Nigel never though he was really that good at quidditch. It was fun playing it and all. But he never had the dedication to play it every year. Nigel was beginning to like Quodpot a bit more. "I'll be happy if i make the team." Nigel said shrugging. Now why was he at a bench, just staring at the fountain was an interesting question.

"Basically the same as you. Just trying to be Zen."

Nigel was thinking about starfishing. When she suddenly started singing in a language Nigel would not expect to hear here. He knew it was Gaelic. But that did not help with understand it. Elvish and Mermish were okay for Nigel. But not Gaelic. He was not to surprised with the dancing. Though it was a bit random.

"So you know Gaelic?"

Taylor shrugged and smiled, ”I bet you would make it.” Tay nodded, ”You played wonderfully at the try-outs.” She wasn’t sucking up or buttering anyone up, she was just being nice and honest. Taylor kept dancing and smiled over at him, ”Trying to be zen?” Tay tilted her head and twirled around the bench some more, ”What does zen feel like? What does it mean? How is it working for you?” She giggled and closed her eyes, lifting her face up to the sunny sky, feeling the warmth of the sun’s rays on her face. Taylor stopped swirling and singing. Tay nodded and smiled at him, ”Yeah, I am half Scottish and was born and raised in Scotland. My father was always busy doing whatever he did… so my nannies taught me Gaelic so that I can know the language of the half of my heritage that is my father’s. I know French too but Gaelic is actually the first language I have spoken…” Tay tilted her head and looked at him, ”Do you know Gaelic?” Taylor slipped back onto the bench with him and tilted her head, looking at him, trying to figure out what he thinks.

Nerida set the telescope on the ground gently when she arrived at The Courtyard. It was the best place to look. It had like a perfect view of the sky? Right? Or was that just in her special opinion?

After assembling her equipment Nerida took hold of it she was ready to find the star.... If she could see it... Taking the telescope she looked all over the sky, up, down, left, right, every where but she couldn't see that little star.

Now what to look for??

The constellation!!

This time when she looked over the sky she looked for the beautiful constellation instead of the single star. "There you are!!" she said as she spotted the constellation. Yay! She found another one of them.

It was a little too early to be out and about but the seventh year didn't mind.

6 AM. Yeah, definitely early.

The moment, he stepped out on the grounds - Lawson was glad he had decided to get out. The courtyard area was empty - which he had never seen before. It was ALWAYS full of people. The boy smiled, stuffing his hands inside his pockets and walked on.

Running in the early morning had now become routine for Beezus. She wasn't on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team anymore and so this had became her everyday exercise. She needed it....for health reasons. She was all alone running by herself today though, unlike most mornings where she had Mo with her. She understood of course. He was probably tired over deliberating the results of his tryouts being that he was Captain and all that.

So, yeah, she was all alone, enjoying the early morning breeze and as she ran, she paid close attention to the rising shards of the sun in the horizon. After a few moments, she came to a stop to catch her breath.

Okay, so some constellations were a stretch, but most of them, Adrienne could get behind. Pegasus, though, was just ridiculous. She remembered laughing when she saw it in the book, thinking it was a joke, but no. The thing was literally a square with hangy-bits. That was it. And even if she had had more imagination than she did, there was no way she would interpret that as a horse with wings. A jellyfish, maybe, if she tried. Horse? No WAY.

But apparently the ancient Greeks had thought it was one, and now she was standing at the edge of the courtyard, adjusting her telescope and shivering in the chill fall wind. She should have thought to bring a jacket or something, it being after dark and all, but instead Adrienne had decided to come down here with just her usual school robes. Ugh.

She’d always wondered what would happen if a professor found them out here or something. Did they get off because they were doing homework, or were they supposed to have gotten notes from Flamsteed or something? That would be embarrassing. Adrienne solemnly vowed to herself that she would just have to not get caught.

Oh, there was Pegasus. Looking just as – stifled giggle – square as ever. Adrienne wrote down her observations, snapped her book shut, and, hugging herself due to the cold, started closing up her telescope. She was done here, thank you very much.

Today was the day that Anya was going to look for constellations. She had one in particular in mind. Pegasus. She'd been out a few days looking for it, but hadn't had any luck. She blamed the clouds. But today would be her day! She had a good feeling about it.

She set up her telescope and scanned the skies. Hmm... Oooh. There were some stars. She squinted into the sky before adjusting her telescope to get a better look.

Hellllo Pegasus. That was another one off the list. That left Mars and Saturn left. She packed up her telescope and left the courtyard. She'd need a better angle.

Lost in her own little world, Hannah wasn't paying attention to anything that was going on around her. She heard somebody say hi, but it sounded far away to her so she didn't pay any mind to it. Her mind was refusing to take in what she was attempting to read so she gave up and slammed her book shut.

The same voice asked a question this time and she realized that somebody was actually speaking to her. Did she remember him? Who was this small child? "And exactly what would I remember you from?" she said with a nasty smirk on her face.

There was something familiar about the boy. She knew that she had never spoke to him before, but there was something about that face that was sending bells ringing in her head.

Hmmm. The girl wasn't paying attention to him. Adi was really tempted to poke her on the arm. Gently, of course. He was actually about to when she finally came out of her reverie.

Gosh. She didn't seem too friendly, did she? He remembered that one word that had crossed his mind when he first encountered her: Bully. "Erm...Astronomy. You tried to hit me with that spell.'' That should make her remember. "You picked on an innocent kid,'' he added with a grin. Of course, he like the others had been in no real danger but the firstie was just trying to lighten the mood.

Astronomy! Of course. She did try to hit him with that spell without any luck. "Right." She was a bit embarrassed that this little kid had managed to actually hit her with the spell when she had completely missed him. Innocent? She didn't believe people could be completely innocent. "I was ready to take out any and everybody." Hannah did not like to lose and she was sour that her house had lost. "Makes no difference of your size."

She wondered why the tiny puff decided to come up to her. He seemed to be rather small. "First year?" He had to be if he hadn't heard of Hannah Lockwood yet. She decided instead toying with him for a bit instead of going directly for the kill. He came up to her and she had to atleast give him props for that.

Great! She remembered him! "Mind if I sit?'' Adi asked because he was polite and all. "I figured you wanted to do that. But your House put up a great fight, you know.'' As did the other Houses. Was this girl still vexed or something that Hufflepuff won? "And I guess it doesn't but hey! It was fun, wasn't it? He had thoroughly enjoyed that activity!

The firstie now eyed the older girl curiously. "You seemed lost just now. What's bothering you?'' Yeah right. Like the girl would tell an eleven year old what's up with her. "And yep, yep! I'm Aditya Rehman but you can call me Adi.'' He held out his hand with a grin.

.....................................

Okay. Soooo...Antares and Pegasus were the only star and constellation left to be found. Adi randomly decided to go with Pegasus. Pegasus. Heh. It reminded him of that bad guy in the old anime Yu-Gi-Oh. Pegasus loved mind games.

Humming the anime's theme song, Adi located Pegasus on his Star Chart which surprisingly took some time. "Where are youuuu, Pegasus?'' He roved his eyes all around the chart once more. "Oh! There you are! Must have missed you the first time around.''

With the telescope now positioned towards the general direction of the constellation, the first year began his next search, still humming as the minutes went by until- "Found ya!'' Awesome! Another one down!

The first year smiled, watching as Melanie slowly reached out to pet Ginger. The poor girl still seemed a bit uneasy, making Dylan feel a bit bad. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. She's 100% cat." he assured her with a smirk, watching as she finally pet her. Ginger began to purr, closing her eyes and rubbing her head affectionately against Melanie's hand. "She seems to really like you!" Dylan pointed out, beaming. Hopefully, Melanie now felt comfortable around the kitten.

"Well, I have sketched a bit of the common room." he said with a tiny nod. "I plan on throughout all my years here to draw or paint everything I can. So I can remember it all, and give some to my friends to remember me by. I think that'd be really fun." he explained, smiling. "Although, I've done many paintings and such ever since I was about seven or so. I love it a lot. My mother taught me how." he added, feeling his heart sink at the thought of his mother. It was hard being away from home; being away from from his parents and siblings. He hadn't really thought about how long he'd be away from them until it hit him the first day here.

This one was actually asking if he could sit before he just made himself at home? Hannah liked that. She most likely would not have done the same thing in his situation, but she could respect that he knew his place. "Suit yourself." she said with a wave of her arm gesturing towards an empty seat. She felt like she just didn't have the energy to fight so she decided that she would just go with it for now.

"Of course we did, we are Slytherins after all." They should have won! She didn't take losing well at all especially to the house of Hufflepuff. There was nothing that was going to change that now so she decided to push that to the back of her mind for now. "I'm hoping that we will get another go at another activity." She would love to have a rematch. She would be on her A game then. She wondered if the boy expected a congratulations out of her? He shouldn't hold his breath if that was the case.

She seemed lost? Oh, he must have meant the whole staring blankly at her book thing. Was it really that noticeable that something was indeed bothering her? Wait a minute. Did this ickle puff just ask her what was the matter? Did he really think that she was just going to spill everything to him like that? Instead of making a nasty comment like she normally would, the sixth year just busted out in laughter. She looked back at the boy with tears streaming down her face. "That's cute, thinking that I am going to confide in you." She tried to gain control of herself. She was starting to wonder if she had indeed gone mental.

He was introducing himself and Hannah stared at him for a long while before deciding that she would give him a chance. What was the worst that could happen? She took his hand. "Nice to meet you Adi, I'm Hannah." There would be no cute nicknames for her, just Hannah.

It was a great night for stargazing. So great that Tora had just plopped her things down right in the middle of the courtyard since she just couldn't wait to get started. Tonight she was looking for Andromeda and Pegasus, but before she could find Andromeda, she had to find Pegasus. So she pulled out her astreglobe and searched for the constellation. It took a little while, since the globe showed all the visible stars, and there were many that night, but eventually she picked out the telltale square that was the main body of Pegasus.

Before even touching her telescope, she tried to see the constellation with her naked eye. This was easier for her than finding it in the telescope because she could see the big picture first rather than searching the endless sky through the eyepiece of her scope.

Ahhh... there it was. She gazed at it for a bit, but not nearly so long as she had looked at the planets. She had things to do after all. There was another, more interesting quarry she had in mind for that night. Andromeda. All she had to do now was go find it.

When one had homework that they had no intention of doing, the best thing to do was go for a walk and hope to not have a reason to return to the castle until said homework got more appealing. In her case, that wouldn't happen, she'd go back when she got hungry or something. For now she was just pretending to be one of those people who had nothing better to do with their afternoon.

It was best to enjoy it now. The way she heard it, Alice was gonna go crazy with practice times. She'd either end up sleeping through her afternoons because of EARLY morning madness or spending the afternoon in the air...she didn't mind that one so much, just, 4 am jogging? NO.

When she felt she'd walked far enough, she plopped down and fished a chocolate frog from her bag. This was the best way to relax, obviously.

He had a free afternoon. No, seriously. Somehow, between classes, homework and Quidditch, he'd managed to end up with a free afternoon. Odd, huh?

Which meant he was out wandering. Except with a skateboard. Because that's what he did with a free afternoon: go outside and skateboard to his heart's content. And today he'd ended up going towards the paved areas of the courtyard. Maybe he could even annoy some firstie trying to relax with the grinding noise of his wheels on the stone. Bwahaha.

In the middle of enjoying another bite of her chocolate frog Lex heard the distinct sound of skateboard wheels--they had to be distinct, she'd spent a while hearing them over the summer, fell off one enough times too. She twisted in a few directions, trying to get a better look but she already figured she knew who it was. How many people did you know skateboarding around Hogwarts like it was no one else's business? Exactly.

It didn't take much looking to notice Benjy headed her way...merlin help him if he crashed into her. Depending on the crash, she might have to spend the rest of her FREE afternoon in the hospital wing.

"Benjy!" She called, smiling over at him but otherwise making no movement. Lex was confident in his ability to not run her over...but she imagined it'd hurt a lot if he did?

Maybe she should move...but she still didn't, instead she waited for him to come to a stop.

Admittedly, he wasn't really paying much attention to what everyone else was doing around him. That wasn't really the point of having an afternoon's skateboarding to himself. He DID notice the person just up ahead though, mainly because the were right in his way, but also because they called out his name just as he kicked to get a bit more speed.

Lex needn't have worried quite so much really. Benjy flicked the board under his feet, jumping up and spinning 180 degrees as he did so, before landing with a crooked grin right in front of Lex. "Y'alright?" he asked with a wink.

Yes, he'd been practising that one. And he was quite relieved not have wiped out.

"Did you want me...?" he gestured at where she sat. Like, had she called out cos she was concerned about where he was headed, or because she wanted his attention?

You know what? That was actually a really neat trick. She could probably pull it off...eventually...with more falling and knee scraping, ahem. For now she was content with the few tricks she did know and in fact she had to be because there was no time for learning more, not with Quidditch season about to start up. Ten galleons says Alice would break the board, shove the broom in her hand and make her do extra laps.

"Yup, perfectly good." She noted the wink and smiled a bit remembering what Lottie had said about it that one time. It just brought back even funnier memories, really, it did.

Wanted him...?--Oh right! She'd called him!

She gave a firm nod, figuring he'd sit if he wanted to. "I diiiiiid." This was probably waaay delayed, or not really all that delayed but it wasn't instant either. "I watched you at tryouts! You were epic!" See, she could totally be conceited right now and mention that he'd done everything she taught him but it probably wouldn't be completely true. He had to have some talent of his own. "And now I hear you've made the team, congrats!" BEAM.

He casually nudged his board to one side with his foot, and plopped down beside her. "Glad to hear it," he said with a grin. Couldn't have his favourite Gryffindor come Quidditch coach come skateboarding partner come candy connoisseur unhappy. It just wouldn't do. "You got an afternoon off too?"

And then he raised an intrigued eyebrow at her. Well..?

Oh. THAT! "You'd spied on our tryouts?" he said with mock seriousness, before beaming widely at her. "Epic? You really think so?" He shrugged. "I'll go with beginner's luck and an awesome coach...but I don't think much of the broom I had in the second one." He poked her playfully. Oh, and she'd heard he'd made the team? Wow, news travelled fast. "Apparently so," he said, grinning wider, if that were possible. "Starting chaser, apparently."

He opted to sit next to her on the ground afterall. Good! She didn't plan to get neck strain just so she could carry on a conversation. Nope. She was selfless but only in so many ways. "Yup," wait...."technically I do, depending on who you ask and what their priorities are." She had homework to get done, so she wasn't free, but at the same time she didn't plan to do it just yet so she WAS. That was logic right there.

The fact that they were both free made her feel less guilty about stopping him when it looked like he'd been in a hurry. Yeah, she noticed him speeding up that time.

"O'course I did!" She said, beam still in place. "We always do, just to get a look." It was important to know your potential competition. It was just one of those things. "I also went to see how my student did when I wasn't there in the air bossing you around." It was good to know he could play just as well without a Gryffindor trailing behind him every two seconds. Now then. "Nope, I don't believe in luck, that was all you up there--and me of course, like you said, an excellent coach."

OH! CHASER TOO! "Good!" Because that was the only position she'd gone in depth with while teaching him. "You'll do fine out there...I'll do my best not to aim at you...though that'll be a problem considering I said the same to Mo...and would feel kinda...a little, maybe, sorta feel bad about hitting a Firstie." She could always try knocking Aidan off his broom, beater's bible and all, there was always that.

"Thank you!'' Adi replied and plopped down next to the Slytherin girl. He could see she was sort of impressed with him and the manners thing. But it was something he was accustomed to, his mom and dad having instilled good manners in him since he was way younger.

"Hey, you can't win all,'' the boy said, tilting his head. "We all win some and loose some don't we?'' He had realised that a long time ago after his school's cricket team went through a string of losses a few years ago. It was also evident that the girl hated defeat. "So would I.'' He grinned. "I'd try to take you out again.'' And no doubt she'd want to get back at him too.

Say whaaaaa? She was laughing? Sheesh! Adi knew it was stupid asking what's bothering her but she didn't have to laugh! He waited for her to finish laughing in silence. To her, it must have been the most hilarious thing eve because there were now tears streaming down her face. "All done now?'' he asked a bit colder than he had intended. "Sorry I asked. I was just trying to be nice.''

Adi grinned and shook Hannah's hand. "Nice to meet you too, Hannah! What year are you?''

The boy seemed to have made himself at home and he had managed the task of not getting on her nerves yet so he was ok... so far.

"That much is true." She really couldn't win at everything, but that didn't make the fire inside her die down any more. She was a very competitive person and that would never change. The thought of more challenges was bouncing around in her head. Oh how she would love another chance to prove that she really was better. He would take her on huh? "It's your funeral." Because she wouldn't let somebody get to her again. She would be ready. She squinted at him with her game face.

The laughing. That did seem a bit rude eh? Not that she really cared, but she was under control now. "Yes, I think I am satisfied now." It really was quite humorous to her after all. He was trying to be nice? Hannah wasn't at all used to the whole nice thing... it took her off guard, almost like she expected people to be setting her up. "It's nothing..." It was something alright, but she just couldn't talk about it. She hadn't even confided in her closest friends so yeah, that was not going to happen.

"I'm a sixth year." She paused sizing him up. "You can't be more than a second year right?" He had to be a first year because of his size. She was pretty sure that she had never seen him around but he was a puffer and she didn't keep track of them.

Benjy gave a knowing smile. "Let me guess...outstanding homework and a Quidditch captain who doesn't understand the need for a body to have recovery time?" He was definitely starting to understand the latter, and that was with a new Quidditch Captain. He dreaded to think what sort of hideous training schedule an experienced one might come up with. "I say enjoy it while you can." That was his plan, anyway. Hence the skateboard. He was serious about doing well on the Quidditch front, and he knew that things would likely get crazy as that first match approached.


SHE was beaming, and HE was beaming, and YAY QUIDDITCH?! "So that's how you sold coaching me to Alice too?" Because, yes, he had realised there was a conflict of interest there. Especially once it became clear he actually wasn't half bad at the whole flying and catching simultaneously thing. He chuckled. "I actually missed you not bossing me around, you know. And the constant threat of a bludger coming in my direction..." She was a persistent coach, that was for sure. And it'd obviously worked. "It was like there was something missing from just behind my tail twigs." He poked his tongue out at her again.

Grins. She got lots of them. His skateboard lie momentarily forgotten. "Yep. Couldn't believe it when I saw the roster." He took a moment to fiddle with his fang earring, before tilting his head at her. "You'll still play with me, right? I mean, not just against me in a match? Because I know you'll have to hit at me at some point." Despite what she just said. "And that's fun an' all, but...I meant it when I said you're an awesome coach."

That pretty much summed it up for her and she nodded. Homework she didn't wanna do and practice she felt was too bloody early. "Has Mo started you guys jogging at 5 am like he said he would?" Thanks to him, Alice got the idea about 4 am. Lex was severely unamused. She didn't leave her bed until noon unless she had to. Classes, always getting in the way. "At the moment I'm enjoying my freedom to the fullest." The only thing she would have preferred doing right now was...flying...or blowing stuff up but see, that didn't go so well last time. Although...new Grounds Keeper. Heh.

Ehh...."Something like that. She wasn't all that happy about it but..." Lex liked thinking she was one of Alice's favourites...it was the only thing that explained her getting away with half the things she did. More importantly, HE MISSED HER BOSSING HIM AROUND. BEAM. "That's awfully kind of you to say after what I put you through." NOW she could see why her Captain liked her job so much. "You'll have plenty of bludgers after you during games though, so you'll just have to cope with me not yelling things at you." Yelling helpful and informative things anyway. We'll see.

Such an odd question...

She thought about it, wondering if she might have been taking it too literally but when no other meaning came she shrugged, grinned and said, "I don't see why not! We have scrimmage matches some times, even over the summer, we could end up on the same team, or just head out to the Practice Pitch some time, that could work too." And would leave her looking all dedicated and stuff. Maybe then Alice would think twice about putting limits on her chocolate frogs for the season. Also, he REALLY thought she was an awesome coach. It got her smiling. "You're a good student, you didn't die on me or anything tragic like that." He would never understand just how much that meant to her.