Schuyler was enjoying herself perusing the grounds on this fine day. The talk was true. It was very pretty, so far. Well, from what she had seen of it. Compliments to their new groundskeeper.

THWACK. THWACK.

She heard it before she had seen it. There was some giant, moving tree that was swatting at a few birds like a human might swat away flies. Schuyler stopped. Then, she changed the direction of her feet to get a closer look at this tree. Not TOO close. She wasn't an idiot. But she wanted to see Hogwarts' violent tree here.

To be honest, Cat had been a little worried about leaving Sharky on her own to get thwacked by the Whomping Willow. So she'd decided to take the warrior!kitten down herself and let her see it safely. She was smart though, obviously, she wouldn't get herself hurt, right? Not a warrior. Nope.

She stepped up beside a girl that she hadn't recognized from behind but now did once she'd seen her face. "Hi. Whatcha doing?" Hmm? Explain yourself. Or keep us entertained or something, yes?

Hmmm. Was that footsteps that Schuyler heard? Yes. Yes, it was. Because a moment later, Caterina was there beside her with her feline. Cat with her cat. "Hey," she greeted in return, offering a smile. A smile that was for both Cat AND her cat. She shrugged at her question. "Just getting to know the grounds. What's this tree for? School protection, or something?" After hearing about the dementors and that groundskeeper dying and all that stuff, Schuyler was willing to wager that it probably wasn't just there for show.

The thing smacked a branch against the ground and Schuyler felt it beneath her feet. What the heck was that for? Did it have 2000/20 vision and smacked a beetle? She eyed the tree, and after a few moments, it seemed to be settling down.

"I should've brought another jacket or something. Geez." Only Beatrice Castell's words and the sound of chirping crickets could be heard that early dawn. It was a little after half four in the morning and the sun was still taking refuge under the horizon. The sky was still it's beautiful hue of purple, slowly gathering in the redness that would soon bring the sunlight. But as for now, without the sun yet, it was chilly and the brunette had to rub her palms against each other and jump up and down, the soles of her rubber shoes making crispy sounds on the ground.

She looked up. The Whomping Willow was still asleep too. It seemed like a terror in the shadows but she liked being near it - not deadly near but near - it was one of the things that has never changed since she her first year at the school......and now it was her last.

Time......it was the best racer.

But right now, she had her own race....against time....against the wind and as the Ravenclaw crouched down to prepare her run, she counted in her mind. One was the cue.

10, 9, 8 7.........

Taylor came dancing and twirling down to the the Whomping Willow. She always went down at least a few times to see the tree. Tay looked up and smiled, waving to it before plopping down on the ground. She sat with her knees to her chest with her arms crossed over them, leaning her head on her arms. Her legs looked long and skinny because of her shorts and her heels though her arms looked long and skinny too. She messed with her jewelry and started to sing in Scottish. Her accent rolling off her tongue as sweet as sugar. Her voice went up and down as smooth as can be. The wind blew her curls a little, making them dance and the sun shined down on her. She was glowing with happiness. Her greenish-blue eyes sparkled with joy. Taylor was partially thinking about Nash but overall, she was just thinking how beautiful it was today. She laughed as the song grew to an end before starting another one in French this time. Her accent turned to a French one but it flowed almost as beautifully as her Scottish one did. She started to sway so she got up and started to dance, not even kicking off her heels. Taylor was as graceful as a gazette and even though her heels were high and thin, she didn't stumble or mess up.

She was still there, but it looked like Bee wasn't going to wait much longer. Or at all. Impatient old lady. Mo hurried across the grounds to meet up with the older Ravenclaw under the shadow of the Whomping Willow. It was a little brisk out, but he was already moving around and warming up, and he could be comfortably warm in no time.

"You were gonna wait for me, right?" Mo paused a few feet out from Bee, bouncing in place on the balls of his feet. He'd stretched back at the castle, so if she took off... he was ready. "Look, I wore my new shoes. Fabulous, right?"

They were a gift from an old lady named Beatrice. "It's early. Why does morning have to come so early?"

.....4, 3, 2....

Holy snitch. Cue startled face.

"Mo...?" What was he.....Oh, right. Meep. She forgot they were supposed to run together. Hehe. Yeah.... Forgetful princess here and not an old lady. She just had a lot on her mind that she forgot. But anyway, she hasn't zoomed yet so they can still start together. "Yeah....of course. I was waiting for you....I was just.....erm...um, working on my stance, you know....need to work on the ready set go." Man, she sucked at lying.

But to make it up, she bounced next to him and hugged him with one arm...eyeing his shoes....which she gave him for his birthday. Beezus smirked. "Fabulous, like the one who gave them." Riiiight?

She pulled away and tugged on the ends of her ponytail. [b]"Capt, you shouldn't be complaining. Aren't you grateful that we have the early to spend time together alone?"[b] SNORTS.

The look on her face was so priceless, and so obviously indicated to Mo that Bee had completely forgotten about him... he couldn't help but grin at her in response. He wasn't even stealthy. She just wasn't paying attention. At all.

"Thanks for waiting for me, then. Was I late?" He jogged in place for a few steps before nodding at the path before him. Enough talking, Beatrice. It was time to run. "Yeah, the shoes are almost as fabulous as the person who gifted them to me. Dunno if you know her, though. She's this really bossy Ravenclaw girl who likes to think she's my at-school mother. She does a fair, good job of it."

Even if he didn't need mothering anymore. Mo lengthened his stride just to test Bee. "You know... you have a point. I'm glad we're hanging out together, even at the crack of dawn. I can't help but notice you haven't signed up for Quidditch tryouts. Are we spending too much time together already?"

Brodie walked up and sat away from Taylor, not seeing her and started writing, with the concert they had coming up he had to make sure their songs were amazing and that each part had the right tune... He could only play the drums, but he could write music for every instrument in the band. He kept writing and smiled waving his wand to play the music quietly around him to make sure it would sound alright.

Taylor twirled a little too fast and tumbled down into someone's lap. She looked up, "So--" Her eyes grew at who it was, "Bro-..." Tay had one of his hands on his chest, looking at him, too shocked to move out of his lap. Taylor just stared at him. A ton of emotions crossed her face as she looked into his eyes. Tay was frozen to the spot as she just stared at him. Her voice had stopped singing when she had fell so all was silent on her part.

Brodie looked at her, "It's fine..." He looked back down at his sheet of paper for the guitar part of his new song, "Are you alright?" He folded it up and then stood slowly, being careful to keep the weight even on both of them. He looked at her then paused, "Look... I'm sorry for how I acted at the train station and the feast... I was a real jerk..." He looked at her, "I really hope I haven't totally messed things up between us, because I really don't want to lose the only people here I know."

Taylor looked at him and stood up, dusting herself off. "Yeah, I am fine..." Tay looked away then back at him, in shock. "Yeah, you were..."" She frowned and crossed her arms, "A sorry wont fix everything, ya know? You snapped at me too many times for a sorry to be okay." She huffed and turned, about to cry. Her shoulders slumped and she just fell to her knees. Taylor wasn't sure what to do anymore so she just buried her head in her hands. Her happiness was gone... yanked out. Tay didn't know what to do and it showed... She tried to think about Nash, knowing it would cheer her up but she couldn't picture his adorable face so she just gave up and tried to block everything out. Taylor started to mumble, "I am horrible... I am horrible... I am horrible..." She kept saying it over and over again.

Beezus shook her head, grinning at Mo. He was a bit late but she wasn't going to call him out for that. Besides, she forgot she was supposed to wait for him so it was all fair.

....and then they were running, the cold breeze sweeping, almost scraping skin. She even had to close her eyes for a few seconds. "Marcus, don't you go sarcastic on me. I am not bossy.....not really." So she was bossy, so what? "And you know I promised yiour sister I'd look after you. Did you send my regards?"

She was keeping up with the new Ravenclaw Captain's strides but it was hard work for her lungs. Dang. "Oh....I...." She breathed. "I'm flattered.....you really took.....time to......notice that I......haven't signed up? I.....feel special."

They haven't been running far yet. This was annoying. Breathing needed extra effort. Ugh.

Brodie didn't comment on the fact that she hadn't been that nice either, he didn't want to start another argument, "Taylor..." He went over to her and laid a hand on her shoulder, "You are not horrible." He started to pull back realizing, "I'm sorry... You don't want to talkt o me, probably don't want me to try to comfort you..." He ran a hand through his hair and then accioed a poster for it, "And I know you probably won't want to go but..." He laid it in front of her, "I am going to be having a concert soon... I'd love it if you could make it." She probably wouldn't want to, but it would be worth a shot.

The more she thought about it, the more she did not want to let Sharky go. It would just break her heart in a million pieces if the poor thing got stuck or thwacked by the tree. Heartbroken Caterina, that did not sound very nice. She suspected she did not do well with heartbreak.

She decided to just hold on and not think about heartbreaking things. "It's for cheating boyfriends." Cat replied rather cheerfully, doing an amazing job at a poker face. Sure, that was NOT what it was for, but hey, it sounded like a good idea to her, right?

Okay, she couldn't hold that serious face for too long, Cat just laughed. Ahhh. Boys.

Sketchbook? Check. Romeo & Juliet? Check. Pencil?

Charlie sat herself on the grass, a good distance away from the Whomping Willow, laid her back beside her and tugged out her books before beginning to hunt for a pencil. She wasn't a skilled sketcher, but she enjoyed it, and liked a challenge, and this odd and moving tree seemed like a good enough place to start.

It was only when she went to put her glasses on for a better look that she found the pencil, nestled awkwardly behind her ear. As usual. She didn't know why it would be anywhere else, but things were so upside down at the moment that it was just like her to think she'd changed old habits.

Book beside her in case of a need for a rest, Charlie began to sketch the tree in front of her.

It appeared as though Cat was contemplating something in that brain of hers. Schuyler followed the girl's eyes to the violent tree, then looked back to her again. "What are you thinking?" There were cogs moving and wheels spinning in there.

The sides of her mouth hitched in a smirk. The tree's purpose was to punish cheating boyfriends? Of COURSE this wasn't true, but Schuyler liked the answer anyway. "So, cheating girlfriends are off the hook, then?" No willow thwacks for their infidelity? The Slytherin broke out in a laugh - a contagious laugh - not a moment later, and Schuyler released a laugh that joined her friend's.

"Did I mention to you that you and Mo are awfully cute together?" Because they were. And the lovey, subtle looks in the train compartment were proof enough of their adorableness.

She really was bossy, as much as Beatrice denied it. Bossy, but entirely loveable and, so, easily forgiven. "Vivi sends back her regards and says you should meet her for lunch sometime. Obviously not during the school year, but you know what she means."

Mo ran quietly beside her for a ways, casting occasional glances in Bee's direction. She was sort of huffing and puffing early, wasn't she? According to Bee, she kept in good shape, but they hadn't even begun to stretch themselves. "'Course I noticed. You're a great Chaser, and I wouldn't want to play without you. But... are you alright? You seem a bit out of sorts today."

"I'm always thinking something." Cat replied with a sort of secretive smirk. It almost matched the one Schuyler was wearing herself, but it was a little different. A little Slytherin. Hmm. Cheating girlfriends. Hmm. Good question. "Well, no, they're not off the hook, they just don't get thwacked by a violent tree. They get..." Hmmm. "All of their shoes tossed into the lake." Yep. That was certainly bad and almost just as painful, depending on the shoes.

Cat tilted her head towards the other girl and raised a curious eyebrow at her comments. "I didn't even know that you knew he's my boyfriend." Truth, so no, she certainly didn't know that Schuyler thought they were cute. She grinned though, a certain sort of grin that she only had when thinking about or talking about her boooyfriend. Heh. "Thanks though, I think I like being cute. It means we're not sickening." Some couples WERE.

A lunch with THE Vivi Branxton. Now that was something to look forward to. "Yeah, okay. Tell her I'll owl her soon." Well, she had to, didn't she? A Branxton meet up was a privilege and she's missed the former Ravenclaw too.

Moar running. And it was taking more efforts to keep up but she was keeping up. She wasn't going to let Mo past her that easily. He must've noticed how she was struggling though because he was giving her those furtive glances. "Ah....now that's.....sweet..." They were taking a curving path by now. "I'm....I'm fine. Practice breathing, you know." Beezus wiped a sheen of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand as the sun seemed to slowly poke out its tentacles in the horizon. "Do you still need...me on the team though? ....Last time I checked you had...quite a number sign ups already."

The Whomping Willow.

Stan stood admiring the tree for a few moments. It was majestic, really. Although, he made sure he wasn't standing TOO near.. he'd heard the stories. After a few more minutes, he decided to sit somewhere. He'd been walking around since morning and he was a little tired.

... "Charlie!" Stan grinned happily. He noticed the girl sitting close-by with a hundred books scattered around her. "You busy?" He plonked down next to her anyway.

The thing about sketching with pencil was that it was erasable. And even though Charlie didn't have a rubber on her, it was still tempting to use her wand to remove the mistakes, rather than work around them like she was training herself to do. Grimacing inwardly, she took a deep breath and looked up at the tree again.

Just in time to see someone, and hear them call to her. "Uh, hey Stan," she smiled, moving quickly to flip the sketchpad closed and shove her battered copy of the play on top of it. Nope, no need for him to see that. But he could read Romeo and Juliet if he wanted to. That was great.

"Not anymore," she laughed, as he sat down beside her, not really leaving much room for an answer.

Aha, so according to Cat, cheating girlfriends were anything but off the hook. No abuse from this tree here, but perhaps they had worse: their whole collection of shoes to be deposited in the LAKE. Schuyler looked at the Slytherin with a grave face, playing along. "That'll teach them not to cheat in no time." Unless it was a crazy girl who didn't care about shoes. Maybe then they got something ELSE dumped in the water.

Hmmh. Actually, yeah... maybe Schuyler had just assumed they were together because of how they acted a little differently towards each other on that train, just in the slightest. It was a good thing they actually WERE an item, otherwise Schuyler may have been doing a mental facepalm right now. "This is true." About the not being sickening. That was usually attributed to couples who were allllll over each other 24/7.

"So, what's your cat's name, then?" Glance to the feline.

Mo didn't believe a word that Bee was saying. As a naturally trusting person, Mo was inclined to let things go that didn't precisely ring true. It was either his intuition being crazy, or they were telling a white lie for a good reason. It wasn't his business.

But ignoring this lie was going to probably kill Beatrice Castell, and that was being a bad friend AND being a bad coach. Mo slowed their pace considerably until they were practically walking, and he started stretching again. "What's wrong with you? And don't fib. You've been on the team every term with me AND Vivi. I don't ask you because I need the numbers. I assume you will because you're a Quidditch player. So what's really up?"