Schuyler was still thinking about it. And she thought Olly was too. Why else would there have been such a lull? To her, the silence wasn't uncomfortable, just loaded. Like the air was weighed down with unsaid words rather than humidity.

It was only a figure of speech. Even if it had stopped them both in their tracks, that was all Olly had meant by it when she said it. Schuyler reminded herself of that as her girlfriend turned back with the tissue finally lowered from her nose.

"Pepperup," she answered softly. After a moment of composing herself, she shifted to loop her arm around Olly's and moved in the direction of the castle. "I think we were going to go get some Pepperup."

It had been a little while since Lux had come down here. She could still remember kissing Louis and the drama that it had caused. Yeah, that was a first kiss that she would never forget for as long as she lived.

Sighing, she wandered along the shore of the lake, looking down at her feet as she did so. Even though it was cold and snowy outside, she wanted to be close to the water where the Giant Squid and merpeople lived. Soon enough it would be time for to try again to get him to the surface, but right now she wasn't in the mood.

Absent-minded as usual, Andrew wasn't looking where he was going. Instead, his mind was focused entirely on the book in his hand. Just vaguely aware of the lake on his left, he scribbled in the notepad on the opposite page to the one he was reading. The cold weather didn't bother him at all. In-fact, he enjoyed the crisp, cool air in his lungs and the gorgeous white snow. This was his favorite time of year. Well, actually, Christmas was his favorite time of year, but winter in general came in at a close second place.

The fifth year Ravenclaw was so entranced by his book, he hadn't even noticed the familiar looking girl he almost collided with. Her sudden appearance startled him terribly, but he was quick with an apology. "Gah, I'm terribly sorry!" He blurted out, dropping his book in the snow. He could be so clumsy sometimes, it was crazy! Bending over to pick up his book, he glanced up at the girl in front of him, fully prepared for her to start yelling at him. She wouldn't have been the first person today.

Louis was in need of a walk.
It was tradition for him to take a walk at the end of his last class, everyday. It helped clear his mind from the clutter of information he’d collected throughout the day, and helped keep him feeling refreshed for the rest of the afternoon. Merlin knew he’d need a clear head when it was time to face the books and endless rolls of parchment awaiting him back at the dormitory.

Lou had paused for a moment to admire the calm waters of the lake. He considered walking to the dock and giving fishing a second try (his first attempt had ended rather abruptly when a certain little redhead came out of nowhere and turned his entire day upside-down), when he spotted two figures in the distance. One was easy to recognize, thanks to the bright mermaid-like red hair: Lady Lux. The other, however, he wasn’t very familiar with. It seemed to be a boy, but it was neither Bay or Sander. Oh goodness, Lux wasn’t kissing yet another boy was she?!

With a smile, Louis began walking again until he reached the two figures. As suspected, the redhead was very much his favourite little Hufflepuff. “Lady Lux!” he exclaimed as he approached the two students, bowing to her in greeting as he always did since he had become her squire. Standing straight once again, he turned to the other boy he didn’t quite recognize.

“Hey,” he said, smiling politely. “I’m Louis.” He offered a hand in greeting.

With her eyes glued to the ground in front of her, Lux did not even know that there was another person around until they had spoken to her. "What?" Looking up, she was confused for a moment before she understood what had happened. "Don't worry, it's okay." He seemed sort of... nervous about something, so she offered him a smile. "I'm Lux." And clearly she wasn't the only person who had been preoccupied since the boy had almost collided right into her while reading a book.

Oh, Louis was here.

Turning to her faithful squire, she curtsied after he bowed. "Pleasure to see you again, my good Squire."

Slightly overwhelmed by the sudden transition from a relaxing walk in the snow to having to socialize with not one, but two people he had never spoken to before, it took Andrew a moment to gather his thoughts. Tucking his book under his arm carefully, he shook the outstretched hand firmly. "I'm Andrew. It's very nice to meet you both, Lux and Louis." He suddenly remembered how to be polite. Under his arm, he clutched his old leather-bound book as if it were his most valuable possession.

"I didn't expect to see anyone else out here." He said nervously, adjusting his square-framed glasses and running a hand through his short, brown hair. "Judging by the talk at the breakfast table, I figured the entire school was staying inside today." The tall, slender boy was dressed in a deep navy blue coat, and his loose scarf showed a hint of a tie underneath. Andrew always felt better in formal attire, even if there was no need for it.

"What are the two of you doing out here in the snow?"

“Pleasure’s all mine, m’lady,” Louis replied with exaggerated politeness to the redhead that curtsied to him. For a moment, he forgot there was a new boy who might think they’re total weirdos for their silly act.

The Gryffindor smiled as the other boy introduced himself as Andrew, his blue eyes watching absentmindedly as Andrew clutched the book he’d been carrying. He knew it wasn’t healthy to make assumptions in just the first five seconds since meeting a new person, but Lou had a good feeling about this guy.

Louis carried a small smile as Andrew commented on the whole school staying inside, before going on to ask what the other two were doing out in the snow. “Well, I usually always take a walk after my last class,” he explained simply, burying his hands into his coat pockets to shield them from the chilly breeze. He raised an inquisitive eyebrow at Lux and Andrew both. It was their turn to answer the question.

Lux couldn't help but giggle at Louis. He was so silly. The new boy probably thought they were crazy!

Oh, his name was Andrew. "Nice to meet you. What book are you reading?" Curious, because she loved reading, and wanted to know if it was a good book, or something that she had read before.

Wait, people weren't going outside? Lux was a little confused by this, but nodded along to Louis' explanation. "I wanted to come here for fresh air myself. And I haven't been here in a little while..." Not since the kiss, but whatever. "So... ummm... nice weather we are having, huh?" Honestly she was rather cold, but she wanted to forget the awkwardness of having kissed Louis here.

Andrew raised a finger to his face and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he listened to the explanations of his two new acquaintances. What was with the 'Lady & Squire' business? Andrew's confusion would have been visible, had it not been for his preoccupation with the girl's question about his book. It was rare that anyone took an interest in his books, and even now it was hard to tell if her interest was genuine or feigned. She did seem like a nice, intelligent person, but she also seemed a little uncomfortable. Andrew simply assumed it was the cold.

"This old thing?" he pulled the old tome from under his arm and opened it, turning to the page he had been reading before dropping it. "It's just something I found in the library. It's about Spell-runes and Vellums." He explained with audible interest and fascination. The page he held open for Lux and Louis to see depicted a complex symbol encased in a circle covered in smaller symbols. "With the proper technique, a Witch or Wizard can inscribe a rune like this one.." He began to explain, pointing at the rune depicted in the book. "Onto a surface of any kind, cast and store a spell in it for later use! What is so special about them is that because the spell has technically already been cast, they will function even if the caster perishes. Even Muggles can use them!"

The Ravenclaw's enthusiasm for the concept was practically visible on him as he explained, but he quickly realized he must have been boring his new friends half to death, and took a step back. The visible breath of the two people in front of him reminded him of just how cold it really was, which made Lux's comment about the weather all the more confusing.

"Erm.. Sure, yeah. Nice weather."

Louis was glad when Lux asked Andrew about his book because he’d been rather curious, too.
And then Andrew proceeded to open a page in the book and give them both a brief summary of the subject. It rather fascinated the Gryffindor just how much knowledge and passion Andrew possessed when it came to the spell-runes, seeing as this was Louis’s absolute worst subject since he’d started his fifth year term at Hogwarts. It was amazing to see someone so knowledgeable on the subject; there weren’t a lot of Andrews around the school.

“That’s amazing…” muttered a wide-eyed Lou before Andrew suddenly took a step back, making it clear that the show-and-tell was over. “Have you ever tried it?” Perhaps, if Andrew didn’t consider him a total weirdo for it, he could ask the boy to give him a lesson or two one day.

When Lux suddenly commented on the ‘nice weather’, Louis tried his best not to laugh. AWW. Poor Lady Lux. He could tell she was feeling rather uncomfortable, and he had a vague idea why. “Nice, indeed. Perfect, I’d say,” said the boy with a nod of his head before his lips suddenly curved into a smirk that was most unlike the usual nice, sweet Lou. “Perfect for a snowball fight!” Eh, eh?? He grinned at the other two, obviously meaning this to be an invitation.

Andrew suddenly felt much more at ease when he realized that he had not bored his two new friends as much as he had feared. On the contrary, the boy had actually shown some interest in his book. He smiled at his question and nodded.
"Yes, actually, I've tried it several times with mixed results." He answered, opening the book again to show Louis the rune he was currently working on. On the page opposite the one depicting the rune, he had begun copying it on a blank piece of parchment. "It's important to be precise with these." He explained. "As a single mistake can spell disaster!". His gleeful expression advertised his relief to have found someone with whom he shared an interest.

The text on the open page described the many uses of spell-runes such as the one illustrated on the page, and briefly touched on the effectiveness of different vellums. "You can inscribe a rune on any surface - which is called a vellum once you've inscribed a rune on it - but the most effective surface to use is a calfskin scroll." Andrew explained enthusiastically, flipping through the pages of the old tome. At the mention of a snowball fight, it dawned on Andrew that he could perform a demonstration. "Snow!" He called out. "You can draw runes in snow too!" He seemed eager to show the two. "Here, hold this." He said to Louis, shoving the open book into his hands.

Using his wand, Andrew drew a simple rune in the snow by their feet. A circle containing a squiggly line and a straight one. "The simplest rune there is!" He grinned confidently up at the two. "Ignis Notatem!" he recited the incantation. Taking a step back and crouching down, he formed a snowball in his hands and chucked it at the rune, disturbing the outer circle. The outlines shimmered faintly, and a soft, glowing ball of light appeared in the air above the rune. "This is the first rune the book talks about. It's a Lumos spell represented visually! Isn't that amazing?!" He smiled. "I activated this one by disturbing the form, like how a muggle would use it, but repeating the incantation can also activate runes!" He explained gleefully.

Errr... Lux was totally lost as she tried to understand what Andrew was telling them. It had something to do with Runes, but that was as far as she could understand. Even the drawing in the snow didn't help.

One thing that she could understand though was how awesome snowball fights were. Grinning, she bent down in the snow and grabbed a bunch in her hands, shaping it into a ball. Laughing, she stood back up again and threw it right at Louis. "Snowball fight!"

This felt unnatural to say the least, completely unnatural. The day was a perfectly normal one and the Gryffindor was sitting around doing nothing...or well... half nothing. The Common Room had gotten loud again but this time it was filled with the chatter and complaints of the aged among them. She was getting old, her hair was beyond the point of redemption but you didn't see her getting all vulgar about it now did you?? No.

Lex had packed up her homework and headed down to the lake. It'd be due soon and she needed to get it over with like asap. It shouldn't go undone another day or chances were it wouldn't get down at all.

The Gryffindor placed her parchment before her and took out her quill, then promptly got distracted by the lake before her. It was to be expected. Homework was tedious stuff.

Andrew let out a sigh, understanding that he'd stretched his lecture far enough. It was time for a snowball fight, and there was no way around it. After all, the soft snow was perfect for snowballs. When Lux threw her snowball at Louis, Andrew saw his chance for a surprise attack!

After slipping his wand and his book into his satchel, he nonchalantly formed a snowball in his hands and chucked it towards Lux. "Think fast!" He shouted through a chuckle.

Pepperup. "Right.". Yes. THAT was what they'd been talking about. Actually they'd been talking about the price for the Pepperup Potion. Not that now was a good moment to return to that. She could figure out what the right price for the potion was later. Or, not figure it out. Depending on how much she was enjoying paying said price.

Anyway, they were moving now. Back to the castle. Or at least that was where Schuyler was going. Olly was allowing her girlfriend to just drag her along by her arm. Not that she didn't WANT to go back inside. It was just...

Olly stopped walking for a second, staring at the Gryffindor with a serious look on her face. Which turned a little hesitant the longer she looked at Schuyler. Right. Err. Never mind actually. She quickly picked up their previous pace again, heading towards the castle.

Schuyler hadn't thought of it as an awkward silence before. But now, as they started back towards the castle and Olly hadn't spoken anything other than one word, well.. she was beginning to change her mind. It hadn't just been her that had been thrown off by the phrase, right? No. Olly had been too; she was sure of it. In fact, they still seemed to be a little thrown off.

Olly came to a halt, and with Schuyler's arm snaked around her girlfriend's, this caused her to do the same. She looked to her curiously, finding the other girl's eyes already on her, and she knew there was something behind those lips. Something that still had yet to roll off her tongue. Schuyler was getting a little anxious the longer that Olly went without saying it. Whatever it was. Was it bad? Is that why she looked serious?

And then, still without saying a single word, her girlfriend started continuing to the castle again. As if that little... pause thing didn't just happen. What? Schuyler stood there, a little dumbfounded for a moment, until she took a few hasty steps to catch up and grab onto Olly's wrist. "Whoa, wait.." Not so fast. She wasn't getting off that easy. "What? What were you going to say?"

Cosgrach had decided to take a stroll down the lake to get some fresh air. Not that he hated the dungeons outright, but he sure enjoyed fresh air more than humidity. The air wasn't too harsh too, enough to let a human breathe without pain and nothing a warming charm couldn't handle. Dressed in his usual black robe; heavy winter cloak; black, leather gloves; and a Slytherin scarf and hat, he was also looking at the students' faces to see how many names he had learnt so far. It wasn't terrible. He could remember most of them easily. He slowly walked past this one too, but he couldn't recognise the face. He paused a few steps later, frowned, and walked backwards to squint at the face.

Oh. "Miss Prefect!" He laughed awkwardly. "Couldn't recognise you there." Would she feel bad if he referred to her oldness? Because that was the reason he couldn't recognise her right away and had to bend down to look at her more closely.

Now how in Merlin's beard was she meant to know the disadvantage of owning her own muggle vehicle? Honestly, her plans didn't extend that far. Her father said he'd get her one eventually and she said she'd be willing to learn to drive one but that was also eventually. Nothing she needed to concern herself with for now. All her focus was on getting her apparition licence. Cassia and her were going to have them for next term or try at least.

Consider this question skipped....and the next one, she was skipping that one too. Was there actually a question she COULD answer in this whole bloody thing? Lex was so engrossed in her homework that she never noticed the Professor walk by...then come back until she heard the Prefect greeting. Technically, he could have been talking to any one of 6 other people...but none of them were in the vicinity, it had to be her.

Lex looked up at him and caught him bending to look at her...

Bliiiiiiiiiiiiiink.

He couldn't recognize her....? "Is....that in a bad way Sir....?"

Crap.

...actually, first of all, ouch! Olly didn't really resist when Schuyler grabbed onto her wrist and hence made her stop and turn back towards the Gryffindor. That didn't mean the sudden movement hadn't hurt. Seriously, those legs, if they didn't get that whole aging thing fixed soon she was going to...do something. She couldn't really focus on that right now.

Not when Schuyler was talking and giving her looks and demanding an answer.

What was she going to say? 'Nothing' was a very tempting answer but Olly knew that that would not be accepted. She knew that for a fact actually. From experience. So that was out of the question. "You said 'must be'." Okay, maybe she SHOULD have gone with 'nothing'. At least that would have bought her a little more time. She briefly glanced down at Schuyler's hand on her wrist before meeting her girlfriend's gaze again.

Yes, that was what she'd wanted to say. Anything you'd like to add?

Schuyler chewed on her lip a little and watched Olly from beneath her eyelashes. She still looked hesitant about saying what she originally intended to say. But when the words finally did slip from her lips, Schuyler was glad that she didn't have to pry any further. The corners of her mouth twitched up ever so slightly. "I did." And now the faint smile on her face was distinguishable. "So did you," she reminded her, despite the fact that Olly had said it in quite a different fashion.

She kept her eyes on Olly, even when the other girl glanced down at their hands momentarily. Subconsciously, she slipped her mittened fingers down further to wrap them around her girlfriend's. Maybe if Olly hadn't stopped, she would have let this go for now. Maybe if she hadn't been reminded of what had been said a few seconds back. But both of those things happened, and Schuyler wasn't one to keep things to herself. Especially not with the girl in front of her.

"I think it is, Olly." Even though 'true' and 'love,' those two words put together, side by side, were usually just deemed a cliche these days. Not always, though. Not when it was you who were feeling them. "I know it is. I mean.." It was her turn to lower her eyes to their hands now. "I mean, it is for me, at least." And oh, how she wanted it to be so for Olly too.

Was it in a bad way? "I mean," what did women hate the most?, "with this weird," telling their age!, "aging and stuff..," and being told they looked terrible, "but on the bright side," she looked too terrible not to say anything!, "I," but he tried his best to save it, "recognised you in the end." He smiled as if that was a great accomplishment.

Well. Could he? She didn't have that blasted monster with her, did she?

Lex tilted her head, fixing the man with a curious look as she waited for him to explain. For a moment he seemed to be struggling with his words and she could wait. Her eyes drifted back to her parchment and the reminder that she was in the middle of homework. Just as she was about to get scribbling again, he said that.

Her head snapped up sharply and all the reminders that she was slowly dying--because yeah, she wasn't about to listen to adults who didn't seem to have a clue either--came right back at her. Starting with her hair.

"Weird? It's absolutely horrific sir!" Weird? No. There were better words. "I haven't seen my blonde hair since September. My muscles ache and I successfully broke a bone bludgering someone else in my last Quidditch match." She rose from her spot and started toward him, holding out a lock of her hair for him to see.

"Grey. Do you know what colour Professor Botros' hair is right now???" Hmmmmmmmmmm??? "Blonde." She barely squeaked out, possibly getting a little TOO dramatic. Alexa latched onto the man not to worry she wasn't about to cry. "You're a potion-y person, you have to help me, PLEASE. There must be something. I've got PLANS before I die. BIG ones!" And a few fake!sniffles. Someone had to start feeling sorry for her and making her better and the Healer, the BoG and the Headmistress clearly weren't those someones.

There was a smile. She could see it. There was a smile on Schuyler's lips. Olly stared at it for a looong moment before meeting the other girl's gaze again when she pointed out that she, Olly, had said it too. "That was different." Obviously. Because she hadn't been serious. It had been a figure of speech. Now, though, now they were being serious.

Olly took a step forward, closer to Schuyler. Her eyes one again dropped to their hands, an unreadable look on her face. Then she grinned quite suddenly, amused by the current situation. Though her grin turned a little sheepish when she looked back up.

I think it is, Olly.

Her expression turned into one of doubt. "Is it?" They were talking about 'true love' right now. What did that even MEAN? Love, okay, yes, she...well, she sort of understood the concept of love, yes. But 'true love'? As opposed to, what, fake love? It did sound a lot like a cliché, solely used for mockery like she had had earlier.

So, she needed a different approach to this. Kissing Schuyler seemed like a good idea. So Olly did just that. She could form a coherent sentence in her head while she was doing that. Yes.

Schuyler read the doubt that was written across Olly's face and now part of her wished the subject hadn't even been brought up at all. She wasn't sure whether Olly's question was a rhetorical one or not, and although the sixteen-year-old decided against repeating herself, she stood by her words in silence. The word 'true' was the real culprit here, making things sound cheesy and redundant. If you loved someone then of course it was true. Otherwise it wouldn't be love; it'd be something else.

She found herself getting so caught up in thoughts as she looked at the other girl that she hadn't even registered that Olly was moving this way for a kiss. Consequently, she responded a fraction of a second late, but then kissed her back for a good little while. And after she pulled back, she tilted her head forward again and pressed one more kiss against her lips.

Well, if she hadn't already been infected, she certainly was now.

Someone was angry.

Someone had gone through terrible things.

SOMEONE WAS TOUCHING HIM!

Cosgrach took an involuntary step backwards in fear as if he was a medieval noble and she was of common people, but they he held himself. He was playing with fire there, so he shouldn't make stupid moves. It is fine, he said to himself, it is alright.

"I--er--" But he WAS one of those sissy nobles that fled with all the money and without any honour when facing something unwanted. "I'm sure you do, and you won't die!" He wasn't squealing, nope. But his face was flushed in slight terror. "You won't die! But I'm no healer. I only make the potions she wants. She's to diagnose you or maybe Fuller if this is a curse put on Hogwarts."

Except, like she said, Botros was getting significantly younger, and then there were the lucky folk like him who weren't affected.