Louis raised his eyebrows as Lux ordered him to dive into the lake and catch her a mermaid. "Don't ask twice or I'll really have to do it," he said. As a loyal squire, it was his job to do anything the Lady ordered, even if it was a totally crazy request. Like mermaid-hunting. With his luck, Lou would prolly get eaten by the giant squid.

As Lux shared she didn't have any plans, Louis nodded his head quietly, trying his best not to look too pleased, since the girl herself didn't seem too happy. "I'm sure you'll have a great time with your friends," he said encouragingly, playfully ruffling her red hair.

More giggles. "If you went, you might see Bart and talk to him. Then you could get. Him to come to the surface." Killing two birds with one stone and all that. Lux really did want to meet that squid, and it was so cool that it shared a name with one of her friends.

Nod. Yes, Louis was right about that, she thought as she had another sip of her Baylux. She did not mean to be a brat about it, since she was supposed to be growing up. "Yep, I think I will hang out with anyone that wants to do something with me." Surely there would be fun things to do on her birthday.

"Bart?" Lou repeated with a raised eyebrow, looking puzzled. The squid had a NAME? He thought his name was just Giant Squid! Huh. So what was the Whomping Willow's real name, then? Timmy?

"Oh, everyone will want to do something with you that day, I'm sure. " Louis assured her with a soft chuckle, opening up the picnic basket and pulling out a sandwich for the girl. "Cucumber?" Her fave, right?

"Bart," Lux repeated in agreement with what Louis had said. "My friend, Bart told me that they have the same name. You know Bart, right? He is the same Year as me and on your Quidditch team." Bart was friends with Bay as well as her, and Louis DID watch the matches, right? If not, she was having a talk with him and dragging him to the games. No Squire of hers was getting away with not watching Quidditch.

Louis seemed pretty sure of that. "Why you say that?" Lux asked as she watched hiim pull out a cucumber sandwich. "Yummy, you remembered my favourite. Though Bay makes a really nice turkey sandwich." It had been healthy as well, who would have thought.

Louis’s eyebrows raised as Lux explained. HUH. You really do learn something new everyday. As for the Bart boy, he wasn’t too sure. “His name sounds familiar, but I don’t think we’ve properly met,” he said. He’d probably heard it around the common room or from Bay or something, if the other boy was a Gryffindor too.

And then Lux was questioning him on his predictions. Lou’s blue eyes widened and he bit at his bottom lip, looking a little startled. How could he forget Lux had a habit of questioning and examining every little word he said?! He’d have to be VERY careful what he said around her. The last thing he needed was another Baylux scenario where he’d have to make up another ridiculous thing just to keep up with a lie.

“Well, because… it’s what usually happens, isn’t it? On people’s birthdays, their friends want to spend time with them,” Louis explained casually, his eyes falling to the sandwich he’d pulled out for himself. He’d better start changing the topic soon. At the mention of turkey sandwiches by Bay, Lou raised an eyebrow. “Really? I’m gonna have to ask him to make me one next time. Turkey’s my favourite.”

"He's really nice. I'm surprised you don't know him." Seemed like she would have to introduce them to each other soon enough. But moving on. "Louis, go into the lake and talk to Bart for me and get me a mermaid. Please." It was a formal request from a Lady to her Squire, so he could not refuse it. Or she would cry.

Lux went thoughtful at his explanation. "That makes sense. So I am sure that I will still have fun on my birthday even without a party. I wonder what presents I will get." A girl could want presents, and they didn't have to be expensive. Something like books would be good enough in her eyes. "Oh, yes. Bay actually made something healthy. It was shocking. And he didn't even want to eat cookies after, because he was so full!" Absolutely shocking.

Lou was quite happy and merry eating his neatly-assembled turkey sandwich when— 'AS;LDA'KF;J *COUGHCOUGHCOUGH* The boy’s face turned the brightest shade of red as he found himself choking on what had once been a delicious snack; now it was his cause of death. Oh, he could just see it on his tombstone already… - Louis Bolton. 15. Killed by a turkey sandwich. But he was still so young!

Fortunately, after a minute-long coughing fit, the boy was able to breathe again. And man, did he need air. Did Lux SERIOUSLY want him to jump into the lake, talk to the giant squid, AND catch a mermaid?!! What did she think he was, Superman!? For Merlin’s sake, the boy was lucky he could tie his shoes properly each morning.

“L—Lux, I… I don’t think…” How could he even begin to break it to her? He looked at that adorable little face and immediately regretted it. UGH. He couldn’t say no to her when she was giving him that innocent look! And adding a sweet ‘please’. ;______; “……………. Fine…”

Too traumatized to continue eating his turkey sandwich, Louis set it down on his plate and grabbed one of the cupcakes with vanilla frosting that he had made earlier that morning, just for their little picnic. Yeah, something sweet should sober him up.

The mention of Bay making AND eating something healthy did make the boy laugh, though. “That’s amazing, I wish you’d caught it on camera,” he said with a chuckle. “He invited me to visit him over the summer so I’ve started a collection of sweets to smuggle into his house. If you have any suggestions, let me know."

Bart shuffled his slippered feet tiredly towards the courtyard. He wanted to try the concentration potion and do some reading. Making his way out to the courtyard he blinked from the sun and looked around. He needed a good place to sit, but where was that. He shuffled over to an empty seat, but it seemed the sun would be glaring at his paper. So he moved to another place and that was just not where he wanted to be. Shuffling around some more he finally decided on a spot and sat down.

Taking his book bag off his shoulders he opened it and pulled out the potion. Taking the vial and drinking it. Then he pulled out his potions book and opened it. This was never going to work he thought before taking a breath and turning the page. Reading the first line, Bart got lost in the potions and ingredients, and why this went with that or that went with this. His mind letting him read the words without worrying about the distractions around him.

Professor Culloden was right. He was totally right. Bart got excited and pulled parchment out to even take notes.

OMG, was Louis choking?!

Eyes widened with worry, Lux started patting Louis on the back so that he would not die from his turkey sandwich. It would be all her fault, and she would have to live with that fact for the rest of her life. Plus, she would miss her Squire.

Stopping when he seemed to be okay, Lux sighed in relief. No turkey sandwich related death after all. AND he was going to go in the lake for her. "Thank you so much, Louis." It was so amazing, and she gave her friend a big hug.

Catch it on camera. haha Louis was funny. "I wish! And I am going to see him over the summer too." Yes, she was. And they were going to do lots of fun things. She was so excited. "I can help you, yes. Though I have a feeling he would like anything that doesn't have bugs in it. So no to Cockroach Clusters." Because ewww.

Despite his inner unwillingness to go along with Lux’s demand, Louis couldn’t help but smile when the girl thanked him. She was so sweet and cute, how could he say no to her? Besides, she was his best mate’s future bride, so it was his obligation to make sure she was always happy and pleased.

“Not a problem, m’lady.”

When she hugged him, the boy returned the gesture, ending it with a playful ruffle of her pretty red hair. What? He liked doing that.

And then Lux was spilling some juicy details. Apparently, HE wasn’t the only guest at the Bay home that summer? “Oh?” Louis looked at the girl with raised eyebrows. “And what do you guys have planned?” A snogging session, maybe? Making your inevitable relationship official? HMMM? Curious!Lou was curious.

Louis was so sweet. Lux beamed when he hugged her back then ruffled her hair. Her Squire certainly seemed to enjoy doing that, and it was a nice affectionate gesture.

Errr...

Honestly, she had no real idea what her and Bay were going to do. "I'm not sure. Watch movies? Hang out? Have him carry me around on his back?" The possibilities were endless. "Why?" Was Louis being snoopy again? She had a feeling he was.

Movies? Innocent hanging out? Piggyback rides? THESE WERE ALL FUTURE-COUPLE DOINGS. And Louis could hardly contain his giddiness at the idea. By this time next term, his OTP would so totally be official. Unable to wipe the huge smile from his face, Lou took a greedy bite from another cupcake.

Mmmmm. “Want one?” he asked, turning to Lux. “I made them myself.”

Oh, why was he asking about their summer plans?
Louis shrugged his shoulders. “Just curious.” At least this time he was saying the truth.

Oooookay. Weird look was weird.

Lux raised her brow as Louis seemed to be really excited about her and Bay's hanging out and having non-official plans. "I know why you are curious, Louis." He was super mega wanting them to date; the way that he was acting over them spending time together in the summer had tipped her off. And it was really nice that he was a supporter, but the look in her eyes made it seem as if he was already planning a wedding.

No. Just no.

She was not even dating Bay yet.

"I would love a cupcake though." Happily, she took one and had a bite.

Yummy.

Louis almost dropped his half-eaten cupcake as Lux announced she was onto him. WHAT?! HOW?! He wasn't even obvious! "What how why no-- no. I'm not curious at all, I don't know what you're talking about, m'lady." Yes, denial was the best strategy at this point.

Looking a little guilty now, Louis stared at the grass as he finished off his snack. He looked up again as Lux accepted his offer of a cupcake and grinned, handing the girl one from the basket. "Let me know what you think." If they got the Lady Lux seal of approval, maybe he'd make them more often.

Lux raised her brow as Louis overreacted to her stating the obvious. It was cute how clueless he was sometimes. Of course not realizing how bad she was herself. Cough. "It's okay, Louis. It is obvious, is all... I'm glad you support us. But you know, I don't think he has plans to do anything as of yet?" He was still with Christmas for all she knew. Who knows how long that would continue for.

She was being patient for Bay, because she really liked him.

Oh. The cupcake. "It's wonderful." She meant that too.

Warily, Louis very slowly turned his guilty gaze toward Lux, listening as the girl calmly explained how obvious he was. Oh gee, he’d have to work on that. He smiled, though, relieved that she wasn’t upset or anything. “I… yeah, I definitely support you guys.” He nodded his head. It felt good to finally admit that he was a total fangirl.

As for Lux’s suspicion on Bay’s lack of plans, Louis’s expression turned a little thoughtful. He thought back on his conversations with Bay, but found no clues on whether the boy had planned anything yet or not. He had a feeling his fellow Gryffindor was waiting to resolve the situation with his current girlfriend first.

“I think Bay has a few things he needs to take care of before he can fully pursue something with you,” he said, smiling as the girl then approved of his cupcake. "Thanks."

It was good to see that the look of horror on her friend's face was replaced by relief. Louis really had no idea how obvious he had been. Lux smiled. "Yeah, otherwise he would be cheating on Christmas. I suppose it still counts as that even if he never sees her?" As far as Lux knew, Bay hadn't seen Christmas in months.

Musing on the situation, she took another bite of her cupcake. "Have you been working in the kitchens with the House Elves?"

Brynn had a bit lost in thought as she sat on her bench, not really paying much attention to the handful of students hanging out or walking through the courtyard. Her focus was elsewhere and she thought for a moment to pull out a notebook for some distracted doodling when a familiar voice pulled her out of her reverie.

"Fern, hi.." Brynn turned more fully towards her friend, offering her a smile as the other girl took a seat next to her. The redhead looked at her for a moment. Fern had so much enthusiasm. Brynn supposed she had felt like that once upon a time ago too. But she had no energy anymore. And she wondered if she ever would again. She really wished someone would figure out something because this really sucked.

What's up? Nothing really, she supposed, and the first year gave a little shrug. "Just hanging out, I guess.. what about you?" She was always good for some interesting news from the corridors of Hogwarts. Maybe her BFF could distract her from her thoughts. "I was just thinking how I can't wait till summer, actually.." And there was probably some homework she was meant to be doing, but she really couldn't be bothered with that right now. Besides, this would most definitely be more fun.

Brynn was watching. Well, it hadn't been her intention to just stand there and stare, but that was the way it ended up as she ad headed outside. The redhead had every intention on going to Quidditch practice, like a good little Ravenclaw player, but as she shuffled to the doorway of the courtyard to make her way out to the pitch, a curious sight caught her eye.

Bart was out there and she was about to walk over and say hi but he was doing something weird. Or what looked weird to her at the time, so she leaned against the archway for a moment, watching. A potion from the looks of it.. but what and why? She watched for another moment with eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out just what he was doing and why he seemed so excited now. Was it something to counter the aging effects?

Completely forgetting about Quidditch practice, the first year walked over to Bart and dropped herself onto the seat next to hi. "Whatcha doing?"

Lou nodded his head at Lux’s correct assumption. Though he, too, had not seen the girl in a while. ACTUALLY…. “I just realized I’ve never even met Christmas…” Louis muttered thoughtfully, eyebrows furrowing. This was why he usually forgot his best mate had a girlfriend at all. “Was she at the Valentine’s dance lessons?” He did remember hearing her name for the first time then, but couldn’t recall if he’d actually seen the girl.

And then Lux was asking about the kitchens and house elves. Riiight. He almost forgot he’d been caught. With his ears turning a little red, Lou looked away from her. “Yeah, I… I’ve been helping them with some stuff. They’ve been helping me too.” Nod nod. Yep, that’s all there was to it. Nothing more.

Yes, they both knew that Bay was too nice and proper and not a dirt bag so he was not going to do what was considered to be cheating. That was part of what made Lux like him so much. "Errr, yes? I think she went with Bay? I didn't really talk to her there..." Lux confessed. In all honesty she was not sure she had talked to the older girl at all. Christmas seemed to be really busy with studying, so really Lux had only met up with her a few times over the school year.

And well, didn't Louis sound cryptic.

"I see." Lux raised her brow, wondering if there was something he was hiding, or if she was just being paranoid. Probably the latter.

The tired first year slowly dragged her feet as she made her way into the courtyard outside. It was actually becoming a lot warmer outside (finally) & she certainly didn't want to be spending it inside, regardless of her current old state or not! Holding onto a piece of folded up parchment in her tiny hands, she made her way towards a bench, deciding that this would be the place she'd read her letter. After taking a few moments to carefully place her bum down on the bench, she was soon opening her sealed letter. A brief second did make her wonder who it could be from & then she'd realized it could be no one else other than...her father.

Once settled & her letter opened, the first year began to read over her father's letter. From the looks of it, it seemed that her father was becoming very upset with the little girl that she hadn't been writing to him as often as she'd promised before she left to come to Hogwarts. And he felt that she hiding secrets from him & possibly going against her wishes by interacting with dangerous strangers. Josette soon lowered the not very nicely worded letter & slightly drooped her head feeling terrible. Had she really been such a terrible daughter to make her wonderful father worry so? Well...it's not she had been intentionally trying to upset him. But why would he write such mean words like that? Josette closed her eyes tightly as she tried not to let herself get upset...or worse, cry in public. It was something she definitely didn't want to do, especially since it was such a nice spring day outside.

Vesper was on the prowl for subjects; the willing and unwilling alike. She'd gotten bored with the last few assignments they'd been given by professors and needed her sketching to take the edge off...if Vesper could be considered to have an edge about her in the first place.

This lead her to the grounds, namely the courtyard. Warm weather meant more people outside...which also meant more possibilities. Her eyes danced over her surroundings...When they skimmed across a rather distraught looking Josette, Ves frowned. They had quidditch within the next couple of days. Why were there almost!tears on Josie's face?

Ves needed to investigate.

Casually making her way over to the First Year, the Ravenclaw perched. On the bench-thing. "Hello!"

Beam.

Josette could feel her tears fighting her, wanting to form & make themselves visible, but she refused to let it as best she could. Suddenly there was a voice & it nearly made the first year fall off of the bench. Josette frantically lifted her head only to rest her eyes on a familiar face. It was Vesper, one of her teammates! And not only that, the singer she'd seen at the Half-Hearted Ball. Speaking of which, she's an amazing did she know? Josette really hoped she knew, because she was really talented.

Oh wait..words.

Yes, words Josette.

Josette gave a light wave before she softly spoke, "H-Hi Vesper.."

Did Josie see her beamy face? "How are you doing?" Hmm?

Vesper had her notebook already opened, too...and was scribbling things down. Things she was going to say? Unrelated things? It was hard to say..."Are you excited about the match?"

More scribbling.

How was she doing?

Josette bit lower lip as her blue eyes briefly scanned downwards towards her letter once again. She lifted her head again before she answering the older girl, who was giving Josette a pretty beamy face, that did almost make the first year want to smile as well. "..Sad?"

That would be a really good way to describe the way she had been feeling. And some way else, especially her feelings about the match coming up. "It's..my first match...I'm..really nervous I guess.." There was no guessing..she was petrified..

...What was she scribbling?