well, Hannah figured that much because it was no secret that the two of them were not friends.

The girl just looked pitiful. Hannah had no intention of going anywhere especially if her very presence was annoying Laura, and Hannah was pretty sure that it was. She was good at that sort of thing. Hannah reached into her bag and pulled out a quilt and laid it on the ground. This made of her think of her best friend Elliot. Elliot always carried around tea with her. She missed her friend, but now what not the time to get all sentimental.

Hannah plopped down on the quilt because there was no way that she was going to get herself dirty. "Why are you so pathetic, Hyde?" What could be so horrible in her life that she looked like that?

Laura just stared at Hannah, "Oh stay if you want, it will be fun having someone with me." Laura gave a small smile before going back to being sad, she really didn't want anyone with her but well if she made it look like she wanted Hannah surely she would go because she always did the opposite of what you asked her to do, that was just Hannah and Laura was used to it.

"It's well." Laura was wondering why Hannah wanted to know. "Well I've realised this term I'm doing my OWLS and instead of studying and paying attention I've been doing pranks and well I think some of my friends didn't like it and I think that is why a guy I liked left Hogwarts, were now in a long distance relationship, but he's been hanging out with another girl lately." Laura sighed and no she wasn't showing Hannah the letter, she would just laugh.

It would be fun if Hannah stayed? What the... wait a minute. Was Laura using reverse psychology on her? That sounded like something that Hannah would say sarcastically to the girl. Oh, Hannah could play this game. She could play this game well. "Oh yes, I am loads of fun!" Now she was stuck with her. Hannah didn't have any intentions of going anywhere. She still knew that deep down she had to be bothering Laura and that made her evil little heart swell!

Bloody hell, the hufflepuff was actually telling her about her problems? That was the last thing that she had expected. O.W.L.S? Well, actually Hannah could relate to that. "It's no big deal. I haven't even been to most of my classes this year." She knew that the O.W.L.S were indeed a big dealm but Hannah had royally screwed herself on that and she knew it. There was no use crying over spilled milk.

Then the subject changed drastically. Boys. "You actually got somebody to go out with you?" Her natural rudeness coming back. Hannah had a hard time believing that. Who would want to go out with that?

Laura looked at Hannah, great she wasn't going anyway well never mind, she took out a can of orange tango from her bag and handed it to Hannah. "There we go Hannah." Laura then took one out for herself and opened it before drinking a bit of it, see she could be nice if she wanted too be.

Laura just stared into space for a couple of seconds before replying. "Yeah maybe you are right." Laura was going to try and do her best and actually get a good grade but if she didn't she knew she had done her best.

Laura had to restrain herself from hitting Hannah after the last bit, but well she managed and to everyone else she had just stayed calm it was on the inside that she had wanted to do that. "Yes I have, have you?" Laura asked truthfully, knowing that she probably hadn't. "Anyway he's been hanging out with another girl loads and I don't know what to do." Laura went back to staring into space.

Harland hummed to himself happily as he walked, looking up at the sky. Okay, maybe that wasn't a great idea, with water ahead and all. Realising that, he looked ahead again, just in time, too. That was a really close one... He wanted to go swimming, but he didn't want to fall in. Besides, he just wanted to relax first, enjoy the sunshine. There was hardly any of that in Belfast, so he had to make this last bit of sunshine last, right? Especially if they were nearing the end of the year...

He sat down on the grass and began to hum, pulling bits of grass up and twirling them around his finger in an attempt to make a grass ring as he'd seen his mother do when he was younger. She had probably used magic, but there was no harm in trying, right? And so he continued, smiling to himself.

Hannah watched as the girl took out something from her bag, and she actually offered it to her! Was this a trick? The girls were not friends. This seemed fishy, very fishy. She took the drink from the girl and eyed it suspiciously. "What is this exactly?" She wondered out loud. A simple thank you would have probably done better, but Hannah was one for being nice. "It's just that I'm not accustomed to muggle drinks." Was that better? She waited for the girl to respond before she took a drink.

Maybe she was right? Of course she was right. Maybe the girl had forgotten who she was talking to? "I really wouldn't stress." There wasn't much that could be done now anyways. You might as well just roll with the punches.

She knew that she had managed to get under the girls skin. How Laura could keep everything under control was impressive. Of course Hannah would never tell her that. If the roles were reversed the girl would be wearing her drink. Did she have a boyfriend? "No, I haven't ever had a boyfriend, and I don't want one!! She was sure that the girl was trying to make a dig at her. Still, she could tell that the girl was going out of her way to be nice. She actually had an urge to talk to her, and to find out what was wrong. She took a deep breath and looked at the girl. "Ok, lets start from the beginning. Tell me everything." She was serious. She was going to give the girl a shot. What could it possibly hurt? Don't make me regret this, she thought to herself!

Laura smiled at Hannah. "it a nice drink." Laura drank some of her drink, "Just whatever you do don't shake it." Laura was hoping that Hannah listened to her because if she didn't she would get a bit sticky. "We'll just have to see what happens with our Owls." Laura smiled.

"Oh well it's nothing much really, I started dating this boy last year and then he surprised me by saying he was moving to America and now he's spending a lot of time with this other girl." Laura sighed, things were getting really bad now, why was Hannah asking all this, so she could laugh at her.

Summer was arriving. As the winter thawed into spring, Sarah's desire to go for a swim increased. She was due for one, after all. She walked down to the swimming area carrying her satche of course. Upon arrival at the pool she dipped her foot in to check the temperature. It was not freezing, so she could manage it.

She then began to take off her outer layers and soon she was standing at the side of the pool in her swimming costume. She took out her hair tie and began to unbraid her hair. If she went into the water with her hair in braids, it would be knotty. Or at least that was what Sarah thought. She got out her goggles from her bag and affixed them to her face instead of her glasses.

Sarah could not no longer delay her getting into the pool and she walked over to edge and jumped in. She felt the coldness of the water embrace her before she bobbed up again to shake out her long brown hair. There was no time for freestyle now, she wanted to fit in some laps. It was part of getting fit for DADA. Swimming was excercise. She swam over to the one end of the pool and began with her laps.

So out of shape, it took five laps until Sarah’s energy gave no room for more. Yet Sarah was a fighter and she swam on, ignoring the cramp in her side. She had to push herself, as only by doing so would she be better.

Benjy was staring and Garrick was laughing... and also pulling his wand from its holster and sending a small wave at his cousin. Hehe.

And ew. Benjy's hair looked terrible wet. Not at all like his own which looked awesome all the time. No matter the occasion. Yep, yep. Not waiting to see if the wave smashed into the other boy, G dove under the water and swam out a bit further. Heh.

Then he had a thought...

They should just use the bubble head charm and like... go exploring the lake and stuff. That could be cool. Maybe they could catch a glimpse of Bartholomew.

Dylan made his way to the swimming docks, dressed out and ready to swim. He was still covered in sweat from lifting weights with Clement a few hours ago...but that didn't matter. He wasn't going to shower just to have to turn around and shower again after swimming...because he fully intended to swim...So, yea.

He'd even brought a Frisbee along...in case he met up with some people and they wanted to play...or something...That could be cool.

Laying his bag of stuff on the dock, Dylan removed his shirt, leaving just his swimming trunks...and cleanly dived in. It was clearly only something a graceful male could accomplish...like he was. The water felt AMAZING against his sweaty skin...and Dylan just took several moments to appreciate the sensation. It was so much better than sweating his face off...

Ronnie walked down to the swimming dock, not quite sure why she was even down there. Perhaps she'd be happier cooped up in the dorm reading a book... but she had decided to come out and get a bit of fresh air and found herself here at the dock. Where not many people were. Sighing, she stared blankly at the water. It was gorgeous out today, yet, she just wasn't in the mood for swimming. For some reason she was unaware of, lately she was just feeling really down and depressed. She wished she could figure out why.

She noticed a boy sitting on the grass, playing with it. Looking more closely at him, she recognized him as the boy from the common room when the dementors attacked. She slowly walked up and sat next to him. "Hi there," she said, looking at him. Now that she thought of it, she hadn't really seen him around Hogwarts before. Ever. And he looked around her age...hmm. Maybe he was a new student? Because she knew every Gryffindor face here!

He needed to be in the cold water RIGHT now because it was too hot to be anywhere else. This was the one thing he hated about the summer creeping up- he heat. It came like a wave that he couldn't handle and so cold water was much appreciated.

Snagging a pair of swim shorts, the fourth year jogged out to the lake to go for a swim. Nice and quiet. Something that he needed desperately right now, what with the dementor attacks and the ice cream stupidity. To be honest, his first year here had NOT been what he was expecting. This place was a looney bin and sometimes some one-on-one time without any distractions was appreciated.

So anyway, once he got down to the beach he tossed away his towel and his shoes and dove straight into the water. Say whatever you want about the air, but land and water were nice. A good swim just made him zen, yeah? Smirk.

ANYWAY, once he was in the boy started to swim toward the docks. He had forgotten to take his shirt off and would leave it out there to dry. Didn't need to be going back up to the castle sopping wet. That would get him some raised eyebrows and since he had already done that ONCE recently......ahem....

OH LOOK, Captain. Sup, Captain?

Oh, Stark was in the house...Dylan gave the appropriate bro!nod before ducking down into the water, again. It felt so GOOD...to be swimming....and not pouring sweat...and getting embarrassed about busting his tail up in the Room of Requirement. Hopefully Clement would've give his secret away about being not really being a cool, suave Slytherin....Obviously Dylan could be those things....but they failed him at times...

Since no one was really around, he decided to take the time and actually just swim around...He'd hoped to do some frisbee'ing...but that didn't look like a reality today. Maybe some other time, though...before he graduated...

Nod, nod.

Dunking his head down under the water, Dylan just stayed there....Not breaking...and keeping his eyes shut. He was one of those people who liked to just shut the world out for a moment....So, that's totally what he was doing at the moment.

Ahhhhh.

Complete quiet....

Oakey had spent to much time in the books this morning. He was so preoccupied with NEWTs ,that when he finally put the book down her looked outside and noticed the beautiful weather. So off Oakey went to the Grounds ready for a good dip. Not the Beatrice has tripped me twice in the water kind of dip, but the intentional I want to get wet, and enjoy the water kind of dip.

He took his things down to the Swimming Dock, and set them down just before the the dock started. He took his shirt off and looked out at the water. Bubbles were coming up from one side, and a shark Ascy was coming from the other. "Watch where you swimming Ascy." Oakey called out as he sat on the edge of the dock and put his feet in the water. Yeah this was cold, but not life threatening Bartholomew Henry needs to pull you out of the water cold. Hmm, he was putting a lot of thought into things lately.

Blame the NEWTs.

Anyways, Ascanius heard him right? Oakey finally dropped himself all into the water and paddled out just a bit.

Was that a smile? Hannah was sure that it was. That seemed weird coming from Laura but she was going to roll with it. It's a nice drink? That was all that the girl had to say? That didn't tell her much at all. Maybe the vague answer and the smile all went together? She was being paranoid and she knew it. This puff sitting before her did not have the ability to be mean right now. "Er... ok." Was all that she could mutter and she took a sip. "That's actually pretty good." She said with an almost smile. She knew not to shake it. She was no idiot! "Yes, we will." Yeah, O.W.L.S were important, but it is what it is. She wasn't going to stress herself over something that she could not change!


"What's in America?" she wondered out loud before she could stop herself. There were much more important questions that needed to be asked. "How do you know he is hanging out with another girl?" If he was indeed in America then she couldn't know right? She actually wasn't trying to be smart for once in her life. She was actually curious. Maybe she had missed something? She was good about tuning things out when she didn't think they were necessary.

Kat made her way to the Swimming Dock because... she wanted to be near the water where there is the CERTAIN AIR. So here she was. She had brought along with her a piece of parchment and ink and quill because her Ancient Runes project included writing a SONG. A thank-you song for the tree she chose for her Gandr. In her case, she was supposed to compose a thanksgiving song for a Laurel tree. Two verses to be exact.

So yeah. Scribble scribble.



Baha. What a weird rhyming song, but hey she TRIED okay? First verse done now. Woop. And Kat migrated to a new place because water was splashing at her. GaaAAAh. Don't do that. Not with PARCHMENT on her hand, okay?

Finding a vacant spot on the Swimming Dock and that no one was there, Elise figured that it was the perfect place to write herself and her Rowan tree a song as a thank you. Yep, she was composing. Her mom would be so proud of her. Anyway, pencil to paper, she began scribbling and attempting to rhyme.



One to two verses, right? Right. Now it was back to the tree.

Harland looked up at her, before recognition flashed in his green eyes. She was the girl from the Common Room! The one he thought was going to lose her soul! "Well, hey there!" He grinned at her. "I see you still own your soul, eh? I'm really glad!" He teased, picking the grass up and plaiting it. She had acted in true Gryffindor spirit, though, from what he'd heard. It was pretty brave to go running after something which could leave you in the most horrific state. He shivered at the thought of the Dementors. They would be what he would think Ghosts looked like in Muggle tales...

She laughed at what he said about still having her soul, and blushed slightly. Ronnie did admit she had made a stupid decision that day...perhaps she should have gotten help instead. But something inside of her wanted to go and fight those dementors...ah, well. She wouldn't make that mistake again. Thank Merlin she was still in one piece!

"So, are you new here? Because I don't think I've seen you around," she then said as she joined him in picking the grass. Picking grass. Why was it so fun?! She had no idea... but yeah.