Tessa smothered a giggle as Lux joined in the bouncing. It was just too exciting, they couldn't keep it pent up that easily. She looked around them, hoping that they weren't disturbing anyone. However, the more they bounced, the more likely it was that it would end up that way.

"I know," she said with a grin. "Come on, why don't we head outside and start putting these plans into action," she suggested, standing up and extending her hand toward Lux. "I'm sure you and Ana will think of a perfect time," she agreed. And she would start thinking of a good time too. "Let me know what I can do to help," she said, as the two of them walked together toward the exit. "Ready for another flying lesson?" she asked with a grin. [/QUOTE]

Lux happily took Tessa's hand and let the girl pull her up from her seat. "That sounds great, Tessa! You should meet Ana soon!" It would be better for them all if they knew each other, so Ana and Tessa needed to get together and be familiar with each other.

Excitedly, she led her friend out of the library by the hand.

Cosgrach, being a man, was oblivious to the whatever colour change her cheeks went, and just shrugged. "Don't thank me, thank yourself." SHE did it--being good at 'head'ing and all, after all. He was just pointing it out.

Uni? Magizoology? He nodded in approval. "It will be good for you."

Oh, she played Quidditch too? He grinned. "I can't wait to see you on the pitch, if you still play here?" Because the way she said it, he got the impression that she was a star in here, but she was choosing animals over the sport.

Thank yourself. Right. Ella just nodded, not wanting to say what she was thinking. She wasn't good at thanking herself. Honestly, she usually was convincing herself she could be doing more so yeah, not going to happen.

"I think so too. I've always liked school." And learning. And creatures. Going to Uni for Magizoology just seemed like a good fit.

So he was a Quidditch fan, eh? Ella returned the grin and nodded. "I still play. I actually Captained my fifth and sixth term." Which had been the best ever, honestly. She'd be lying if she said she didn't miss it but Kaiden was going to be great. She had faith in him.

"Did you play when you went here, Professor?"

Cosgrach nodded wisely. She had that air on her--the kind that would enjoy school for a hundred years. If her heart was where creatures were, so be it. No, he was more impressed about her captaincy here. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, and nodded his head up and down, impressed.

"Yeah, I had been a beater of Slytherin for two terms," he said, though his mind was still on her captaincy. "Looks like we've got a real gem of a student, though, Miss Bishop," he said with a grin. "What else are you good at?"

The surprised expression was noted but Ella tried not to pay it any mind. She simply smiled at the nodding and left it at that.

A beater huh? "That's cool, Sir. I enjoy beating. Well, after Keeping, I guess." Though she'd been lucky enough to try every position except for seeker at least once. Whatever worked best for the lineup, that's where she went.

A gem?

The eighteen year old wore a sheepish expression and shrugged. "I'm not so sure about that, Professor." But it was nice of him to think so. As for what else she was good at, the blonde didn't know. She honestly didn't think she was that good at much but she was interested in lots of things. "I like Gobstones." And hair. And her boyfriend. And she hoped she was good at Gobstones, and doing her hair, and being a Girlfriend but she didn't say any of that.

So her preference was playing a keeper? Cosgrach nodded. "I can't wait to see you this year then, Miss Bishop." He would probably see every game, but he was going to watch Slytherin, her, Alice and West with different eyes.

Oh, c'mon! "BAAAH," he exclaimed with an impatient wave of his hand. "Be confident already and embrace your potential." REALLY. She was good. Was she blind or what? Because that wasn't being modest, if she tried to be so.

"That, I don't really like, between you and me." He grinned. He didn't get gobstones, but he didn't tell her so. Instead, he got up. "I should head to my office," he said with a cordial smile. "It was a great chat. Have a nice day." He nodded, turned and walked out.

So he'd be watching. ...No pressure there. The blonde smiled nervously and nodded. "Sounds good, Sir." And she'd definitely see him in the stands when she wasn't playing. She never missed a match if she could help it.

Did he just bah at her? O_O WELP. That was definitely a first. The eighteen year old raised her eyebrows slightly and bit her lip, feeling silly. "I...sorry. I'll try and do that, Professor."

"To each his or her own, yeah?" Ella grinned back. Gobstones wasn't for everyone and that was fine. She'd only just recently gotten the hang of it. And then he was leaving. Okay, then. "See you around, Professor. Thanks for the chat." Waaaaaave.

And back to studying.

SIGH.

"You should." Alice nodded a little, giving Bay an encouraging smile. He could do it, she was sure. "Maybe you could get her one or something. Her own furball. For, like, Christmas." Were pygmy puffs expensive? She had no idea, but if Victor could afford it, then there was no point in not doing it, yeah?

No books. The seventh year didn't even want to think about something like not having literature to lose herself in. "I really like Muggle novels. The old kind, from way long ago... classics and stuff. What kind is your favorite?"

Bay nodded in agreement. "Oh thats a great idea!! I'll owl my parents to see if I can do it" he said happily. "i'll give you full credit for the idea" he told her while getting more comfortable.

"I love muggle books too" he told her… but not like really old.. he wondered what she meant about how old… "I love reading westerns… its my thing" he said while picturing a western in his head "the duels, the horses… old fashion living.. whats not to love" laughing

Bay pulled out a chocolate frog, he didn't know if they were allowed in the Library but he was real quite about it plus he had a few extras. "did you want a chocolate frog Alice?" he asked her.

Derry was in dire need of some relaxation. She'd triiiied to chill out by going for a walk but she really couldn't be bothered with the cold outside, and she kind of wanted to avoid large amounts of people, so she'd come up to the library instead. At least in the library you were guaranteed only to have one or two people to talk to, and that seemed about right for Derry at the moment. So, taking a history book from the shelves, she found a nice, comfy window seat and sat down to read about the last wizarding war. Everyone knew about this... but she'd never actually been taught it. All Derry knew were the basics... the name of Harry Potter, legendary Dumbledore, all that lot. She kinda wanted to find out what actually happened. So... reading.

Adrienne had always enjoyed the Hogwarts library, with its hugeness and the old sort of feeling and, of course, all the books. Plus the stained glass windows were gorgeous, what with the coloured light streaming through and illuminating the dusty rows of bookshelves just right. Had she been an artist, she was sure she'd want to paint it, but given her inability to draw so much as a smiley face well she only really wanted to grab a book and curl up with the glass figure of Rowena Ravenclaw standing tall over her.

There was one book that had been recommended to her, by whom she couldn't remember, by the name of Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century, but scanning the shelves brought her nothing but a frown as she couldn't seem to find it anywhere. Adrienne was about to head towards the front of the library to ask Kitridge if he could help her find it when she caught a glance of the book that an older, red-haired girl was reading. Bending her knees to get a better look, she found that it was in fact the one she'd been searching for, so after a moment she strode up to the girl. Maybe if they became friendly, she'd be able to wheedle the book out of her hands.

"How's the book?" she asked. She was quieter than usual, but hardly whispering, since the place seemed to be pretty empty today. "I've heard good things about that one."

Derry was pretty immersed in this book, something she loved about history was that a lot of the events read like any other stories. Especially the exciting ones - cause this war stuff was awesome. It was kinda horrifying too, but it was in the past n stuff. Couldn't change it now.

She'd hardly noticed that she wasn't alone as she turned the pages. She might have been here in body, but in her mind it was 1998, and she was with these awesome people at the battle of Hogwarts. Part of her was really irked at how the Slytherins were portrayed in the book, it wasn't like they'd exactly had a choice - they'd been sent home just because of a few people's stupidity. But then she supposed the writer must have been anti slytherin or something.

She only looked up when she heard a voice, taking a second to reintroduce herself to the modern world before giving the girl a smile. "Yeah it's good." she said, half closing it with a thumb to hold her place. "I'm just... brushing up on stuff. I never knew all this about the horcruxes and stuff." Because she'd never been told. Which was a shame, because that was an incredible plot device that she could have used in one of her stories. But nooooo, people didn't think it was important to tell her. ... Also she'd never asked.

Lux had wanted to have a nice quiet spot to continue reading The Princess Bride, so she had headed over to the library. Sitting in a nice comfy chair by the windows, she opened her book to where she had left off with it. It was a real shame it was cold outside, because otherwise she would be sitting under the beech tree that was near the lake.

Tessa rarely found herself in the library- but here she was. HEr fingers trailed over the many books, glancing over the names on the spines. She doubted anything could catch her interest, but she had to find something since her decrepit body couldn't handle her usual activity.

That was when she came across her young friend. "Cucumber!" she exclaimed, smiling at the Hufflepuff. "That looks like an interesting book," she said, peering at the title and cover. "What's it about?"

Lost in her own world, Lux jumped when she heard her nickname being called, book falling to the floor in the process. "Hey, Tessa! I'm reading The Princess Bride. It has adventure and fantasy in it, and a little bit of romance." She was not sure if Tessa had heard of it before or not. There was a movie made of the book, but Lux had not seen it yet, maybe she would at some point to see how it compared to the book. "I decided to give The Lord of the Rings a little bit of a break," she explained.

Tessa winced as the book fell. "Sorry Lux," she said, slowly bending down to pick up the book. However, part of the way up, her back gave a twinge and she winced. She took a moment and then slowly finished rising, handing the book over before taking a seat near the young Hufflepuff.

"Princess Bride? I think I've heard of it..." she said, trying to think back. All of it was sounding familiar... "I believe my friends showed me the movie at a school in America," she said, tapping her finger to her cheek thoughtfully. She giggled at Lux's comment. "Understandable- I don't think I could make it through the first book, much less the series," she replied with a sigh.

"So, where are you in the book?" she asked, propping her head on her hand.

With a smile, Lux shrugged it off as if it was nothing - which it was. "No worries. What are you in the library for?" Not that Tessa never read... it just was that she didn't seem to share the love of books that she or Bay did.

"It's a rather interesting book. And The Lord of the Rings is lovely." Just long and dragging in spots, but she was not going to get into that with Tessa. "I am at the part where Buttercup is reunited with her love, Westley. She thought he was killed by a pirate." If Tessa wanted more explanation, she could give it.

"Well, since I can't do as much flying at the moment, I figured I would try to find something to occupy my time..." she looked at the books with a sigh. "My best bet would be the Quidditch section, but that just makes me sad," she explained with a pout.

"Oh?" she asked, listening to Lux' explanation. "Oh that sounds like a lovely part," she said with a soft laugh. "How come he wasn't killed by the pirate? I don't remember what happened in the movie," she said, settling into the chair.

Aww, poor Tessa. Lux knew her friend was really hurting because she couldn't play anymore. "I'm sure they will find a cure soon so that you and the rest of the people with this ageing thing will be back to normal." Then Tessa would be able to fly like before and the flying lessons could resume.

Nod. "Yeah, it is nice. But they are being really sappy." Sappiness wasn't as bad in her eyes anymore though. No surprise to her as to why, but Tessa did not know about her and Bay kissing. "Something about how the pirate wanted him to take his place." She did not totally understand why, but she was not questioning it.

Tessa normally would have been fidgeting in the chair by now- but she just didn't have the energy. She tried not to think about that, and focused on Lux and the book. "I hope so," she replied glumly, but again, pushed those thoughts away.

"Well, despite the action in that book, the couple does get sappy when they're together. Wesley was quite amazing if I remember correctly," she said with a wide grin. He was smart, could fight with a sword... she wondered briefly if Sander could sword fight? Anyway... "Oh, that's right," she said with a nod. "Sounds like a fun book. Did you reach the swamp yet?" she asked with a grin.

It was unusual to hear Tessa sounding glum, and Lux decided to drop that subject in favour of focusing on happier things. It was better than wallowing in sadness and whatnot.

"Oh, so it seems that you remember some parts of it." That was good, because maybe Tessa could tell her if the movie was worth watching or not. Surely she would be able to get a copy to watch it if it was supposed to be good. "Swamp? What swamp?" Now she was slightly confused, because what was the importance of a swamp? Seemed she would find that out soon enough.

Getting to and from the library was slow going and pretty hard work these days, so Tobias often had no choice but to study here. Carrying books down to his dormitory was out of the question, and he'd mislaid his wand yet again, meaning he couldn't levitate them down. It was kind of frustrating, because Tobias never really worked well in libraries; his active and bouncy state usually made sure of that. But now? Well, now that he was old, Tobias was a lot LESS bouncy and hyperactive, and staying in the library was less difficult. But that didn't mean that the silence and the stillness of the place didn't unnerve him a bit.

He'd been up here doing some studying; Toby had, as usual, started off the year super enthusiastic about homework and extra studying, and steadily found himself losing that enthusiasm. It was only when he'd spotted Ella doing some studying of her own that he was minded of his personal promise to himself and his grandfather. So here he was.

Toby had spent about as long as he could bear up in the library and was shuffling his way out again, when his attention was caught by pretty lights strewn across the floor. The Hufflepuff was completely distracted in that moment, and followed the lights to their source. Wooooooooow.

If there was something Tobias loved, it was colour. And lights. And colourful lights. The third year found himself gazing up at the stained glass, drinking in every detail of the pictures. And, when his back and neck and knees began to sear with pain, Toby sat down on one of the window seats and went on gazing.

Cosgrach luckily wasn't affect by the silly symptoms or hyperactivity, and he also wanted to eliminate the chances of being disturbed by an unwanted visitor, so with the book he was reading, he passed the boring part of the library and directly went for the glass place. He loved the colour too, and he was going to enjoy reading -

One Tobias Tempus looking gloomily outside. Cosgrach stopped before he made any more noise. He didn't want to be noticed before he decided what to do. Of course, he could directly greet him and get over with it, but that wasn't... him. Instead, he walked to the boy sloooowly and carefully not to draw his attention, and when he was close enough -

"BOOM!"

Did it work? Did the boy JUMP?

Tobias wasn't paying attention to ANYTHING other than the windows and the pretty lights and the weirdly distorted view of the outside. He didn't expect anyone to SNEAK ATTACK him, so just sat there blissfully ignorant. It probably helped that his good ear was the one facing the window. But then...

KJFSDKDSJLSLHSDJKDKSHGKGSDKSJDG!

The Hufflepuff jolted violently and sort of flailed in surprise and let out a strangled yell. He clutched his chest over his heart with one hand, for he could feel it racing.

Eyes wide, Tobias looked around to see who his ATTACKER was, honestly not having any idea who'd want to scare him like that. The choice of phrase was interesting; maybe it was someone who knew his war cry (BADGERRRRR BOOOOOM). But that could be anyone.

But then Toby saw who it was, and his eyes narrowed. He wasn't mad or upset (though his heart was still racing at a billion miles an hour or something) but Tobias Tempus was definitely one for the dramatics, and so he mock!glared at Professor Culloden and really laid it on thick.

"You."

Hey - he jumped! SUCCESS! Cosgrach laughed then, and made no attempt to do it quietly. And look how he glared around to spot the attacker - pure amusement!

Except, he wasn't angry at him, right? Because that would be bad. He didn't want Tobias to hate him. On the contrary, he wanted to have a good relationship with the boy because of Sophie and how the boy himself was pure positivity.

Although that 'you' and glared looked scary, Cosgrach wasn't one to despair. "Me." he answered, trying to match his tone, once his laughter subsided, and eyed the boy back. At worst, he'd just threaten him to either stop being angry with him or he'd deduct points. He wouldn't even hesitate if it came to that.