Leo laughed lightly. "I've just always thought that heels were unpractical and that they are bad for your wrists. But maybe that isn’t true, what do I know I've never walked in heels." Mainly because he was a man and even if he had played dress up games with his sister Leo had never worn heels. "Yes it is, Rose is 20 years old and Ariel is 38 years old. I've got no brothers." But a few nephews and cousins but those didn’t count. "Do you have any siblings?"

Shaking his head Leo assured Cassie with a smile. "No, not much water at all. If it gets too much we can always dry it up with a hot air charm." Or they could use a muggle sponge to soak the water up. Grinning he shook his head again. "No, we are going to put the worms on the fishing poles hooks to disguise the hooks from the fish. You'll see." Leo had a feeling that Cassie wouldn’t want to touch the worms but that was okay. He didn’t mind doing it.

Helping Cassie board the boat Leo picked up the poles and the bucket and boarded the rowing boat after her. Untieing the rope fasten to the dock he moved to sit down the oars. Starting to row them out to the center of the lake he chirped happily in agreement. "This is fun! I hope we catch something."

Cris painted such a beautiful picture of Norway that Jasmine wished that she could see it in person. She closed her eyes and imagined the sunset over the lake as he described it. She was a sucker for a pretty sunset. "It sounds very lovely. Maybe I will get to see it one day, you never know."

Jasmine listened as Cris talked about his old school. "Pranks? You wouldn't happen to be an occasional prankster would you? The look on his face answered that question before Cris did. That wasn't just a random comment, it was personal. When he went on to say that he didn't mind if he didn't play Quidditch, Jasmine whispered. "I wouldn't say that too loudly around here. I get the feeling that your statement might be considered heresy." Jasmine had seen the looks on some of her classmates' faces when they heard that Quidditch was cancelled. They seemed to take it pretty seriously.

When Cris said that he was glad that he had met her, Jasmine blushed again. That seemed to be happening quite often lately. Looking up at him, she said very honestly, "I'm glad that I met you too". She couldn't imagine what it would have been like here at Hogwarts without him. Whew, was it getting hot out here?

How had Hogwarts been so far this year? BORING.

Her whole week had just been classes and classes and classes, like really. Did it LOOK like she wanted to sit and listen to someone talk and talk?? GOSH. The practical bit of lessons were alright but the theory, just NOPE. Not for her..ever and neither was that nasty thing called homework.

Looking for some adventure Abbi waddled about towards the lake. The squid was there and she knew that, but that wasn't what her idea of adventure ever was. She wanted the real thing, the prized jewel, mermaids of course. It had been one of her mission right from the start at Hogwarts.

Bent down, she attempted to look about. Still nothing. She needed to get down deep, deep down, but how? It wasn't like she could just obtain some gilly weed....unless.....

A mischievous smirk lit up on her face. She was completely unaware of anyone else near by.

.......................... Oh merlin.

Grayson had just been absent-mindedly splashing a pebble out wherever and hadn't really been paying attention to where it would land. This was him trying to find a new hobby, as Delilah had said. But then the splash had happened.

Followed by a shriek.

MERLIN.

He wouldn't have cared who it was but his curiosity had peeked and he found himself looking over at the source of the noise, which happened to be a person. A familiar person. Someone who was raising her eyebrows at him and didn't look altogether happy. If this someone was someone he didn't know, nothing would have stopped him from laughing. But, something inside of him told him that if he laughed now, fake pen!tattoos wouldn't happen in the future. And this girl wasn't even that bad.

"Looking good there, Gold." He should probably apologise. Probably.

[ This was bad, it was really bad, maybe she was evil, she must be if she was getting a weird enjoyment out of Louis' freaked out expression. It was just, well it was kind of cute to see him all riled up, and kind of funny, though she wasn't going to laugh anymore because Louis had looked so disturbed by her last laughing fit.

"I'm sorry, but you gave me no choice, I didn't want to do this to you," Justine said. Honestly, he was acting like she'd planned this or something, she was just as displeased at the situation as he was. "This is your fault Louis, you're the one who decided to bring all this out, none of this had to happen,"

Would she actually do that? Was she capable of being that unkind, especially to the sweet boy in front of her? No, no, she wasn't, but Louis didn't need to know that... She'd let him think that, let him believe her truly evil and manipulative, it was easier that way. "Maybe I would.. Maybe I wouldn't, are you willing to take that chance?" Justine asked, with a blank, serious look.

Justine didn't want him to hate her, she really didn't and she didn't want to do this to him ether, but she was between a rock and a hard place, and she WOULD not give up her secret. She didn't know why she clung to it so desperately, perhaps because the Parisian Justine didn't have the same problems as Canadian Justine (like an absent mother, a broken father... ), the Ravenclaw didn't want to look too closely at her feelings, so she pushed these thoughts firmly aside.

"Louis, all those things I've said to you... I meant them, all those times we had together, that WAS me... Just... Me with a different accent and back story, I'm still the same person," Justine said, wanting the boy to understand, she knew it was hopeless, but she still wanted him as her friend.

It was pretty clear viewing beneath the placid surface of the black lake that day, even despite the activity. This gave Cutty very limited trouble in both seeing where he was going inside the water and spotting people from below. He went up, took a bit of air and then plunged back down and found a seat on the rocky bottom of the shallow end of the lake. From there he could spot a few others, Mr. Kitridge and the new Divination Professor rowing a boat out further and further out into the deep end of the lake. H'mm...what were they up to?

Satisfied with the idea that they'd be snogging soon, he continued to comb the bottom of the lake in search of more gillyweed and other potions ingredients. He looked up again to see Abbi Campbell, the girl whose party he tried to rig a portkey for over the summer. He swam over to the edge of the lake where she was perched and poked out of the water. "Campbell!" He greeted, squeezing a bit of water in his palms and causing it to squirt up as if fired by a water gun. "How'd your party go?"

“Unpractical, gosh no. I’m five foot I’ve been wearing heels for so long, I can’t walk without them really. Even my slippers are heels. When you always have to look up to everyone you find height anyway possible.” She giggled and waved his comment off. His sisters were very different in age, “So are you the middle child then?” She could appreciate that. She was well not really middle, but kind of. “I have three siblings. An older brother, a younger brother, and a younger sister.” Her family loved being big. It was so fun to have each other. Well most of her family anyway.

“Oh well yes we could use the drying charm.” She had her wand and could easily do that job. Her smiling and looking at the water ended with a dramatic gasp. “Won’t that hurt the worms?” Oh goodness no, she wasn’t feeling any connections to the worms, so maybe it was like spiders she didn’t sense them, but still they were a living creature. Looking from the bucket back to Leo, maybe he just wrapped them nicely around the hook, not really harming them.

She watched him rowing, smiling as they went. “Can I help with that at all?” She could try to row with that rowy things or maybe just put a charm on them to do it themselves.

The letter was finished shouting and spitting out things and he was still hungry. Why was no one feeding him? It was because he was pudgy, wasn't it?

Furmy deflated noticeably, looking at the small person with even more pitiful owl eyes. "Hoooo." Feeeeeed me. Didn't he know how this worked?

Or one of the other small people, did they know?

Seeing as the two first years didn't seem offended by Toby's older-kid presence, he sat cross-legged on the dock, facing them.

"I think it's like... Bartholomew something? Definitely Bartholomew," he said, giving a nod of his head and making sure not to smile TOO widely because sometimes people thought Toby was joking around when he smiled too much. "Apparently he's pretty nice."

But still a GIANT SQUID. Very big. Still kind of alarming.

Tobias smiled between the two. "Hi Maddie and Dima. I'm Toby," he said, crossing his arms over as he held out a hand for each of them to shake. "Are you-"

But then an owl was here, delivering post, and............... Toby struggled not to grin. It was just sweet, the letter, and Tobias had never seen anything like this before. The Hufflepuff had heard of Howlers, but this seemed a bit different. Howlers didn't, uhh... kiss.

Pretending like he hadn't pretty much just witnessed a party in an envelope, Toby focused on the owl, which still hadn't left.

"Hoooo," he spoke back to it, digging around in his pocket for some sort of treat to give the creature. Tobias didn't own an owl, so had no owl treats, but there was a napkin with a bunch of crackers inside (it was necessary to constantly snack when you moved as much as Toby). He held one out and held it to the owl to see if he wanted any.

Cris watched as Jasmine closed her eyes and imagined herself at the lake next to his home. Even that simple action alone, made his heart skip a beat and he smiled in the knowledge that maybe some time in the future, she would come and visit with him. "I have pictures of those sunsets if you want to take a look at that. I don't have them with me right now...they're back in my trunk. But I'll show them to you next chance I get," he told her excitedly.

Then he frowned for a second when the mention of pranking was brought up. He scrunched his nose and scratched the back of his neck, before deciding that he trusted her enough to reveal his bad boy days. "Yes I'm the occasional prankster...or should I say was. It started way back when I was attending muggle school. Sometimes lessons were boring, so I would try to spice them up a bit. I usually got away with it. Not so much in Durmstrang. Detention was more bearable than receiving the Howlers my mother would send me every time I got caught," Cris chuckled even as he recalled those moments.

"If truth be told, I much preferred my mother's howlers to my father's long and tiresome lectures about how much of a disappointment both Sander and I were," Cris sighed sadly as he turned to look out at the Black Lake. It was so peaceful here and he was glad he was here. Far from from his father disapproving looks.

He smiled when Jasmine reminded him about how serious the students took their Quidditch. "It's hard to believe how much life here revolves around Quidditch. However, in the same token, I also understand how hard it must be not being able to play it. Sander had a tough time in the beginning when he came here. He thought he wouldn't be able to play ice hockey here, but a friend of his told him about the Room of Requirements and how it could be anything you wanted it to be. Sander wished for an ice hockey rink and he got it."

"Is there anything you would like for the Room of Requirement to be?" Cris asked Jasmine in turn. Then he noticed her blush when he confessed that he was glad he had met her. When she answered the same in return, all Cris could do was smile at her, lost for words.

“You gave me no choice.” “This is your fault, Louis.”
WHAAATT?!!? At what point during this ridiculous Twilight-zone afternoon, did he bring this upon himself?! Justine was acting like Lou had been the one blackmailing her. Still, the incredulous boy said nothing. What could he say anyway? His disbelief had left him completely speechless.

“No.” That, he didn’t have to think on for a second. He definitely was not willing to take that chance. If Delilah found out… Well, he had faith his girlfriend trusted him enough to believe him if he told her it had all been just one big crazy mess. Still, it wasn’t a pleasant topic. He wasn’t sure how he’d feel if she was the one being blackmailed with kisses from a French-pretending Canadian psychopath.

When Justine tried to redeem herself by assuring him all their conversations had been honest, a spark of irritation crossed the boy’s features. “The same person? Somehow I doubt that. The old Justine wasn’t manipulative or cruel.” Did she think him stupid enough to trust her now, after what she’d done? PSH. He trusted a tank full of sharks more.

Jasmine smiled when Cris offered to show her pictures from his home. "I would love to see them. I already know that they're beautiful just from your description." She was touched that he would want to share that part of himself with her.

Trying to picture Cris receiving a howler from his mother made Jasmine laugh. Her laughter faded though as he talked about how his father was disappointed in him and his brother. She could see the hurt in Cris' eyes and that made Jasmine angry. She didn't know his brother, but she couldn't imagine why anyone would be disappointed in Cris. Unless he had an evil/ crazy side that she hadn't seen yet, she just couldn't understand. It made Jasmine sad to see Cris so sad all of a sudden. She reached out and touched his hand. "I don't understand how your father can be disappointed in you. He ought to be very proud that he has you for a son. Does he know how many people wish they could be so lucky?"

Jasmine was glad when the dark moment had passed and the talk turned to Quidditch and the Room of Requirement. What would she want the room to turn into? "I could think of a few possibilities. If I had to choose just one thing, I think it would be a dance studio. Nice wooden floors, a barre and lots of mirrors, yep that would do it for me. I need somewhere to get my indoor exercise when the weather gets nasty. What about you? What would you wish for?"

No.
Right, that's what Justine had thought. Louis would do anything to keep the girlfriend from finding out about their little... show of affection, for lack of a better term. Weird that her first kiss had been under such strange circumstances, oh well, there were worst things, like everyone finding out that she was a pathological liar, THAT would have been way, way, waaay worst.

What did she expect? That Louis was just going to go all doe eyed and forgiving because she said one thing about not really being all that different? Psh, yeah, right. Justine was just surprised he hadn't gotten together a mob yet to far and feather her. It was so odd to see Louis irritated, it was like seeing Christmas movies in summer, it just didn't match-up.

The old Justine.
She couldn't tell if that sounded funny or kind of awful, probably a bit of both. "Manipulative? Okay, fair enough, I can accept manipulative.. But cruel? I can't agree with that.. " Justine said, flipping back her long hair. She wasn't being cruel, she was being self-preserving, she had to be. "Look, I don't expect you to understand this, or to be happy about it, I just expect you to go along with it," Justine added, giving the boy a determined, but calm look.

Louis watched as Justine flipped back her waist-length long hair, an incredulous look in his blue eyes. He just couldn’t get over it. He probably never would. She was so casual about it, too! Like going around pretending to be a completely different person was the most normal thing in the world. For all he knew, her real name wasn’t even Justine.

“I think there’s a certain level of cruelty in manipulation,” muttered Louis bitterly, his gaze falling to the sleepy kitten in his hands. He gently stroke the top of her little white head, listening as Justine determinedly ordered him to go along with her stupid plan.

“So you want me to lie for you?” he asked, looking up at her again with a raised eyebrow. Perhaps he could lie to new people he had never met, but Paloma… If she found out he’d suggested her to share a friendship with a crazy person, she would never trust him again. And he’d been the one to pressure her into coming to Hogwarts! For what? To be lied to by a wacko Canadian!? Louis bit at his bottom lip as he thought about this. How could he be honest without Justine finding out…?

He completely forgot Justine was expecting a response from him.

"Bartholomew." Maddie repeated the name to herself and nodded. Seemed legit AND this boy was older so he clearly knew more than they did about the things living IN the Black Lake. "That's what the groundskeeper said TOO but it's good to check things out for yourself, y'know?" You definitely couldn't believe everything you heard because Maddie's brothers told her ALL KINDS of junk and most of it was not true.

Toby. "Hi, Toby." Maddie smiled a little and straighted up, taking the older boys hand in hers and giving it a firm shake. Her mum always said you could tell a lot about a person from their handshake and Maddie hoped that HER shake showed how strong and cool and determined she was. COULD HE TELL FROM HER SHAKE? The small brunette watched him in hopes that his expression would give something away.

...And then an owl happened.

Maddie raised her eyebrows a little and watched as the letter SPOKE to Dima. She'd heard about howlers before but THIS one seemed SUPER nice and PROUD and the small brunette couldn't help but think Dima was lucky that someone cared enough about him to send something like this. SHE'D got a typed up note from her Dad that simply said something about enjoying her term and the only handwritten part was his signature. ...Yeah.

So after Dima got done swatting at the letter, Maddie reached over and picked it up off the dock, smoothing it out and handing it back to the boy. "It might be embarrassing but it's also nice that you got a letter." Maddie tried not to let on how she was feeling but her eyes might have looked a bit sad. Just like the owl's eyes, actually. Little guy looked like he wanted something from him but Maddie didn't speak owl! Lucky for THEM, Toby did.

"Got any more food in there, Toby?" Was his other pocket full of SWEETS? HMM?

Justine couldn't help but wonder what kept Louis seated near her, if it had been her in his shoes she would have probably have hexed herself into oblivion, she definitely wouldn't have been having this conversation. Thank goodness he was gentler than she was, otherwise this whole scenario could have been quite different (as in she would have hexed him into oblivion.. Okay not oblivion, but probably into the lake).

"Perhaps Jeune Lion, but I didn't do any of this with that in mind," Justine said, turning her eyes to the lake, watching as the Squid rose up and began sunbathing. it was kind of weird how quiet and pleasant everything else was, meanwhile here she was having this very civil, but threatening conversation with Louis. "You know, you're handling this surprising well Louis," Justine said, with an amused smile, unable to keep her amusement at the situation at bay.

"It's not lying, it's simply with outing the truth," Justine shrugged, speaking as much to herself as she was too him, because she needed to try to convince herself that what she was doing wasn't just the worst thing ever, even as she did it. "Look, you want to keep.. What's her name? Delia? Delilah? If you want to keep her in your life, all you have to do is keep my secret, a secret," She said, explaining all this in an almost pleasantly calm voice.

“Thanks,” muttered Louis sarcastically, rolling his eyes as Justine complimented his handle of the situation. That didn’t make him feel any better. And in all honesty, the reason he seemed not to have lost his sanity already, was only because he had NO IDEA how to properly react to this. Part of him wanted to laugh, part of him wanted to run and hide, part of him wanted to rebel and spill Justine’s secret, part of him wanted to try to talk some sense into her. Basically, he had 47546 different reactions and he wasn’t sure which one to go with.

So, for now, he simply tried to remain level-headed and logical. Just because he was a Gryffindor didn’t mean he needed to be stupid and act on impulse. There were situations for which such behaviour was acceptable; this wasn’t one of them. Something too important was at stake.

“Call it what you like, it’s still lying, Justine.” Didn’t she feel the SLIGHTEST bit of regret? Of doubt with her own insane decision? Circe’s sake. Maybe he should contact the Healer after this, try to get the girl some professional help. “Delilah,” he muttered softly when Justine tried to remember his girlfriend’s name.

”All you have to do is keep my secret, a secret.”
She made it sound so easy. It probably was, actually; Lou was just a lousy liar and had too much of a guilty mind to keep things from people he felt obliged to be honest to.

And, after all this time, Louis finally realized: Justine was NOT going to change her mind. She wasn’t going to let this go easily. And, if he wanted to make it back to the castle in one piece so he could properly and calmly figure out a way to bring down her alternate persona, he had to agree to the current terms and conditions.

“…Fine. I’ll keep your secret.”

Ellinia looked down at the boy sitting on the ground while holding her snow globe carefully. It was one of her favorite ones because it belonged to her grandma. It used to make noises but then it stopped. It featured a little snowman in the middle and all. She liked snowmen. The boy was most definitely a loony one for asking what loony was. "Loony is when you're loony," Ellinia said as though it explained everything. "And I'm eleven. I'm not a little girl. I'm just a girl," she added. Silly boys.

The Gryffindor contemplated sitting down on the ground before deciding not to. It was dirty and she didn't want to get her robes dirty. Because if she did she would have to do laundry and she didn't know how magic laundry worked. "What's a giant squid?" Ellinia asked. Because looking for it seemed like very loony behavior. And then the boy was asking her if she was loony.

"I'm not loony. You're not supposed to use words you don't know the meaning of. That's what my mommy told me." And Ellinia knew what loony meant so she could use it. "This snow globe hasn't seen the outside yet so I'm taking it for a walk," Ellinia said. See. Very normal and not loony.

Zander furrowed his eyebrows as the younger girl spoke. He was not a loony one. He had definitely met some loony ones so far, but he was not one of them. "You can't use the word in it's own definition. That just defeats the whole purpose. But I promise I'm not loony." He even held out his pinky so he could pinky swear on it. And as for the 'little girl comment', "Well I'm thirteen and a half, so you're little compared to me. And eleven, that must mean that you're a firstie?" AW, an ickle firstie.

What's a giant squid? Yeah, she's definitely a firstie. "The giant squid is the squid that's really giant," he told her as if it was obvious. He even tried to emphasize it's size by drawing out his arms. But then he went further to explain, "His name is Bartholomew Henry and he lives in the lake. But I can't find him and I wanted to stop by to say hi since I haven't seen him since last year!"

She was taking her snow globe for a walk, but he was the loony one? Maybe loony one was her strange way of complimenting him. "... You're snow globe can see?" Did it have some magical enchantment on it or something? Because he had never heard of that before. "Do you and your snow globe want to help me find the giant squid? And if we find him then you'll know that I'm really not a loony one. AND then you'll get to know what a giant squid is like!"

The boy's eyebrows were doing a thing. They were doing a weird wrinkly thing. He was most definitely a loony one. "You don't know what loony means, you can't promise me you're not loony," she pointed out and then pointed at his finger. "I can't touch that. You have boy germs. My daddy said I can't get boy germs," she added. Because if she got boy germs she would turn into the wicked witch and then melt. Ellinia didn't want to melt. "And you're old." Like... old. However, hearing firstie, the little girl beamed. "I'm a first year lion. You can hear me ROAR." Like a lion.

A squid that was really giant? Ellinia wasn't that stupid. She watched the boy stretch out his arms wide and wondered if he was going to flap them and pretend to be a bird. This boy was definitely loony. "Does he know magic too? Is he a magic Giant Squid? And does he have snowmen friends?" Ellinia asked, eyes wide. Ellinia wanted snowmen friends.

The boy was loony. "Yes, of course it can see. The snowman has eyes... see?" she said, holding it to the boy's face. "Be careful, you can't touch it or you'll get boy germs all over it," she added. And she hoped he didn't breathe all over it and make it foggy either. Did they want to go look for a giant squid? She looked at her snow globe and then at the loony boy. "Okay. Where do you find the giant squid?" Because the loony boy probably wasn't a good looker.

Had she said anything during the duration of this entire conversation that hasn't started with "my dad said...." or "my mom said..." First years were supposed to be really family attached, but this was a little overboard. "Hm fine don't shake my hand. Girls have cooties anyways." Hmph. Boy germs? Was that even a real thing? She was just making all of this stuff up. Bet her dad never actually said any of this. "I'm not thaaat old. I'm only two AND a half years older than you! The seventh years, now they're OLD!" And also scary. But he wouldn't say that part out loud. Just incase there were any around. "Oh! I'm a lion too!" Would this help smooth things out? I am one of your kind. Accept me for the un-loony I am.

"Well he's a magical creature, but I don't think he knows magic. That would be... Loony." Okay what was with it with this girl and snowmen. It's autumn, not winter? There aren't any snowmen out yet. Not for another two months at least! "I don't think giant squids like snowman. Snowmen would melt in the water and the squid would probably eat them." Henry was always up for some snacks.

Yes he could see the snow globe perfectly fine from where she was holding it, but she insisted on shoving it in his face instead. Which only made it harder to see as he was way too close now. Zander just nodded his head so that she'd take it away. "Yeah, really pretty. Your snowman is gorgeous. But won't he melt in this nice autumn weather?" It was a considerably warm day for the season. And I do not have germs!! I took a shower this morning." Even scrubbed behind the ears and everything! "He lives in the lake! So maybe around there-ish?" He said pointing to a general area in the middle. "Maybe he's just taking a nap or something?"

Cris could see the spark of anger in Jasmine's eyes and wondered what had angered her. It was only when she reached out and touched his hand, said what she did, that he realized she was indignant. Not for herself but for him. He looked down at her hand before slipping his hand into hers and curling his fingers around hers.

"My father had hoped that either Sander or I would take over the family business. But when Sander told him that he'd rather play professional ice hockey and attend Wizarding University to major in magizoology and I showed no interest in taking over either, that's when he told us we had failed him," Cris shrugged.

"I guess I can understand his disappointment. He's worked so hard all his life to make a good life for us and I guess which father wouldn't want their children to take over the business, right?" he turned to look at Jasmine.

"I think he's proud of us in his own way, but he's not want to admit it...at least not yet. Lucky? Are you so sure about that?," Cris winked at her. He found it hard to believe that even though they had only known each other for a couple of weeks. He constantly amazed him, how much trust and confidence she had in him.

Then the dark clouds passed when Jasmine talked about wishing for a dance studio and he smiled. Without having to close his eyes, he could see her dancing, elegantly and beautifully on the dance floor.

"Me? I think a dance studio is a great idea. I mean I dance a little...more of hip hop but I could use the mirrors and open space to continue with my martial arts workouts. I might also wish for a skating rink too, only instead of an ice hockey rink, I'd wish for a speed skating track."

"Hey maybe you could teach me some dance moves. I"m trying to come up with some choreography moves that incorporate dance with mixed martial arts. Would you be able to help me with that? That is if you aren't busy or anything. Wait! that came out all wrong. I didn't mean to imply that you wouldn't have anything else more interesting to do than to hang out with me" Cris quickly corrected himself.

The idea of dancing with her helped cheer him up. He liked being together with Jasmine and he hoped that she did the same too.

Jasmine listened intently as Cris explained why his father was disappointed. She smiled as he tried to see things from his father's point of view. Most people would be too wrapped up in their own hurt to concern themselves with how things looked from the other side. "I imagine that you're right. I could see how he would be disappointed, but........be disappointed in the situation, not the person. I'd be disappointed too, but more than that, I'd want my kid to be happy. If doing something else made my child happy, I'd like to think I'd be OK with that......as long as it was legal of course." Jasmine couldn't imagine how hard it must be to have that burden placed on you. "What about your sisters? Do either of them have any interest in the family business?" That could be one way to solve the problem right there. Cris didn't seem to believe that his father should feel lucky. Responding to his incredulous look, Jasmine gave his hand a squeeze and said, "Yes lucky". "Any parent would be lucky to have you for a son."

Jasmine wasn't very surprised when Cris said he danced a little. She had a feeling that it was more than a little just from the way he moved. She could tell a dancer when she saw one whether they knew they were or not. When Cris asked for her help, she was flattered. "I don't know how great a techer I am, but I'll be happy to help you as much as I can." It was great to know that she and Cris had another thing in common. It was always nice when your friends shared you interests. Looking up at Cris, Jasmine said, "Maybe we can dance together sometime?" She would like that.......very much.

Jasmine's sweet and caring words, almost brought Cris to tears. In fact, he could feel his vision start to shimmer. Not wanting to be caught crying in front of her, he quickly glanced back out at the Black Lake and blinked back them back. Regaining his composure, he turned to smile at her. Without realizing what he was doing he reached out and cup her face with the palm of his hand. By the time he realized he had done so, it was too late.

The feel of her face against the palm of his hand felt so soft and smooth. His breath caught midway between his lungs and his throat. "You know what? I believe you'll make a great mother one day. You're so sensitive, unselfish and caring," he confessed his thoughts to her as he looked deep into her eyes.

In them, he saw compassion and understanding. With much reluctance, he slowly removed his hand from her face as he looked down at their joined hands. He returned her reassuring squeeze before nodded in agreement.

"And I would love to dance with you too. Anytime you want," he smiled tenderly at her.

Girls have cooties?

Uhm... "I don't have cooties. I got my cootie shot when I was eight." So ha. Joke was on the older kid. She was pretty sure the loony boy didn't get a shot for his germs. Hmph. And then he was saying how he wasn't that old. The boy was clearly lying. Then he said seventh years were old. "I don't think you're allowed to call the seventh years old," Ellinia whispered to him. Because they knew more magic and like blast-y spells and the whatnot. That would be dangerous. The loony boy was trying to get them killed.

He was a lion?

He didn't look like a lion. "Are you sure you're not a Hufferpuff?" Because he didn't look like he could rock the red and gold. Nope. Ellinia could. She knew that because her sisters had said she could and Magatia was never wrong. That was why Magatia was all richy rich and stuff.

"If he's a magical creature why doesn't he know magic? Is he giant because he ate a lot? So is he really just a fat squid?" Ellinia asked. That was probably the case and if it was, Mister Bartholomew Henry needed to go eat less snowmen. "Is it going to snow in two months?!" Ellnia asked excitedly. She wanted to see snow. She's never seen it before since she was from a warm place and all. She couldn't wait to see it and make snowmen and angels and go sledding even though it was probably dangerous and messy.

The Gryffindor stroked the top of the globe affectionately. "He's real dapper," Ellinia agreed with a grin and a nod of her head before sitting down. "His name is Mister Snowman." See. Really creative. "And he doesn't melt, Loony boy." Yes, she was going to call him loony boy since nothing he said sounded not-loony. Yup. "I don't think showering gets rid of boy germs." If it did then boys wouldn't have germs and her daddy wouldn't tell her that boys had boy germs. Silly loony boy.

And the squid was supposed to be in the lake somewhere? She looked at the lake. "Are you sure you're not making up the squid? My mommy says it's normal for people to have imaginary friends but you can't always have them or people will think you're loony." Though it'd make sense because loony boy was loony.