Cris had decided that he would run along the school grounds first thing in the morning. When he got to the Black lake, he decided that this was a place he couldn't just run by. To do so would be a travesty. The scenery was just too beautiful.

Slowing down to a jog and then a stroll, he finally made his way to the edge of the lake where he sat down on the grass. Leaning back on his arms, he stared out at the expansive lake. He watched the water rippling across the lake as the wind gently blew over it. Cris smiled to himself. This place reminded him of home.

"M'trying to get a good look at the giant squid." Maddie's eyes remained focused on the water below but she did smile a tiny bit. "Y'think there's some kind of special way of getting him to come up and say hello, Dima?" Or wave hello. Did he talk? Would he be mad that she they were disturbing him? It was a he, wasn't it? And yes, she knew it was Dima that had joined her. Good ears and all that. Maddie's mum always said she heard too much for her own good.

The brunette furrowed her brow and cleared her throat, deciding to try flattery and see how that worked. "Oh great and majestic Squid of the Black Lake, your presence is being requested at the dock." How was she doing? "If you could come up to say hello, we'd be ever so grateful." Maddie looked over at Dima and shrugged. Eh, it was worth a shot.

And now they'd just have to wait. Company coming too, apparently. The eleven year old glanced past Dima and down the dock at the approaching figure. Hopefully they weren't in trouble because Maddie couldn't afford detention this early on in her Hogwarts career. Not when she had bigger and possibly more destructive adventures to have later on.

Oh, the squid. The one that didn't eat children because that was the Groundskeeper's job. Dima remembered!

"D'you know what squids eat?" He wriggled closer to the edge of the dock, eyes patiently locked on the water. "Or what time of day they're most likely to come out? Or what their mating calls sound like?" They could go do research in the library and come back later! "The Groundskeeper says he rescues people sometimes, too. Maybe if one of us gets in and pretends to drown he'll come save us!" THEN they could see him.

Since the flattery option didn't seem to be doing the trick, he was about to start rattling off more ideas. But Dima fell silent when he saw Maddie's gaze change directions, opting to glance down the docks as well. Who was that? Did the stranger know what they were doing over here?

Had they brought squid food?

Probably not, but a kid could hope.

Ahhhh, the squid. That made sense. Well........ not really. Toby wasn't one to admit it, but he felt particularly uneasy when it came to the Giant Squid. It was just, you know, something about how it was a GIANT SQUID.

But these kids seemed interested. A little, err, too invested in the cause though. Tobias could hear the suggestion of pretending to drown, and figured that might not go down too well with, well... anyone.

"You could try calling his name," the Hufflepuff quickly interjected. There was no point in trying to pretend like he'd accidentally overheard them. "Saves you getting all covered in lake water and stuff."

By now he'd reached the kids, both of whom he recognised vaguely from the Ravenclaw table on the night of the Sorting. Toby didn't sit down yet, but stood back a little, squinting in the late September sun and unconsciously fiddling with the zip of his hood.

Kace decided he would take a walk to the black lake. He missed this place and in fact he just missed the idea of exploring the castle. He did like his home, but it didn't give him the freedom he craved. As he neared the lake, he noticed the giant squid was in there. He already had his swim trunks on ready to take a dip.

He put his towel near the edge of the lake and tested the water first. He had to make sure it wasn't too cold ya know?

It was a beautiful day and Jasmine decided to spend her time exploring the Hogwarts grounds. She wanted to see all of it and she was determined that before the year was over she would. After walking for a while, Jasmine found herself down by the lake. She loved the water and had been known to sit for hours just enjoying the view, the waves and sea breezes. While the lake was not the ocean, it was still beautiful in its own way.

Walking along without a care in the world, Jasmine was surprised to see a familiar face lounging in the grass. "Fancy meeting you here", she said to Cris while looking down at him from above. "Enjoying the view?" what were the odds of running into Cris this early in the morning?

Maddie didn't know ANY of the stuff Dima was asking but she did WANT to know. They could be investigators and go find out, right? Maybe interview the Groundskeeper and the Care of Magical Creatures professor too! She'd already started formulating questions in her head when the boy next to her suggested a fake drowning. Hey! That might actually work considering the whole flattery thing was a flop. Sad days.

She would have asked him if he'd do the honors since she didn't act and wasn't particularly fond of the whole drowning thing-fake or otherwise-but the older boy was more interesting at the moment. Plus he seemed to have an idea that wouldn't require her or Dima jumping into the water. She could get down with something like that.

"What's his name, anyway?" Maddie sat up properly and scooted to face the older boy, noting that he'd been sitting at their table during the feast. "And what's yours?" And he was fiddling with his zipper an awful lot. Ben said that people did stuff like that when they were nervous and up to no good. THIS kid wasn't up to know good, was he? Cause if he was, maybe they could help him out. Speculative looks for this boy.

"I'm Maddie and this is Dima." Cause introductions. Y'know.

Vesper wasn't up to anything in particular today. There were assignments, yes...but it wouldn't get done until last minute. Same with studying. She really was taking this term more serious....but today, she couldn't be bothered.

Restless. That's what it was.

Deciding to go in search of a distraction, the Ravenclaw packed up her sketching supplies and headed out. When in search for muses, the first thing Ves usually did was go outside. Today wasn't going to be any different, either.

Making her way to the lake, she plopped down near the water's edge and glanced around. Who would it be today? Her pencil was poised and ready!

Cris didn't realize someone was approaching until he heard the rustling sound of someone walking on grass behind him. Instinctively, he rolled around and assumed a crouching position, ready to pounce on the intruder, when he realized whom it was.

Not wanting to look like he was about to attack her, Crus quickly dropped back to lie on the grass, balancing his chin on an upright arm as he waved with the other. "Hi there, Jasmine. What a wonderful surprise to see you here. The view? It's amazing and it just got a whole lot more beautiful now that you're...I mean...it's getting really beautiful right now," he quickly corrected himself, smiling up at her at the same time.

Slowly getting up to a standing position, Cris pulled off his track jacket and placed it flat on the grass. "Would you like to join me? You can sit on my jacket if you want," Cris reached out his hand for hers.

Afraid that she had startled Cris, Jasmine was relieved when he waved at her. "It's nice to see you too", she said with a smile. "You got an early start this morning. I thought I was the only early bird around here."

When Cris placed his jacket on the ground for her to sit on, Jasmine's smile grew wider if that was even possible. A gentleman too, on top of everything else? "Why thank you kind sir", she said with her best southern belle accent. Reaching to take Cris' outstretched hand she allowed him to assist her in sitting down. Once seated, Jasmine made herself comfortable and turned to face Cris. "So how have things been going so far?"

Furmgoat was a hungry little owl. His wonky wings had flown him all the way from London to Scotland without one stop for a meal, and he was HUNGRY. But this letter was an urgent one - for whatever reasons the owl couldn't understand because humans were strange creatures - so he didn't waste time stopping when he had an important job to do.

With it being the beginning of the school year, it took longer to find the boy person than usual since all the students were flooding the grounds, but find him he did. Furmy swooped down in a circular motion, landing on one of the dock posts right beside the boy and staaaaaaring at him with his large owl eyes.

"Hooo."

Could the small human tell that he was hungry? Furmy put on what was akin to a pathetically starved look and waited around even while the letter had started babbling on in an obnoxiously loud and excited tone.

Feeeeeeeeeed me.... please?

Louis was preaching to the choir, it was certainly not easy! Not even a bit and Justine was a bit miffed at herself for not stretching first or something.. Also, it would have helped if she had actually been on time... Pfft, whatever. "Oui, it is very... "Ow you say... Taxing," Justine said, laying down on the cool green grass, still keeping Luna close to her chest. She was so fluffy! And so curious! Justine immediately adored the little thing and as she played with the kitten Justine decided she wouldn't be really pleased until she had one of her own. "She's the sweetest little zing Louis, I vant to eat 'er up," Justine said, speaking in a cutesy voice, half addressing the kitten and half addressing it's owner.

"Oh? 'ow did you meet 'er zen?" Justine asked, frowning slightly at this information. Perhaps they had met in Wizarding Paris? Didn't Louis mention going there before? It would make sense. There it was again... Beauxbatons and along with it the uncomfortable reminder of Justine's lie. Which was getting more and more complicated with every conversation the young girl had.

Oh no. Ohhhhhh Nooo. Le pantalon de Merlin, that wasn't a good question, she still hadn't gotten her story completely straight. Justine être calme, she just needed to take her time and she'd be fine, just fine. "Louis, 'ow ride of you to 'ave forgotten, I'm almost offended," Justine teased, trying to buy herself more thinking time. Think! Think! She needed to think! And quickly, Louis was clever, too clever and he would surely notice her stalling if she did it for long.

The moment Jasmine's fingers touched his, Cris felt a tingle all the way up his hand. Along with the tingling sensation, came a rise in his heartbeat and a strange sensation in deep in his belly. Now was not the time to have indigestion, Cris silently reprimanded himself even as it dawned on him that the feeling wasn't the same. He had indigestion and was very familiar with the sensation.

No...this feeling actually felt....nice. Get a grip, Cris. Gently assisting Jasmine into a seated position, Cris sat down next to her not realizing that he hadn't released her hand. Absent mindedly cradling it in his, he nodded.

"Yep I got up really early. I like to catch a run before breakfast. The run helps wake me up and gets me ready for the day. What about you? What has you up bright and early?" Cris cocked his head to look at Jasmine. He was interested to know her reason.

"As far as things are going? I guess it's okay. It still takes some getting used to. Waking up in a different bed and a different room. I can't wait for classes to start especially Care of Magical Creatures. I'm really looking forward to that." Cris began to smile just at the thought that he would be working with the same creatures his brother had before him.

"In fact, after classes this evening, I'm going to head down to the playpens to say hello to them. Would you like to come along with me?" Cris asked Jasmine hoping that she would say yes.

Shrugging Leo commented. "It's just that wearing heels in a boat is very unpractical. You need your balance Cassie." Smiling as she transfigured her heels into flat pink sandals he Leo explained. "I know women are very picky about what they put on their feet. I have two sisters." Both of them would have protested and made a scene if he had told them their heels weren’t suitable.

Luckily Cassie didn’t seem as fussy about. Grinning he affirmed. "Much better, cute choice but your feet might get wet in those." Since there was no rowing boat that didn’t leak just a little. Gesturing to the bait bucket full of worms he said "We need the worms to attract the fish." It was as simple as that. No fish would ever attack an undisguised hook.

Watching Cassie try to board the boat Leo did his best to hide a grin. Drying off his hands on his jeans he held out his left hand towards her. "You can hold onto my hand when you board the boat. Slow movements are advised since the boat is a little unsteady."

When Jasmine sat down, she realized that Cris was still holding her hand......and she liked it. Looking up at him, their eyes met and......um.......she.......um.... Why did those eyes have the ability to unnerve her so? A moment passed and Jasmine realized that they had been holding hands and staring at each other just a bit too long. She released his hand and dropped her eyes, blushing tremendously.

Regaining her composure sort of, Jasmine answered Cris' question. "Me? I'm up early because you know, military family and all. We do more before 6 a.m. than most people do all day. Wait that was the army.....anyway, you get the picture. Besides, I love to be outside early in the morning. Something about the fresh air just gets me going. It's kind of like my morning coffee."

Jasmine nodded her head as Cris explained how it took time to get used to new surroundings. She knew this to be true. Each time her family had moved, it had taken her longer to adapt than her siblings. "I guess we just have to be patient and give things a little time", she said. Jasmine perked up when Cris invited her to join him in visiting the magical animals. "Yes, I would like that very much." She knew that Cris must love animals because of his menagerie at home. Jasmine was curious to see what kinds of animals they had at the school. She could also check the playpens off her list of places to visit at Hogwarts.

Louis watched as Justine made herself comfortable on the green grass, her slender hands still wrapped around the fluffy white kitten that had made itself comfortable on her chest. He smiled warmly at the sight, and chuckled softly at the French girl’s words. “Good enough to eat, huh?” He playfully tickled the kitten’s belly, a gesture to which Luna responded by clawing at his finger and biting it eagerly.

How’d he meet Paloma?
“We were pen pals for a while…” he explained. “We didn’t actually meet until the summer. Then, next thing I know, she’s at King’s Cross announcing she’s coming to Hogwarts too.” He chuckled softly at the memory. Paloma had been sneaky and convinced him that she wouldn’t be able to join him at the castle, only to surprise him on the platform. It was probably the best surprise he’d ever received.

And then Justine was reprimanding him for forgetting which school she had gone to.
Oh. Naïve and innocent, Louis immediately fell for the trick, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink. Well, that was embarrassing. “I—I’m sorry…” His eyebrows furrowed above his blue eyes as his expression turned thoughtful. Despite that weird aging disease last term, the boy’s memory remained sharp, but for some reason he really just couldn’t remember Justine ever mentioning the school she had attended. After a few moments of flipping through memories in his mind and failing to find anything, Louis gave in. “I’m sorry, I really can’t remember. I assumed it was Beauxbatons, though?” Though if that had been the case, she would’ve met Paloma already, no? Hmm.

Kace was about to jump into the lake, when he noticed a girl there. She seemed to be older than him. She looked like she was stressed. He could figure it out because she was sketching on her pad. He smirked and went to join her. He walked over and coughed to not scare her.

"So whatcha drawing?" he asked as a conversation starter. "You thinking of doing a landscape or a portrait?" he asked knowing a little something about drawing.

Justine giggled as she watched the playful kitten bite Louis finger. "Vatch out Jeune Lion, she's going to bite it clean off," Justine said, grinning. at the show of affection between pet and owner. Of course Louis would be a cat person, he WAS a lion after all and lions were really just big, fluffier, wilder cats when it came down to it. Justine herself loved any animal, but she had a special fondness for cats, spiders and fwoopers,

The Ravenclaw was only half listening as Louis explained his friendship with Paloma, it wasn't that she wasn't curious (Justine was curious about everything after all), it was more that she was trying very hard to arrange her lie. If Paloma had been at Beauxbatons the term before Justine's first at Hogwarts, and then it only made sense that they would have met, obviously they hadn't, and she couldn't lie to Louis they had since he had been the one to introduce them! Perhaps she could say she had gone to another school? No, no. that would over complicate things too much. "Really? That is very interesting... You must have been so surprised," Justine said, so distracted by her own scheming that she failed to notice her Parisian accent slipping, slightly revealing her natural French Canadian, which was lighter and less refined sounding.

Louis was blushing and apologizing and a bit of Justine felt guilt over tricking the boy. The boy was so innocent, and so kind and here she was lying to him for reasons she didn't understand herself, but it was too late to go back now, she had told the lie to too many people, including Andrew who, if he knew she had been dishonest with him, would probably hate her. Besides, being French, French was well.. Fun.

"Don't apologize! I'm just teasing you," Justine said, smiling apologetically at the visibly embarrassed boy. The smile faltered just the tiniest bit as the boy asked her again. He was being particularly interested in this.. Was Louis suspicious? No, he couldn't be, he was far too naive, and her imitation was flawless, there was no one he'd seen through it. "Uhhh... Oui, yes it was Beauxbatons.. But uh, I was not zere for very long... Only zhree terms,"Justine quickly lied. There, that should fix it.

"She's definitely developing quite the bite," muttered Louis absentmindedly as Luna continued clawing at his hand and biting at his fingers. She managed to leave a few marks behind, looking rather smug and victorious as the giant retreated his hand from the battle. She returned her attention to Justine then, climbing up to her collarbone to better reach the dangling earrings which caused the kitten so much fascination.

"I was," Lou admitted with a nod. He smiled, but there was that slightly puzzled look in his blue eyes as his eyebrows furrowed once again. Had Justine's accent just... changed? It sounded a little off.

He didn't realize he was doing it, but Louis was now suddenly more aware of the girl's accent, paying closer attention to her pronunciation as she explained she had attended Beauxbatons for only three terms. "Really? How come you didn't stay longer? I've heard it's a great school. Pretty high up there with Hogwarts and Dursmtrang," he commented casually, a little too eager to hear Justine speak again.

"She must be teething," Justine thoughtfully said, wryly watching as the kitten did battle with it's owner's hand, she laughed, lightly as Luna returned with an air of unmistakable triumph to playing with Justine's earrings. "Did she 'urt you?" Justine asked, looking at the small teeth marks Luna had left on Louis' long fingers.

He was looking at her curiously, and Justine, feeling a little self conscious ran a hand through her long, sand-colored hair, trying to make it more manageable. Because it had to be her disheveled appearance causing her friend to look at her so strangely.

"Oh it is, uh... It's fantastic, and the professor's are very kind," Justine said, clearing her throat nervously. Just relax Justine, he's just asking a question, he doesn't suspect a thing. "I wanted to stay, but my father.. He pulled me out during.. Well, the reason doesn't matter but, he did," Justine added, this time speaking somewhat honestly, as her father had unceremoniously pulled her out from L'Institut de l'apprentissage Magique in Quebec Canada during her parents messy divorce.

"But, you must 'ave 'eard an earful about Beauxbatons from Paloma!" Justine quickly added, trying to change the topic.

“Not really,” Louis replied with an amused smile as he examined his hand. There were scratches on it, but it didn’t actually hurt as bad as it looked. Luna’s little claws were still too harmless to cause any serious damage, though he’d have to trim them soon if he didn’t want to end up with his fingers cut off.

Louis listened attentively as Justine merely shared that the professors were very kind. He was quiet for a moment, a thoughtful expression on his face, before he spoke again, “Yeah? Did you ever have class with a Professeur De La Fontaine?” he asked casually. “Paloma told me he was the main professor for most classes in her year, and he was rather… eccentric.” But Paloma had actually never mentioned this professor. Because he didn’t exist.

The boy felt tempted to ask Justine the reason behind her father’s decision to pull her from whatever school she had really come from, but decided to keep his curiosity to himself. He didn’t want to seem TOO curious or else she’d get suspicious of his own suspicions.

“I have,” he nodded with a smile. Lies. Paloma hadn’t told him all that much, really. And he was beginning to doubt Justine could tell him much more.

Most people would've been unnerved to know that someone had been listening in on their conversation, but that clearly wasn't the case with Dima. Swiveling around on his belly to face the newcomer instead of sitting up like Maddie, he propped his chin up on his hands to listen. The squid had a NAME?

All ears here, clearly.

He didn't much mind being introduced either, grinning cheerfully. Dima! That was him, yup!


Dima probably wouldn't have noticed the owl if not for the tiny 'hooo', but that was enough to get his attention. Turning slightly to face it, he eyed the creature curiously. Was it lost or something? "Is that.... for me?" He hadn't responded to letters from home yet, so it was rather unexpected.

But he detached the letter from the owl anyway... and almost immediately regretted the decision. It was hard to tell which hit him first, Aunt Cela's loud and gushy voice or the streamers and confetti. The kid was so surprised that most of the words went in one ear and out the other.

And then the KISSES. Merlin.

Blushing somewhat noticeably, he swatted at the letter a couple of times, enough to effectively kill it's bounciness and render it limp and lifeless on the dock. Auntie Cela was the nicest and he'd thank her lots for the letter and the map later... but did her voice have to be THAT loud?

He picked a piece of confetti out of his hair and looked at the owl. Did... did it want a knut? Dima didn't have a knut.

"Oh good, I vasn't very keen on going to the 'ospital wing," Justine teased, letting the little white kitten bat at her ear with an admiral amount of enthusiasm. Thank goodness the kitten's claws weren't quite fully developed or Justine's neck would be full of fresh cuts instead of kitten fur.

Relief slipped through Justine as Louis, seeming to believe her deception, asked her a question about a Professeur De La Fontaine, and even have her a description to go on. This was eaaaaasy, why had she been worried? Justine was an impeccable liar, had always been and considering how trusting Louis was, she highly doubted he would ever discover her secret. "Professeur De La Fontaine?" Justine said, her eyes glazing over as if she were remembering something. "Oui, 'e vas eccentric, did you say? zat is zee vay I vould 'ave put it," Justine said, with an affected giggle.

In Justine's arrogance, she did not even consider the idea that Louis was purposely baiting her. "Vell, I vouldn't vant to bore you vith more of zee same," Justine said, blissfully unaware of Louis' growing suspicion.

Louis absentmindedly watched Luna playing along on Justine’s slender neck, though his attention was really on the words coming from the girl with the funny French accent. The more attention he paid to it, the stranger it sounded. Not at all like his mother’s or his aunts’. Hmmm.

BINGO.
Justine had fallen flat as a pancake for his trap, and as it dawned on him that she was actually lying to him, the boy’s blue eyes widened. All this time! All this talk of Bauxbatons… of Paris… a lie! Well, perhaps she was still from Paris, she just went to a different school…. But no, that accent was not Parisian. It wasn’t even French. At least, not from France.

The boy bit at his bottom lip, debating what to do now. It’s not exactly like he felt very triumphant in tricking her; actually, he’d kind of hoped his trick would fail. At the end of the day, Louis was too nice to call her out bluntly. But at the same time, he was a little confused. Why had she found it necessary to lie? Who really was she?

“Justine…” he began suddenly, his voice a little wary. “Paloma didn’t actually tell me about De La Fontaine…” he started slowly. “I made him up.”

This was the second time today that Louis was looking at her strangely and Justine was beginning to feel like there was something wrong with the boy. Maybe there was another epidemic starting that caused people to become... Whatever Louis was just then.

Why was he looking at her like that? So reproachfully? Like a kicked puppy? Had she said something wrong? Justine recalled their immediate conversation, looking for anything she might have said that could have been misconstrued into a rude comment, but there was nothing.

I made him up.
Her heart was in her throat, as panic flared up within her at Louis' words. He'd trapped her, and she'd made it so easy for him. Damn it. Damn it all.

Slowly Justine rose up from the green grass, making sure not to let Luna fall to the ground as she did so, Justine was freaked out, but she was enough of herself to be mindful of the innocent creature clinging to her neck. "Of course I knew zat, I vas joking with you," Justine said, playfully poking Louis in the chest in an effort to lighten the mood.

Justine wasn't going down without a fight.