Basket and blanket in hand, Lux skipped along to the terrace.

So technically people didn't have picnics alone, but she hadn't been able to find anyone to join her. So she was doing a little bit of trendsetting. Finding a nice spot in the sun, she laid out the blanket then took a seat on it. She had brought different sandwiches, some chicken, Chocolate Frogs, cookies, cheese, and some pumpkin juice. All was provided by the lovely House Elves.

Grabbing a cucumber sandwich, she started digging in.

She somehow always managed to work up an appetite after turning the compost, it was one of those tasks that since her time at school, always elicited the same physical response, and her grumbling tummy was right on cue.

It was as she was heading back to her office and quarters, that she noticed a particular Hufflepuff-Gryffindor sitting at the terrace. Oooohhh and a picnic too! By herself?

Seren saw this as nothing more than an opportunity to eat, an question the girl on her Lion-ness.

"Lux, mind if I join you?" she asked, pausing a couple of step away. "I've never been able to fathom why people have picnics by themselves... it looks far too lonely." Even in spite of the flora company that surrounded them.

Well, hello Professor Bentley.

Lux had honestly not heard the woman come over. Maybe it was because her sandwich was so engrossing. "Of course you can join me!" she replied after swallowing what was in her mouth. Smiling, she patted the spot beside her on the blanket. Company was always more than welcome.

"Ugh, it really IS lonely. I couldn't find Bay though. Or any of my friends." Mostly she had been looking for Bay. Oh well, she would see him later on. It was a big castle, and there was bound to be times where you missed each other in this place. "So how are you doing? Are the plants well?" As someone who enjoyed Herbology and an Honorary Lion, it was good for her to be interested in the welfare of the Hogwarts plants.

Whooops, she was interrupting the girls eating. Still, it was nice to know that she was welcome so having recieved permission to join, she settled herself down on the blanket as indicated. "Aaawww, that's a shame. They're missing out on a good spread." And a fairly good day too. The sun peaking out from behind the clouds was warm, and it was a welcome sensation considering how chilly the weather had been of late. In fact, the warmth from the sun didn't spread to her toes, they were still very much freezing.

Closing her eyes and soaking up the sun, Seren smiled. "The plants and I are doing well, some require more attention at the moment, the frost is getting to them," she informed, not at all thrilled with the bitter autumn. It was getting to her a little as well. Opening her blue eyes and turning to Lux, she returned the friendly banter with a question or two of her own.
"And how has life been treating you? I've actually been meaning to ask you.. you're an honourary Lion?" It was still an idea she was trying to wrap her head around since the conclusion of their lesson together.

Awww, Professor Bentey was so very nice. Why she was one of Lux's favourite Professors. As soon as the woman had taken a seat, she moved the basket closer to her. "You are welcome to help yourself to some food if you want. And I have pumpkin juice too!" Sadly no tea, though she had wanted to bring some. There just wasn't any way she could have carried everything down if tea stuff was added to the load.

It was a good thing that the Professor was doing well, as with most of the plants, though she was curious as to what the added attention could be. "Can I help with the plants at any point?" Working in the garden was rather fun, and she knew that none of the scary and dangerous ones would be able to hurt her. The worst part of that last class had definitely been the dead rats.

Finished her first cucumber sandwich, she started rummaging for a second one. "Oh, I am doing good! Things have been much better so far this term, Quidditch aside." Honestly she wasn't missing it half as much as some people probably were since she figured that what the Headmistress had done was in the best interest in everyone at the school. And of course the Honorary Lion thing was brought up. In hindsight, it was something she should have expected. "Well, you see... I wish I was a Lion, so I was made an Honorary one last term. And I still am one now." So that meant that Professor Bentley was her Honorary Head of House! BEAM.

Speaking of Heads of House though... "I really like Professor Hadley, so I don't want her to know that I wish I was a Lion because it might make her sad. I love being a Hufflepuff, I just prefer Gryffindor." She didn't want to upset Professor Hadley because she was a wonderful Head of House.

It was quite a nice set up Lux had going on here, and it thrilled her that the space was being put to good use. It had been rather empty as of late. Hardly surprising considering it wasn't the best season to enjoy it. The basket of goodies didn't go unnoticed, and she perked up a bit at the sight and smells of the wonderful things inside. "Don't mind if I do," she replied, fishing her hand inside to extract a sandwich as well. Cheese and tomato, her favourite. "This is actually perfect timing, I was just on my way to have some lunch, so thank you for saving me the trouble."

Help though, help would be appreciated. "Oh yes, the plants in the students garden, some of them ought to be potted and placed in the greenhouses for now.... the ones that can't be moved, they need a generous blanket of compost to keep their roots warm..." it would provide a little shelter against the cold. "I just added more substance to it, wood shavings and ash... gave it a good turn so it will be fine for distribution in the next day or so."

Seren ate from her sandwich as Lux spoke about her start of term, it was nice to hear she was doing well... the mention of quidditch though, that did bring a crease to her brow. "Terrible business that," she commented after swallowing her bite. "I still struggle to come to terms with the threat." Threat. A threat against children, staff and the school community in general. Was playing the sport at school level really that big a deal? There were some crazy people in the world.

What was more interesting though, was this honourary Lion thing, and so she listened avidly, smiling and nodding as she took another bite. So, she wished she was a Lion, but wasn't, and so she was... pretending to be? Sort of? Seren continued to listen before commenting, nodding at the mention of Fina. It was for the best the woman didn't know... it would hurt her Badger heart for sure. "Interesting." That was the first word that came to mind, the one she was caught on. "But it thrills me to know that you're at least half Lion, you're welcome to be part of our family," she added, wrapping her spare arm around Lux and giving her shoulders a quick squeeze. "Was there an initiation process? How come I wasn't involved?" It was sad to say the least. They had an honourary Lion without her knowing. Tsk tsk tsk.

Yep, picnics were definitely much better when you weren't the only person eating the food. Lux was happy that she had packed something that Professor Bentley liked. "Cucumber is my favourite kind of sandwich. Have you ever tried it before?" Some people looked at her weird if she mentioned it, and others shared her enthusiasm. Bay was still the only person who threw up when trying to eat one though. "I'm glad that you could join me for lunch. You are one of the nicest Professors." The comment was not meant as anything other than the truth. There were lots of nice Professors, and Bentley was one of the nicest along with Professors Hadley, Flamsteed, and Romanos.

Listening carefully, she nodded as she took in everything that she was told. "I would like to help with all that." Not too familiar with gardening, she might need some instruction to start off with, but being a fast learner paid off. Also, she was clearly a hard worker. "And can I feed more of the carnivorous plants as long as I don't have to touch rats?" Bugs were one thing, but there was no way her hands were ever coming in contact with a rat, gloves or no gloves.

Nod. Terrible business indeed, she thought as she took another bite of her sandwich. "I have dreamed about playing Quidditch for a very long time now, but I don't think I will be able to because I am so scared of heights." It was something she still struggled to come to terms with, though she was trying her hardest to get over it. All she needed to do was keep convincing herself that it is only a game. "Do you think the person who wrote the letter meant what they said? I can't believe anyone would be so mean to do this kind of thing..." Sigh.

Awww, she was more-or-less welcomed into the Lion family. THAT MADE HER SO HAPPY. Beaming, she shared a shoulder hug with the Professor. "This is awesome, but there was no initiation. It just sort of happened last term where Bay and Tessa started calling me that." Not the most thrilling thing in the world, but it is what it is. "You know, there was so much going on with the ageing thing last term, I honestly forgot to as silly as that sounds." And she had been one of the immune students!

It amazed her that Lux had thought to bring so much food, and such a selection too when it was only going to be her. Though, she supposed the third year hadn't been able to find anyone along the way, so it wasn't part of her original plan to sit alone. "I have yes," she replied brightly, "I'm more of a cheese and tomato find of girl though, with a good crack of pepper." There was nothing better. Except for gravy, but gravy didn't typically belong in sandwiches. "I'm glad too, and aawww, how could I be otherwise when you're all so equally lovely?" She couldn't think of a reason not to be nice, or at least the students hadn't given her any reason to be mean. Mmm.

Somehow it seemed she was recruiting a number of students into helping out aroud the greenhouses and the student garden this yeah, and it also seemed as thugh the demand for feeding flesh eaters was at an all time high. Something she most certainly wouldn't be complaining about. "You know, with everybody asking to feed the flesh eaters again, I'm thinking I may just run a workshop for it, so the minute I have the details worked out, you'll know about it." And she made a mental not to have fewer rats.. scrap meats would suffice, no?

During the break in conversation, Seren continued to take measured bites of her sandwhich, making her way through it at a comfortable pace. Lux was afraid of heights? Why did that surprise her? "Well.. it won't be something you'll have to think about for some time. I don't know when this ban will be lifted... I suppose once they find the person behind the threats." Whenever that would be. "It's hard to say... but put it this way, worse things have happened." So it was entirely possible that the person behind it, meant it.

It just sort of happened, that was actually quite sad. Seren envisioned there being a ceremony and a party, food definitely some drinks to mark the occasion too. Apparently not. "That's a shame." But perfectly understandable. "I don't remember half of what went on last year, I'm convinced I must have been near-dead and therefore must be blocking out the traumatic memories." It was the only explanation she could think of, purely because she didn't want to accept the idea that she might develop a terrible memory in her old age.

Cheese and tomato? Definitely not one of Lux's favourites, but she did enjoy them every once in a while; why she had packed a couple in her basket. "I am not really fond of tomatoes unless they are on sandwiches with cheese." Other than that, you couldn't get her to eat raw tomatoes because they were gross. It was definitely true that most of the students at the school were lovely, but still some of the Professors weren't as nice as Bentley was. "I like to be nice to people too. Professor Bellaire scares me a little," she whispered in confession. [b]

A workshop? "What's a workshop?" Turning slightly red, Lux hoped that she wasn't asking a stupid question. But she had no idea what it was. Was it a kind of lesson? And if so, how was it any different than the ones that she did normally?

That was a good point. Of course they would find the person behind the threats. "They are going to get into so much trouble with the Headmistress for being mean." And arrested too, she supposed. Did people get arrested for making threats without carrying them through? This was not a subject that she knew a lot about. "Did you play Quidditch when you were a student?" It was hard to imagine the Professors as teenagers, or Hogwarts students. Most of them if not all must have attended Hogwarts. "Oh, what kinds of things happened?" Of course she knew all about the strange happenings every year, but she was curious about specific things.

Nod. It was rather sad. "I wish I got a cake or something. I love cake." But then who didn't? Most desserts were lovely, and suddenly she wished that she had packed some cake or pie. "Yeah, that was terrible. The worst was when Professor Hadley brought a coffin into her classroo,. That really freaked me out."

Even the happiest people get to a point wherein they stop being happy, and be the exact opposite. This is true for one Ethan Tyler Mordaunt. The past few days of his young life had been the grandest—made new friends in and outside of the classroom, learned new brilliant things from his professors, and he even found the person that made his yapping put to hold. Yes, the talkative, hyperactive Slytherin found a being that could actually shut him up, and be conscious about himself.

“Weird. So…weird.” He thought as he sat alone on the terrace and looked at…well, nothing. Ethan decided to skip tea time that Saturday afternoon, because he’s got a lot of things to think of. His dad, his cousin…and the strange feeling every time he sees Josette. The Slytherin found the time to think things over, and it just made matters worse. MERLIN. The what-ifs. Ethan looked down on his hand and read the words he had written on it with Simon’s marker.

‘You can keep as quiet as you like, but one of these days somebody will find you.’ – Haruki Murakami

Ethan grinned at this, and stared at his hand for a good moment. It was a quote from a muggle book that his late mother loved, and even if it was implying a warning, all he could think about is how the quote connects to Josette. She’s the quietest person he had come across in his entire life, but the most precious person to behold. He’s on the verge of telling her all about it, but there’s a voice at the back of his head that tells him no. Ethan was sure that Mordred’s got all the answers to his what-ifs, but right now there’s still no word from him. His last owl said that he’s currently stuck in the North Pole, and that they were having trouble settling the dragon they’re handling.

Apparently that’s another issue. His family. Just before he started schooling in Hogwarts, he found out things that changed his life forever. Ethan is a Mordaunt all along. He knew he’s just a normal boy with a witch for a mother and a muggle for a father; but upon his mother’s death he found out that he’s not really his father’s son. Things went ugly from there, and his ‘fake’ dad apparently left him. It was a good thing that Mordred was there to run to his aid, and comfort him as much as he can. Ethan can’t even decide if he’s happy to know that his real father is his cousin’s uncle—Aldred Mordaunt.

Bless his little green heart, Ethan wants to give his real father a chance and bond with him, but the man is still coming to terms with the news that he actually has a son from his first love; Ethan’s mother. Aldred never married when he learned that Cassandra decided to wed a muggle, and decided to leave England for good. The Slytherin sighed and cradled his head on his hand and decided to watch the plants trying his best not to feel so alone. He just wished that for once, he’d get the attention and affection of his real dad. He really could use some advice on things like…girls and how to decipher them. Oh and is his squeaky voice a normal thing? Voice break is just a hassle, really.

Sniff.

Even though the air was so SO cold, Cosgrach was so SO SO bored inside that he got out with all kinds of charms on himself. He wanted to enjoy some scenery, so...

Terrace it was.

He was going to sit down by himself, but he noticed Ethan... looking sad? Nah. Not gonna happen on his watch! So he sat by the boy instead.

"Why are you so sad, son?"

Ethan raised his knees up to his chin and hugged his leg as the wind swept through the area. Stupid cold weather, really. “…why is it so cold? It feels like Durmstrang’s a summer school or something…” and for Merlin’s sake, he can’t even do a proper round of crying.

Sniff.

Well, thank the heavens though, because someone else was here. The third year was expecting another student…or maybe Professor Bentley to check up on her garden amid this terrible weather. But…wait, what? He’s…outdoors? “Professor Culloden?” Ethan’s brows furrowed in confusion as he turned around to face the man. Yep, he knows his voice now, what with all the shouting back in the Potions Classroom.

Did he ever consider being a coach for a Quidditch Team? He’d do well. Unless of course he doesn’t play the sport.

Anyway.

“I…didn’t expect you to be here sir.” And uhm…did he see him all emotional and stuff? Great. It would have been better though if there were tears. As much as Ethan wanted to lie, for some reason he can’t do it with this man. There’s something in him that made the third year want to trust him. Is that a quality he should learn? Maybe. “I’m…thinking about my dad.” He said as he scratched his head and turned sheepishly away from him, not sure if the Potions Master would want to hear the drama.

Not far from them though, Ethan heard…a crack…and a crashing sound?

The boy tilted his head and turned to where the sound came from. Nope. Nothing there. Maybe it was just a bunch of trees snapping into two because of the cold? Yeah, it sounded like that to him.

Was the boy surprised to see him? He did get out, y'know, and quite a lot of time too. Anyways. The boy WAS quite sad, or so it seemed, and Cosgrach surprisingly cared. He wanted Ethan to feel better, because he was such a nice guy.

Ignoring the previous surprised comments, Cosgrach directly asked (with a tone that showed he really cared) "What about your dad?"

What about his dad? Ethan did a side glance on Professor Cosgrach and bowed his head a bit. If only he had a stronger will, he won’t be caught looking sad by a professor. Not that he doesn’t appreciate Culloden’s concern, but the day could have been spent better…like…teaching the man how to snowboard? But no, he was stuck there with an adult, feeling down and all that because of his own father.

“I…will you promise not to tell anyone, sir?” Because as far as he knows, he’s known to be a cheerful child amid the problems beneath him. Being emotional and sad isn’t Ethan’s cup of tea. He’d rather forget and not face his dilemma in exchange for something better.

...it was too cold to breathe...

Cosgrach could feel his charms were wearing off, and suddenly, it was too much effort to take his wand out to re-cast them. He clenched his chin for his teeth not to rattle. He wrapped his cloaks more firmly and nodded.

"I - ppppromise. Bbbut - shall we move inssside?" His charms might be holding on better, but this professor was about to freeze.

Without looking at his professor, Ethan nodded and managed to get a weak grin on his face. Finally, someone that will actually listen to his worries...and he's an adult too, so that's bonus points, yes?

Ethan did a double take however when he heard his professor speak. Of course, not everyone's used to this kind of weather yes? The Slytherin came out of their dorms all geared up to snowboard, so staying warm wasn't too much problem, although yes...it was rather getting colder, if that was even possible.

The third year got off of his seat and stood up in front of the Potions Master. "O-of course sir!" he said with a look of worry. Will he be fine? Ethan wanted to get his wand out and cast the hot air charm on Cosgrach, but the man might take it against him. You know...pointing his wand at his own professor? "We can go up the stairs to help you warm up again...er...do you need help, sir?" he asked as he offered the professor his hand.

Cosgrach wasn't that incapable of moving to need a hand, having spent 8 years or so in the winters of Kazakhstan and around, but he took Ethan's hand nevertheless for the boy not to feel bad.

"I'll b-b-be fffine," he breathed as he and the troubled boy made their way towards the castle.