The Whomping Willow
 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...llowSummer.png

Past the greenhouses but before you reach Mr. Firth’s hut, a large tree stands alone and menacing. Planted over a hundred years ago, the Whomping Willow earned its name quickly for good reason—it will whomp you on the head if you’re not careful! This apparently-sentient tree attacks anything that strays within striking distance of its lengthy limbs. So unless you want to spend most of your time with Healer Tillstorm, keep your distance!

It was a great day, beautiful day, the sun was so nice to be outside and Minerva was taking it all in. After doing classes, she ran back to her common room and grabbed Fluffy. Fluffy needed some outside time as well. With the little pygmy puff on her shoulder she almost skipped out of the castle. Trying to figure out where to go, she decided on the Willow.

Bouncing towards the tree Minerva smiled seeing a friend sitting there. Being oblivious at the moment to the world around her she plopped down in the grass next to Taylor giving her a huge smile, "Taylor, whatch doin?" It wasn't until that moment when she noticed that Taylor looked upset. "Hey you alright? What's going on?" Did she miss Damon or did her and Brodie have a fight, Min wasn't sure, but she figured maybe it was one or the other.

Tay almost jumped out of her skin. Her scream was a bit loud and after she saw who it was, her breathing and fear started to go down. "Oh... hey Mins..." Taylor closed her eyes, trying to stop her heart from pounding so hard that it seemed to threaten to come out of her chest. "Dont sneak up to me again... please..." Her eyes reopened as her heart-rate stabilized again. "Eh, I will be fine..." She looked down for a few moments before looking up at her again. "Stuff happened over the summer... and well... I guess... I miss my cousin a little... I aint used to him not being where I am... I am so use to him being by my side that it seems lonely to me... even when I have a friend or two with me." Taylor glanced up at the willow and sighed, "That must have sounded spoiled or weird..." It seemed to be that Minerva thought her and Damon's relationship was terrible so why wouldnt she have thought that about what she just said? "So enough about life... what do you think of having to pay a knut to get into the common rooms? Or is that just the Ravenclaws who have to do it?"She looked at her friend, "Is Hogwarts really that poor?"

Noticing she scared the snot out of Tay, Min couldn't help but giggle a bit. "I'm sorry Taylor, but seriously why so jumpy.. It's not like a dementor is coming to get you." She shook her head and looked at the tree, "Hey how about a good round of chicken with the tree, that might cheer you up." She hadn't played that game in a few terms, which her body probably was thanking her for, but she could handle a few hits from it, maybe get her ready for some bludgers if she made the team.

Then her focused turned to Taylor, stuff happened over the summer, what stuff Min wondered. "You sure your alright? What went on this summer?" She was curious and hoped her friend was alright, she wanted nothing bad to happen to her friends. Then she started about Damon and Min frowned, she missed him too. The common room was so weird without him hanging around. Even though they had been back just a few days it was still very strange, "Yeah I get that, I miss him to and no it's not weird." she chuckled a bit knowing what Taylor was poking at, "The only think I always thought was strange was how you two hung on each other like you were a couple, Taylor I wasn't trying to be mean about it, it was just odd. I don't want people getting the wrong idea about you. Don't you want your friend to be the one honest and let you know, then strangers talking behind your back?" She hoped Taylor would understand.

Frowning a bit, Min rolled her eyes, "Don't forget paying at the great hall as well. It's just so odd. Like what happened to all the money this school has, and all the money that parents give it each year." That was the confusing part about it, she just didn't understand.

"You never know anymore..." She sighed and looked at Minerva, "The summer has me jumpy..." Tay glanced down and fiddled with her golden curls. The sunshine was making the curls shine and glow around her face. Taylor started to braid her curls even though she didnt have a hairband with her at the moment. It was fun to braid hair though so she did it anytime she was feeling emotional. "A lot of people just seems to be popping up out of nowhere." She muttered with another sigh. At the mention of playing chicken with the willow, she looked up at Minerva then to the tree then back at her friend again. "Hmmm... maybe... but only a small game... Brodie might freak out if I get a bruise." Tay giggled, "Though if I am going to get on the qudditich team then he have to get used to it... though I didnt get on it for the first time last year... I hope I get on it this year." Taylor frowned slightly and sighed yet again. "Are ya going to try out this year?" Tay shrugged her shoulders, "Doesnt matter if I am alright or not... I got to deal with it." She shook her head, "Too much and I dont feel like talking about any of it right now..." Tay glanced down, "I just want to forget... and I am hoping if I throw myself into my classes, I can..." Taylor looked at Min, "It isnt werid?" She looked surprised until the next part then a grumble came and she said, "Our family is just touchy... It is how we are raised... We dont consider that other families and cultures dont show affections." Tay gave Min a look, "People were talking behind our backs?" A frown appeared and she sighed, "How delightful..." Taylor muttered, "Guess I am just a stupid half Scot half French." Tay looked away and pulled her knees closer. She looked at Min, "Oh my gosh. I know right? Why the heck do we have to pay to go to places around the castles? Didnt they just have a fundraiser even?" Tay huffed, "If it continues on then how the heck are we suppose to ever go anywhere or have a place to sleep? I mean who the heck can afford to pay constantly?" Tay finally noticed Fluffy and had a small smile to her face. She reached out to pet the puff.

moving things around just a bit...
 

Min flopped over to her stomach laying in the grass and looking up at Taylor, she felt her good mood slipping as she started feeling bad for her friend, why could she never have a moment of happiness, why did it always seem like she was upset or something bad was happening. This just baffled Minerva. "I'm sorry you had a bad summer. That must have been horrible..whatever it was." Oh she didn't want to talk about it, well that was alright, Min would push it. "I understand not wanting to talk, let's think of something else....Like how do you feel having Brodie here now?" Yes that should put a smile on her face, right? Watching Taylor play with her hair Minerva chuckled, "We could always change it to blue again." She tried to think what term that was that Taylor wanted her to change her entire hairstyle, not that Min minded, she did her's all the time. Purple at the moment, but she was feeling a change soon.

She tried to force her eyes to stay into place and not roll. She didn't want to cause a fight with Taylor, not now, with Damon gone the hole thing was just dumb to argue about. "Well most families from all cultures that I have noticed are not that touchy and seem to someone that doesn't know them in a relationship, but it's whatever Tay. No big deal." She gave Taylor a you have to be kidding look, "Well yeah some.. Sometimes Tay you come off like your coming on to Damon and with others at time, I'm not sure you even realize you are being flirty if that's what you want to say it was." But others really did see that at times, they even fought over it a few terms ago.

Watching Fluffly jump over to Taylor and bounce a bit over excitement from being petted, Minerva shrugged, "I think something fishy is going on that the professors aren't saying. Hogwarts does not just go broke over a summer, something had to have happened. She glanced at the grass and played with it in her hands. "I just hope whatever happened it gets fixed quickly, I can't believe they expect students to even carry money on them, let alone enough for everything without warning."

Perking up when Taylor said she would play, Minerva got to her feet. She hadn't done this in a while, she hoped her reflexes were still sharp. "Well from experience that is easier said then done. I felt like I was going to lose it when Ethan was hit last term. Even though I've played, I've broke things with those bludgers, it was still hard to watch. " Oh and Taylor was going out for the team again, "Good Luck, I think I might watch your tryouts since Eliza and Ethan are trying out as well. I think you'll do great Tay, you've been on before." So it should be easy, right.. "Oh yeah.. I'm trying out again, I miss playing, hopefully I can make it." She looked down at her hand, not that anything was wrong with it, just looking, "Actually played a bit over the summer, broke my hand with a dumb bludger, thankfully Ethan's aunt fixed it for me." Looking down she scooped up Fluffy and set the pygmy puff further from the tree. "Now don't you move.." Turning back to the tree and then Taylor, "Haven't done this in a few terms, you ready?"

soft kitty warm kitty little ball of fur...
 

Taylor looked at Minerva and nodded, “Yeah… it was dreadful!” Tay pouted and sighed. ”I always seem to have a terrible summer… It isn’t fair!” Tay stomped her foot a little but her mood quickly brightened at the mention of her amazingly awesomely fantastically sweet kind handsome dreamy cool intelligent wonderful boyfriend. Taylor nodded, “I love it! I would miss him so much if he wasn’t going to be going to school here. I missed him so much last term.” She pouted a little then went back to smiling… well actually she was beaming. The sunshine seemed to be shining directly on her as she stood up and starting to twirl in delight at thinking of her boyfriend. Her braid came apart since she didn’t have anything holding it in place. The curls spread out and twirled with her until she stopped then they fell and went down her back in waves of cascading curls. The golden curls seemed to reflect the sunshine, making Tay seem bright. One single curl didn’t land on her back though. It landed against her cheek and fell in front of her. Taylor giggled and looked at Minerva, “Last term I only got to see him at Hogsmeade or over break and even then half the time he was running to work.” She sighed, ”But now, I get to see him almost every day I want! We can spend hours of uninterrupted time together and just have a talk without worrying about when he or I had to go. I am going to love it!” Talking about Brodie seemed to make her feel weightless. ”Sorry, I must be annoying right now but…” Tay sighed happily, ”I just am in love with him…” Taylor beamed and fell back into the grass, beaming up at the sunny sky. ””Isnt love amazing?” Tay glanced up at Minerva as she mentioned the idea of dying Taylor’s hair blue. She nodded, ”Yeah, maybe… but perhaps instead of all blue, we can do blue streaks? Perhaps it will be house spirited…” She giggled then gestured to Minerva’s purple hair. ”I love your purple hair. Your hair always looked so amazing. I love how frequently you change the colors. It suits your personality. How long has it been purple? How long will it be purple? Have you decided on what color you are doing next?” Tay blushed, ”Sorry for so many questions… I am just interested.”

Taylor tried not to huff when Minerva started talking about Damon. She didn’t want to be lectured or what not. Her good mood started to sour a little and tears came to her eyes at the thought of Damon. Tay glanced at the tree and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breathes before reopening them and looking at Minerva. The tears had vanished and thinking about Brodie brought her smile back… until the flirting part. She looked confused for a moment. Tay never flirted with boys who she wasn’t dating or about to date… at least to her knowledge, that is but apparently it seemed like she did. Taylor tried to push all of this out of her head and she did a slight wave of her hand, hoping that Minerva wouldn’t think of her as being rude since she was trying not to get into a fight by talking about this. Damon made her think of Brodie and her worry about Brodie grew, “Minerva… can you keep an eye on my boyfriend, please? He got sorted into your house and I don’t mean like a spying eye but more of a concerned eye if that makes any sense… I am worried that he wouldn’t be able to sleep in a bed or eat since you have to pay for that…I am giving him a bag of knuts though… to give me a bit of a break from worrying too much for a few days at least.” She glanced down, ”He is stubborn and doesn’t like being helped out financially though…” A sigh came out as she sat up.

Taylor giggled at Fluffy, thinking she was so cute. She sat up and petted her some more, thinking of her own puff. “Your puff is soooo cute!” Tay beamed, ”Next time we meet up, we should both bring our puffs so they can have a play-date while we hang and talk. We can have fun watching them and playing with them!” She looked up from petting the little ball of fur, ”Wouldn’t that be a good idea?” She liked the idea but she did come up with it so maybe it wasn’t that good of one… which was why she asked Mins. Mins would tell her straight up whether or not her idea was good. She went back to watching the little puff for a few more minutes before looking at Minerva again. Tay nodded, ”Yeah. I agree… something is very fishy. I wonder how much they know… Perhaps we should go snooping around to see what we can find.” Again, she looked at Minerva for some knowledge if her idea was good or bad. ”I mean how can a school go broke if the only new thing they added were the monkey-taking things? It doesn’t make any sense!” At that, she stood up, ”Yeah, I hope all gets fixed quickly as well. I cant believe it either. I mean they should have warned us or at least our parents!” Tay crossed her arms, ”I wonder what Mother would have to say about this… She probably get mad and yell at them. Mom probably will come here; trying to figure out what the heck is going on here at school… How the heck do they expect us to pay to get into the common rooms and to get into the great hall? I mean do they just think we are made out of money? Do they expect us to be constantly having money on us? If so then they are extremely stupid and need to be replaced!” Tay huffed and stomped her foot lightly, glaring at the castle. Taylor sighed and looked at the tree for a few moments then looked back at Minerva, trying to calm down. She succeeded a little and then plopped back down onto the ground.

Taylor sighed as Minerva stood up. She stood up again herself and brushed off the dirt on her outfit. Tay nodded, ”Yeah, easier said than done…” Taylor smiled, ”Thanks. You might? Nice. Ethan is trying out? I hope we make it both then! I hope you are right… I do want to get back on. I feel so rusty though since I haven’t practice much since I got rejected last term.” Taylor smiled at the thought of Ethan. She loved hanging with him since he was so nice and kind. He had helped her in the library and he was dating her good friend. ”How long have you been dating him again? Is it true that he is a prefect? Ethan would make an amazing prefect. He was perfect for the job! She made a mental note to hang out with him soon. Tay loved that they were in the same house though she wished he could trade houses with Brodie so that both Tay and Min will have their boyfriends in the same house… though that would probably get annoying after a while now that she thought about it. Taylor looked at Min, “Oh you are trying out? Well, you will, obviously, make the time since you are simply amazing.” Yep, yep! Min was amazing at whatever she does. Tay flinched at the story, ”Ouch! I hate bludgers… They are purely evil…” She had been hit too many times by them, ”That is good that his aunt healed your hand though.” Tay smiled a little at her friend. Taylor smiled down at the puff then looked at her friend and nodded. ”Yeah… haven’t played in ages.” Taylor paused, ”Are ya ready though?”

Minerva hated hearing that Taylor had a horrible summer, especially when her own summer was just amazing. She loved every minute of summer and felt that everyone should get to have a summer just as awesome. Feeling a little bit of hope when she heard Taylor talk about Brodie, Min smiled, “Well I’m glad he at least makes things a little better.” Then Min got the shock of the day when the sudden Taylor’s entire mood switched from horrible to fantastic and she had to laugh at her friend. Wow she did have it bad didn’t she. She watched as Taylor went into a ramble of feelings and couldn’t help but smile and laugh, because she knew exactly how Taylor felt. She was feeling the same way about Ethan, but she would know all too well next year how she felt with Brodie not around. That part made her frown a bit. Shaking her head, “No.. No your not annoying, I’m just happy to see you so happy. It’s great Taylor.”


Then it was time for Min to really perk up.. changing hair, “Blue streaks would be awesome.. I could so do that!” Minerva pulled her own hair around to look at the purple locks, ”Thanks I enjoy it this color, it’s actually been like this is some time now. “ She thought about her next question and shrugging reaching into her bag, “How about until now?” She reached up tapping her own head “Ristaris” Min’s hair turned from purple to a brighter pink. Not usually a typical color, but she wanted to try something, giving Taylor a grin, “I also was thinking about doing this…ristaris” This time she tapped near her eyes and her baby blue eye color turned to a pink that matched her hair. Looking at Taylor she wondered, “Well what do you think?” Chuckling a bit Min didn’t mind the questions at all, “Taylor why would you apologize for asking me questions. Don’t worry about it.”


When the topic went back to Brodie and the money situation Min looked at Taylor, “Yeah I can watch out for him. If he ever needs anything he can find me in the common room, let him know that. I haven’t seen him since the train though. Did he sit with you at the feast?” She got the notion that he didn’t have much money, which she understood that very well, but was that the issue Damon and Maxwell had with him. She tried to remember and thought it most likely had to be. “Yeah I just don’t’ understand how they didn’t send owls about this before school started and expected students to have money with them. We have never paid for anything before.” Shrugging she didn’t know if snooping would get them anywhere except detention and Min was not going to end up there. “Well I think if we ask to many questions if we are really not suppose to know, then we could probably get into some trouble, but a housemate and I thought about trying to find the Elf that stayed and ask him or her what was going on.”


What a great idea Min thought as she watched Taylor play with the puff, “I think Fluffy would love a play date. She misses Grim and Pixie. I caught her going up to the boys dorm looking for them this morning. I have to keep telling her Damon’s gone, which means so is his pets, but she just keeps hoping I think. So getting her together with a friend would make her one happy fluff ball.” A smile crossed Min’s face as Ethan was brought up.. One of her favorite topics of course, “ Yeah he is trying out again, he is an amazing chaser. I just get so nervous watching with the bludgers.” but she was trying to get over it.. All part of the game. “Oh we have been together a year and a half now. We started dating Valentine’s Day of fourth term.” Well her fourth term at least. Smiling she nodded before finished her conversation and headed closer to the tree. Smirking knowing it new she was there she saw the branch come flying towards her and she jumped, “Just like old times..” She chuckled as the branch came for round two. “Anyway, yes he is a Prefect, I think he is going to be a wonderful prefect.” There was no hiding how proud she was of her boyfriend and how wonderful she thought he was. Shaking her head she got distracted, “No.. no.. I’m not amazing, especially at quidditch, I have a lot of work ahead of me and really need to practice a little more before tryouts, but I really do hope to make it this term.” That was one of her goals for the term.

For Dani :)
 

Brooklyn took a moment to stretch languorously before settling onto the ground a safe distance away from the slightly (okay, completely) terrifying tree in front of her with her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms around her legs. She toyed with the hairband around her wrist absentmindedly as she waited for her friend to show up.

This early in the school year it was easy to pretend that they were still out of school, but studying still nagged the back of Brooklyn's mind. It was a possibility that she had ignored her textbooks in favor of being here.

But she wouldn't tell her professors that.

ALRIGHT!!!!

There always had to be at least one trip to the Whomping Willow a year. No questions asked. It just had to happen! It was the most epic tree she'd ever been attacked by and she liked the half dead thing...even if it had a temper that sucked.

Plus this was a double dose of awesome because she was meeting up with Brooke!! It was always good to catch Ravenclaws while the term was still new, you know, before they locked up and decided to bond with their textbooks. A horrid habit really and she never did see the appeal.

As she approached the tree she saw the girl was already there!! WOOT. "Hey!" She said with a wide grin before plopping down next to her. "Don't you just love this tree?" She DID.

Brooklyn returned the other girl's smile and laughed. "Definitely. I wish there was a tree like this back home. I would throw my sister at it when she got annoying." She paused, tilting her head. "Actually, I couldn't do that to an innocent tree."

She watched the trees branches swing around (from the breeze or actual movement on the tree's part, she didn't know). "You looking forward to another [i]fun[i/] year at Hogwarts? I don't know if I want another vicious plant to show up or not, but it better at least not be boring."

When Brooklyn got bored, thinks got broken. It was a sad, but true, fact of life. One that not many people enjoyed, but she figured that it was their fault anyway for not keeping her entertained.

"That'd be brilliant!" Lex said, laughing so hard now that she almost fell. It wasn't supposed to be so funny but she could relate to it!! If she had the whomping willow at home she'd throw both her step-mum and the baby at it. "You don't think it has like...seeds or something, do you? We could totally plant our own!!" And now she was getting ideas. Thanks Brooke.

As for that question she gave a nod. "I wasn't really sure at first because this term started out terribly but I think I am." Then a sheepish smile spread across her face. She gave the girl a nudge. "You have to admit. It was kinda epic, sleeping down in the Great Hall with all the other houses, hearing that Mr. Professor Runes Guy got eaten." The works!!

It probably wasn't good to be so nonchalant about it but well...she couldn't understand a thing the man said when he taught so it was no real lost...to her anyway.

"You ever think the tree understands what people say around it?" It was a curious thought.

Taylor nodded and beamed. She thought about her handsome and wonderful boyfriend. Tay looked at Min, ”Yeah. I am so lucky to have such an amazing boyfriend. Brodie really does make my life wonderful. He treats me better than any other boy I have been with… He aint as jealous as Maxwell got. He isn’t overly protective like Damon is… He is just perfect.” Taylor sighed happily. ”He treats me like I am a princess or even a goddess.” Tay blushed, ”He might not spoil me with money and expensive things especially since his family can hardly get by but he spoils me in love and happiness. He tries to do small things to brighten my day.” She sighed happily and started to sway at the thought of being in his arms soon. ”I know I must sound silly but I love him. Yeah, I am young… maybe even too young to think that but he just gets the real me… He might have used me for my money the first time we dated but he learnt from his mistake and made up for it. I feel so loved just by being around him. We don’t even need to talk when we are together… Just being close to him helps brighten my day despite what happened during it.” Taylor giggled and started to dance around Minerva, ”I love feeling this way. It is absolutely wonderful!” Tay laughed and spun then stopped dancing. She glanced at Minerva for a few silent seconds before screaming in joy. She started to dance even more then and wasn’t looking at where she was going. Taylor stumbled and fell down onto the ground. She looked up at Minerva as she felt like she was spinning out of control just lying there. Tay giggled and sat up as the spinning ended. ”Sorry I get so excited when I am talking about him.Het is my favorite topic.” She beamed and stood up again. Taylor ruffled her curls and dusted herself off. ”It is wonderful to feel this happy… I have a horrible family life but being with him makes me forget about it even if it is for a short while.” Her whole aura change when she spoke or thought of Brodie. It was almost as if she was two totally different people… the gloomy Taylor and the hyper in love Taylor. ”I love feeling this way… It calms me down and relaxes me even if I am so stressed that I want to scream, shout, punch or even cry.” Taylor grew silent after she said that though so to try not to ramble even more about Brodie. She didn’t want to annoy Minerva and she felt like if she kept going that she would eventually annoy her friend if she hasn’t already.

She beamed as Minerva said that her idea of blue streaks was awesome. Taylor laughed and looked at her, ”Will you pretty please do it soon for me some day if not today?” Tay ran a hand through her golden curls before admiring Minerva’s purple hair again. ”The purple looks fantastic on you so I can see why you would love it.” Her eyes grew, ”Wait… you kept that color for a long time?” Her face showed her surprise and then when Minerva suddenly changed it to bright pink after asking ‘how about now’ she laughed. ”I should have expected that.” Tay giggled and smiled at her friend, ”You always have been spontaneous like that.” Taylor nodded then watched as Mn’s eyes turned pink to match her hair. She debated the eye color then shrugged. ”They look amazing on you, like everything else but…” Tay paused and considered what she was going to say next and whether or not to say it. Taylor decided to say it. ”But… don’t you think the pink eyes are a bit… I don’t know… overkill? I mean they are the color of your hair and that kind of dulls your eyes since they blend into your hair though it does look pretty and also very cool so I don’t know… It really depends… I guess.” Tay debated while glancing at the hair and the eyes a few more minutes, ”I see pros and cons to it so I cant offer much of an opinion of it that I haven’t said before.” Tay laughed, ”I think I sound too serious while debating it…” Taylor started to giggle and rub her forehead, ”Sorry about that…” She smiled at Minerva and admired her beauty for a few seconds, ”You are naturally pretty though… I am a bit jealous actually.” A light smile played at her lips as she teased her friend. ”But not too much since I have an absolutely amazing boyfriend… though you have a good boyfriend too…” She giggled, ”Oooooooh! What if we go on a double date during a Hogsmeade weekend? That is if we still can go there with all the money saving things…” A frown appeared at the whole money deal.

Tay smiled at Minerva. ”Thanks so much. You don’t know how much that means to me.” Taylor hugged her friend then twirled in happiness. She nodded at what Minerva said, ”Yeah, I will tell him that when I met him by the lake later today.” Tay was beaming again at the thought of Brodie but it wasn’t as bright as earlier since the whole money situation dim down her excitement and happiness. She shook her head, ”No… He didn’t sit with me at the feast.” Taylor pouted, ”I haven’t seen him since the train either.” Tay sighed and glanced away before looking back at Minerva, ”The first time I get to see him is later at the lake so I am super excited!” She started to bounce with excitement. Taylor started to twirl and dance again, like she always did when she is overly excited and happy. When they started to talk about the money thing again, her happiness evaporated and she settled down. ”I know right? I mean they should have the courteous of owling and telling us that we need money for practically every single thing here. I mean how the heck do they expect us just to bring millions of knuts? Some of us cant afford that… I need to owl Mother so that I can get some more but what about people like Brodie? They cant just owl their parents, demanding more money when their parents don’t have much to spare!” Tay huffed and crossed her arms, ”It is ridiculous! How did they expect us to be prepared? I mean you just even said that we never had to do anything like this before!” Tay was, obviously, annoyed and angry at this whole thing. She nodded at what Minerva said. ”Yeah… you are probably right. I didn’t think about that. I don’t really want to get in trouble… especially this early in the term. It might mess up our chances at being on the team though you are probably the only one out of us two to even get on a team. I suck so bad at quidditch” Taylor glanced at Minerva, ”Oh… that is a really good idea…” Tay nodded, ”That probably will work… I mean a house elf cant punish you for asking some questions and you might find out something .” She braided her head a little and sighed, ”Do ya know which one it is though? I mean there seem to be a lot of house elves around here… or at least there were… I haven’t see any yet this year so I don’t know if they did away with them but I doubt they did since it is free labor and don’t cost a thing unlike the professors… Speaking of professors, am I the only one that noticed that the news ones are from the board of governors? I wonder if the old professors got kicked out to save money and the board just got put in place of them so that they can watch over the running of Hogwarts as well as saving money from replacing professors with board members…” Taylor trailed off and glanced off at a distance.

Taylor pulled her mind back when Minerva started talking about the puffs. She beamed as Mins said that it was a great idea. Tay giggled at the story her friend was telling. ”That is hilarious but sad… I loved that she is so intelligent that she knew where they would be if they were here… I feel so bad that she lost her friends at school. People are stupid if they think that pygmy puffs don’t have feelings… This is just proof that they do!” She nodded, ”I hope so! Crystal needs to make new friends. She is so used to roaming around with Damon’s pets since we spent so much time with them so maybe Fluffy and Crystal will hit it off fantastically!” Tay smiled as they switched topics from their puffs to Ethan. ”It would be fun to play with him if we both get on the team. I doubt that Ethan wont get on the team… He is amazing!” Taylor nodded, ”Yeah, he is an awesome chaser.” She chuckled, ”Don’t worry, he will be fine. I mean Ethan is a strong guy who can easily take a hit if need be. He is fast so I doubt that he would get hit by many if at all.” When Minerva started talking about when they started dating, Taylor immediately ‘aww’ed at her. ”You two started to date on Valentine ’s Day? That is soooooooo romantic!” It was obvious that Tay loved all the romantic crap like that. ”A year and a half of dating? That is delightful! I am so happy for you two. You seem made for each other.” She had a huge smile as she thought about Ethan and Minerva being together. She watched as Minvera jumped at the branch and made sure to jump as well so that she wouldn’t get knocked over and bruised up. Tay focused on the tree a little and laughed, ”Yeah… very old times.” Taylor jumped a few more times before replying to Minerva, ”He will make a fine prefect. He is the most qualified of us all to become one… at least of the Ravenclaws I know which isn’t saying much since I don’t even know that many people at this school…” Her eyes widen, ”Oh my gosh… does that make me a loner?!?” She glanced at Mins, ”I mean a loner but not as bad as Damon was when I first met him and introduced him to our group that is…” Tay laughed and looked at the tree, jumping one or two more times. ”You are amazing at quidditch… I don’t know why you are putting yourself down. I mean you are more amazing at it then me, ya know.” Taylor glanced at her friend while still jumping away from the branches, ”Want to practice with me? I need to freshen up my skills… I am super rusty and I feel like if I don’t practice a few times before try-outs, that it wouldn’t matter if I show up to them or not since I wont be able to even be in the average group… I would be like down at the firsties or newbies level which is terrible…” Tay lor sighed a little and looked at her friend.

Brooklyn eyed the tree. "I don't know... But maybe we should find out? Do you think the Herbology professor would get suspicious if we asked?" Now that it had been brought up, planting one in a little pot outside of her room sounded like a good idea. Way better than the tradition "KEEP OUT" sign that no one really paid attention to anyway.

"Yeah," she smirked, and laughed. "I'm not sure how thrilled students are supposed to be when they hear a teacher has gotten eaten, but that was pretty wicked." Okay, so maybe she had been a little too amused. Sue her.

"I... don't know." Then again, this was a tree that could see where people were and take a whack at them. "Anything's possible in a school like this, Alexa. If it could understand, it'd probably be snickering at us, though."

It just looked like the sort of tree to laugh at everyone and then kill them. It had that vicious sort of look about it.

Now THERE was an idea! "Sounds like a plan! We should go see her about it sometime. It'd just be a rather innocent question...sorta, she wouldn't have any reason to not tell us?" Who would suspect two 'hamless' Third Years were up to anything?? Heh.

Lex laughed openly at that. "Probably not meant to be all overly thrilled--and we might not be, who knows, but duuuude he didn't even scream in english!! I didn't know what was wrong with him 'til he was gone." And that was the truth. When she'd first heard him scream she was juuuuust slightly annoyed. The class had been over and he was still speaking things she didn't understand. Pfffft, you think the guy would learn.

Her eyes trailed over to the tree. "Snickering at you maybe...I think it'd be muttering terrible things about me. I don't think it appreciates the rocks I've thrown at it." And this kinda got her snickering.

There was no way she was sorry.

Didn't Quote. Dani/Taylor
 

Minerva felt good to see Taylor so happy. It was about time that she had a happy moment. Minerva was always so worried about her, because it seemed nothing ever made her happy. So this was exciting to see. “I don’t think anyone is as jealous as Maxwell can be.” She had never seen the jealous when they dated, but she had seen it after. Then something she said made Min’s head snap up, “Wait.. come again?” dated before.. after money.. who was this Brodie character. Her happy thoughts began to fade a bit as worry came in. “Tay, I want you to be happy, but that worries me a bit.” She was going to be honest. Shaking her head though it was hard to keep the worry and concern when Taylor was sooooo happy. Minerva laughed watching her, “No. no.. I get it, I really do. Ethan makes me feel the same way.” Yep, she was truly looking at how others saw her when Ethan was on her mind, which was pretty much all the time.

Minerva listened as she talked about the blue streaks. “Did you want them today, that can happen.” She smiled and left her wand out. It would only take a few seconds and it would look awesome. Laughing Minerva shook her head, “Spontaneous, me? Maybe just with my hair.” That was fixable, so it wasn’t as hard to just randomly do it. She eyed Taylor and felt herself blush, “amazing, naturally pretty, jealous? Taylor what are you talking about.. I am not any of those things and there is no reason you should be jealous.” She felt a little awkward, but she wasn’t good at compliments at all. “Tay you’re to sweet, you’re the one that is super pretty.” Oh.. she didn’t like the eyes. Minerva listened and gave just a small smile. So Taylor didn’t like the eye change, no big deal, it wasn’t permanent. “Oh no big deal, just trying the spell out a different way. Anyway, are we doing yours today then?” Change the subject off of her, that seemed like a great plan at the moment. Oh and they were back to Brodie and Ethan.. Good topic.. “A double date sounds great, I’ll run it past Ethan, but I don’t think he’ll mind.” Taylor and Ethan were friends, so it didn’t seem like a big deal.

“Oh you haven’t seen him?” Wow that was interesting, she didn’t think she could go a day without seeing Ethan. No that was hard and horrible over the summer when they had to. “I bet your ready for the lake then, I would be going nuts if I didn’t see Ethan for that many days.” She knew that was pathetic sounding wasn’t it..Min laughed, but not for long when she said about Brodie and money, yeah she got that. Her grandparents really didn’t have much and what they did was muggle American money, not going to help here. “Yes I do feel a warning would have been nice, but what’s done is done and I’m a bit tired of just guessing. I wish they would be honest and say what was going on or suck it up and figure out a better way to run the school.” She was getting tired of the subject, it was pretty depressing to see the school looking like it was and the money thing was just odd more then anything else. She turned, “No I noticed that as well and I actually met the new charms professor. I was wondering why they were professors as well.”

Paying attention to the braches swinging quite quick Minerva chuckled, the tree did not like their little game, but she dodged a few more branches. It really did help with reflexes. “Yes, I agree they are so adorable, but they aren’t stupid either. Fluffy knows what’s going on. She misses her friends. So I can’t wait to get them together.” Stopped and blushed a bit looking at Taylor, “Yes.. it was Valentines Day, after a quidditch match. He is just amazing.” Blushing more Minerva looked at the ground, “I..umm. thanks Taylor, you really think we are made for each other? I.. I hope so, I don’t want to think about ever not being with him.” Then she frowned, ”Next term is going to stin..” She didn’t get to finish the sentences when she was on the ground. Rolling to her back she looked up just in time to see the branch coming down and rolled away just in time. Pushing herself up she rushed far enough from the branches and sat down holding her arm. “Ouch.. That’s going to leave a mark.” That was dumb of her. How could she stop paying attention to that tree.

Hearing Taylor’s voice she looked, Oh did Taylor not see her get hit, well that was probably a good thing. “Practice, yeah sounds good. I’m not sure how good of a chaser I am though, I’m better at beating. Ethan might be able to help you with some pointers though.” She continued to rub her arm that was stinging and just hoped the mark would be to visible.

"Right. Because we're the pictures of innocence." This was only partially sarcastic. Brooklyn was sure Alexa could pull a mean puppy face if she wanted to, and she knew that she could. "You don't think our parents know how to contact the school, do you? That might be an issue. If the school can tell them how to get rid of the tree, anyway."

"Yeah. Honestly, what with all the chattering, I wasn't really paying attention. I figured some Slytherin boy had dropped a spider down some Puff's shirt, or something." Maybe the fact that it hadn't been English should've tipped her off, but... Nah. There wasn't any rule saying she had to pay attention to anything.

Brooklyn rolled her eyes and shook her head with amusement. "You would throw rocks at the Whomping Willow." She paused and pouted. "But next time, bring me. I'm insulted you didn't let me in on the fun!"

"That's the idea. Technically, we don't have that look that says 'I explode things on sight' and I mean...you haven't done anything that's questionable." She couldn't say the same for herself but one out of two wasn't so bad!

Hehehe. "I couldn't even get to think of it that way. His voice was just stuck in my head. Ah well, that's all over and our biggest problem now is that the school's broke!" Which really should have been more depressing than she was making it to sound but for some reason she just couldn't get upset about it. The idea was almost amusing!

"Oh?" She looked over at her. "I had no idea it'd upset you like that." Her lips curled into a smirk. "We're here now, the trees not getting any younger." Her hand reached out and snatched at a rock nearby. She threw it skyward a few times, catching it each time before looking over at her. "I'll even let you go first. It's the least I can do." She said, finally handing the rock over.

Taylor laughed at the comment and nodded to it. ”I know right? He was sooooo jealous of Damon when Damon and I were just friends. I mean I did go to him when my papa died but… I didn’t want to annoy Max with it… I always wanted to make him happy… Speaking of Max, I haven’t seen him since basically the divorce.” Tay pouted, ”I think he is avoiding me.” Tay sighed and crossed her arms. ”He told me that the divorce wouldn’t change the fact that he is my brother and that we would still be close but now… Now it is like we are strangers…” Tears appeared in her eyes at what she just said. ”I miss him but he is never around anymore…”Tay bowed her head and let her curls cover her face as a tear or two fell down her cheeks at the thought of Maxwell. At the ‘come again’, Taylor looked up, ”Well… Brodie and I dated last year after Damon and I broke up but he was apparently using me for money because Rachel… who is his ex-girlfriend… and him were still dating and he cheated on her, with her permission, and started to date me. Apparently he was going to try to marry me then divorce me, getting half of my money or even more then marry her so that he can provide for her, the way she wants to be provided for… but then Brodie said he fell in love with me and he says he really loves me now.” A blush came to her cheeks with a smile, ”He actually cares for me now and he is so sweet.” Tay twirled, ”He tries to make me happy and he succeeds most of the time.” Her lips turned up into a smile and her eyes were starting to have a dreamy look to them, ”He doesn’t want my money anymore… he wants me. He tries to refuse to let me buy him things or spend anything on him though I want to use my money to help him…” A sigh and a pout came for a few seconds before she laughed and started to beam again. She frowned at what Minerva said, ”It worries you?” A sigh came but then she smiled again, ”I guess that is alright… I mean that does show that you care for me and you are such a good friend to me.” Taylor hugged Minerva. ”I am so happy that you get it. It is? Then you are such a lucky girl! It is absolutely wonderful to feel this way, isn’t it?” The dreamy look was back again as she thought about her boyfriend.

Taylor tilted her head and thought about it for a few moments, ”Whichever way you think is best, Mins.” Tay laughed and smiled. She didn’t care if her hair got done now or a week from now. Whatever suited her friend the best is the one she would go with since she wants to make it easier on Minerva. Taylor nodded ”You are spontaneous.” Tay laughed and smiled, ”At least with your hair but I think it is more than the hair.” Her smile brighten at Minerva’s blush, ”But you are, Minerva. You are super pretty inside and out and I am lucky to have you as my friend. You make each day before with your smile.” Tay shook her head, ”I aint pretty or sweet. I am selfish, annoying, average-looking and stuff like that…” Taylor really did think that and she refused to see any other way right now. ”Min, it isn’t that it doesn’t look pretty on you… because it does… I just hate when people change their eye colors…” She laughed, ”I mean each eye color is unique and pretty… I hated it when Damon changed his beautiful emerald eyes to drabby brown. The eyes don’t seem to have emotion to them if they change the colors…” Taylor blushed, ”I must sound stupid… thinking that eyes have emotion… I mean I heard that they change shades with each emotion but…” A blush came and she hide her face again in her curls. Tay looked at her, ”Up to you… I don’t care either way.” Taylor looked up and beamed, ”It does? Okay! I will ask Brodie if he wants to but I am sure he wouldn’t mind either.” Brodie usually agreed to do whatever Taylor suggested since he didn’t seem to mind what they do as long as they were together.

She nodded and sighed, ”Yeah… I haven’t seen him.” A frown appeared as she started to miss him even more. Taylor smiled and nodded again, ”Yeah, I am sooooo ready to go to the lake and see him. I miss him so much.” A light giggle came out, ”I think I already gone nuts… I haven’t seen him in what seems to be forever.” Tay knew that it hasn’t been forever… it just felt like it though and she was sure that Minerva would understand. Taylor nodded, ”Yeah, what is done is done and there is no changing it. The board are idiots for not thinking of warning us…” She sighed , ”Yeah, I agree, they should tell us what happened or find a better way to run the school than force children to pay to eat and sleep…” Tay laughed, ”At least I aint the only one to notice that… I would have felt silly if I was…” Taylor looked up at Minerva, ”You met the professor? I haven’t yet… I really need to but I haven’t had the time to go around and meet the new professors…” She sighed and played with her gleaming curls.

Tay looked at her friend, ”I know that they aren’t stupid… I agree with you that they are very intelligent…” She nodded, ”I feel bad for them and I cant wait until they both can see their friends again.” Taylor laughed and smiled, ”That sounds so romantic!” She sighed in happiness, ”I am so happy that he makes you this happy!” Taylor hugged her friend. Her eyes grew when Minerva got hit, ”Are you okay?” Tay knelt down next to her and looked worried. She hated when her friends got her. Taylor started to feel like it was her fault and it showed clearly on her face despite her trying to hide it. She nodded, ”Eh, we can all three practice… I aint sure what Brodie thinks about quidditch so I don’t know if he would want to help or even watch.” She laughed and held her hand out to help Minerva up. ”Will ya be okay, Mins?”

"Only as far as you know." Brooklyn responded. Really, it depended on your definition of "questionable".

She sighed and leaned back on her elbows. "I'm just sad that the food is so horrible. Have you tasted the potatoes recently? Worst things EVER." Or maybe the worst was the steak? Or the beans? Or, just maybe, EVERYTHING? Okay, so maybe she liked her food a bit much. But seriously. Compared to the standard Hogwarts fare, this new stuff was horrendous. "I almost feel bad..." The headmaster must be tearing his hair out trying to make everything work.

Brooke smirked, taking the rock. "How kind of you. I always knew you'd be one of the nice girls." She rolled the rock over in her palm, eyeing the irate tree. "Got any suggestions for where to aim?"

Lex's eyes widened a little, clearly amused by her friend's statement. She raised a questioning eyebrow at the girl, trying not to make the smirk all that noticeable. "Don't tell me I've missed possibly some of the most epic moments of your life. Do fill me in." This was interesting stuff!

Also "Just the potatoes?" She probably should even get started because there was no changing it but Merlin! "The bread isn't even bread anymore and I think I found a rock or I don't even know what in my pumpkin juice!" How were they meant to survive on food that tasted like this?? "But you know, it's not all bad. Have you had the ice-cream down in the kitchen? That's worth eating. I have some almost everyday if I can." So long as she could bother walking all the way down to the kitchen and paying 1 knut to get back to her Common Room.

"Feel bad? I think the Headmistress could have given us some heads up." The least the woman could have done was warn them that they'd need extra money. Her candy money was NOT to be wasted.

Heh. One of the good girls. Good one. "Nothing that has an angle on you, otherwise you'll get that rock slapped right back at your forehead. Bloody thing's done that to me before." Yeah, tree, she remembered.

She wasn’t impressed when the topic became Maxwell. She wanted to tell Taylor she was better off without him around. He had become such a jerk since he was with Elliot . “I hope I never see that jerk again. You do know we got into a huge fight last term after he kissed me, right?” She wasn’t sure if Taylor knew that or not. “Unless your Elliot, he probably won’t be spending much time with you. He’s changed so much from the Maxwell I met end of second term.” She knew she changed a bit, but not as drastic and mean as him.

Minerva listened as she talked about the Brodie story, why didn’t she hear about this before now and why on earth would she trust this guy now. “So you’re telling me a fifteen year old was already thinking about marriage and divorce?” That just seemed on to Minerva, even she hadn’t thought about that kind of stuff.. well not too much at least. Min just wasn’t sure about this guy, “Well if your sure, but Taylor take it slow with him. If he already pulled that once, I would keep even just a small guard up.” It wasn’t that she was trying to cause problems, she just didn’t know this guy and wanted to protect her friend. Smiling and hugging Taylor back, “I like seeing you this happy though.” She really did like seeing it.

Pulling her wand once more she tapped Taylor’s head, ““Ristaris” The blue streaks jumped out on Taylors blonde curls. “Oh I like it, it looks super cute.” She really did and thought maybe for a claw game she might do the same. She then shrugged about the spontaneous part, she didn’t think she was, but okay if Taylor said so. Then she felt herself blushing as Taylor was going on about her looks and smile and being nice. She had never been good with compliments. “Oh..umm thanks Taylor. You are all of that as well. You shouldn’t judge yourself so much.” Oh that’s why she didn’t’ like the eye color, Min couldn’t’ sit there and not agree though, “Your right on that, I use to get so mad at him for hiding those gorgeous eyes.” She chuckled a bit, “I always thought his eyes were so nice out of anyone I knew, that is until I met Ethan.” Smiling she thought about how much she loved his eyes.

Sitting holding her arm she cringed, knowing it was going to leave a nice bruise, which meant she was going to have to explain it to Ethan. How well was that going to go over. Looking at Taylor she shrugged which hurt, “I’m fine, but I think I’m done for today.” What were they talking about again, oh right the puffs. “How about tomorrow, we can go to the pathways or something with them.” That would give them a nice day out. She thought about practicing, hmm maybe she could pull off the bruise was from a bludger.. no.. no she was always honest with him and wasn’t going to start not being now. “Yes we could all practice, and if Brodie wants to join that’s fine too.”

Potions Ingredient 3
 

So far, Theo's ingredients were super boring, and not much effort had gone into it, and he was not stopping yet. He had his gloves on tightly, because the next ingredient could potentially hurt him. I suppose you could say that this was real effort for potions. Theo was nettle hunting.

The Whomping Willow wasn't his first destination in mind to look for these nettles, but it happened to be the closest, so he took the lazy option.

Without getting too close to it, Theo walked by a ton of grass, flowers, bushes, more flowers, MORE GRASS, until near the edge of the sidewalk, there was a very small patch of nettles and brambles growing. Theo winced at the sight of it. This particular plant had always freaked him out. With his gloves on, he approached the nettles, then got his wand out. That's right, he wasn't going to use his hands for this. No, sir.

"Diffindy!" That did nothing. Was it that Flipnsnipit spell? No... that was more for trimming hedges and stuff. It was definitely Difindy something. "Diffindie. Diffinda. Diffindo!" The nettle sliced off, completely taking Theo by surprise.

And it rubbed against his arm.

AGAINST HIS ARM.

NETTLE ON THE ARM.

Theo flung himself backwards and held his arm dramatically with his left gloved hand. It hurt sooooooooooo bad, but he didn't cry. Nope, he was toughening up. The Slytherin sniffed, gave his arm another rub, then gently placed his nettle in another container. Professor Lafay had better appreciate this torture he was going through.

Potions Post 1
 

Nerida quickly ran over to the whomping willow where she had seen some Aconite before. Luckily though she didn't have to get all close and personal with it like some other people. She ran to where she saw it, behind the tree. Kinda hidden it took her a moment to find it. She took hold of it and pulled it out, roots and all.

She put it into the container before running somewhere else. Only one ingredient and not a lot of time left.