Tree House
 

http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...psbedcc2ff.jpg
Image credited to Govoni
On the very edge of the forest is a massive tree that houses a wooden fort high up in its branches. A rope ladder hangs down from the lowest level for easy access.
From the Outside it looks to be small. Big enough to fit only four. maybe five at time. but once you come in through the latched door you'll find that the inside has been expanded. Wooden Benches stretch across the perimeter of the the indoors, each with a window you can open up to let the light filter in. Tables are placed at random around the inside, with small stools placed around each of them, just in case you wanted one more place to do all the Homework your Professor's are gonna pile up on you.

Oh is that a Shuffleboard Court painted into the floor, off to the side!!?? Yes it is! Use the Shuffleboard sticks, and pucks ONLY FOR SHUFFLEBOARD!

Just above you is a balcony that will overlook the rest of the inside. Two small couches sit up here for you to lounge, chit-chat, and NOT SNOG your significant other on.

Any damage caught being done to the Tree House will result in serious Consequence. Don't mess with Mr.Kirby.

Ariella
 

Abby was just exploring when she stopped and found herself in front of a treehouse what fun she hoped that she would meet some new people soon

Lux
 

Bay had sent a note for Lux to meet him here, she had mentioned so many times how much she loved the tree house and because he's never been here before he could see why she loved it so much. wow he mouthed as he sat down on one of the seats. "why haven't I come here yet?" he wondered, this place was awesome.

Yeah Bay might feel silly that he was a 16 year old boy in a treehouse but this treehouse but all the other tree houses to shame.

As Lux climbed up the ladder to the tree house, she heard Bay talking to himself. He tended to do that at times, and she found it both funny and cute.

"I think it's because you were an old man then," she teased as she reached the top of the ladder and stepped onto the platform. It was awesome to be back here again, and she was happy to be here with Bay. "Hello, stranger," she said as she went to join him.

Hearing Lux tell him that he was an old man then made him laugh "yeah i guess thats true" he said while moving over in his seat to make room for her. "so hows everything going for you so far?" he asked her as he was just happy to hang out with her, it made him feel normal.

"did you hear about the Quidditch thing?" he suddenly asked her, it was all everyone was talking about. "It must have been some threat for them to cancel it" he said with a sad face, he loved his Quidditch and now that he didn't have any sports to try out for he thought it was best for him to work on his studies instead this year, he was glad that he didn't have to do any tests this year but he wasn't looking forward to his las year. NEWT's. ughhhhh….

It was good that Bay could laugh about the whole ageing thing now, because Lux knew how much he had hated it at the time. Sitting down beside him, she gave him a hug. "Everything is going good for me. How is it going for you?" She was definitely still excited to be back at Hogwarts again, and she had really missed the tree house. Plus hanging out with Bay always made her happier!

Ugh, Quidditch.

"I think it's crazy and I miss Quidditch already. Now I won't get to see you play again." Pout. She had liked cheering Bay on, but now it wasn't possible.

Sees Baylux. For Zoe and Anyone Else xD
 

Cris climbed up to the treehouse. The only reason he knew about it was through Sander. Sander had mentioned the times he had spent up here with Tessa and Cris decided to check out this place for himself. When he reached the top he noticed that both Bay and Lux were already in it. Not wanting to disturb their privacy, he discreetly moved to the other side of the tree house, perched his arms over the side and looked out.

Sander was right. The scenery was definitely beautiful.

Hugging her back he was glad that everything was going great for her. "its going good for me as well, its good to be back." he leaned against there.

"Yeah mee to but I'm actually liking the little break, last year was a bit crazy with being old and having quiddittch last year too…" maybe they should have cancelled it last year to, didn't want all the old people breaking their hips and other bones. Laughing his head turned as he saw what he thought was Cris.. so to figure out if it was him or not he yelled "Cris…." seeing if it would get this person's attention or not.

Yes, everyone was excited to be back at Hogwarts again. "I bet you are super glad that you don't have any tests this term." She knew how hard the OWLs and NEWTs were, and she was proud that he had done so well on his tests at the end of last term. This was something she had to look forward to in a few years. Oh joy.

"Yeah, that's true. I hope they do another sport here instead. Like Quadpot or something." It could be fun, she supposed. Obviously she had never played it before, as she had never played Quidditch.

Hearing Bay yell out for Cris suddenly, Lux started. She had not been expecting that. Looking around her, she spotted her friend. Clearly he had been trying to give them privacy, which was very kind of him. "Hey there, Cris!"

Both Bay and Demelza
 

Enjoying the scenery, Cris didn't even realize that Bay or Lux had even noticed his presence, when he heard his name called out. Quickly turning his head, he raised his hand in a wave and was about to say hello when he heard someone climbing up the ladder to the treehouse. He moved a little away from it to make room for whomever it was.

Surreptitiously looking at her from the corner of his eye, he saw an older girl climb up, look around and then twirl around. He quickly turned around to hide a smile. It was because he did so, that he didn't notice the girl walking back towards him, until she bumped right into him and grabbed his arm.



Well hello there. Cris grabbed hold of the girl's arm to help steady her. "No...no. There's no need to apologize. Are you alright? I'm sorry. I should have moved out of your way. I know when I twirl around, I need a lot...oh...um," Cris paused in mid sentence when he belatedly realized he had revealed his secret....his secret love of dancing.

So he just grinned sheepishly at the girl not realizing he was still holding her arm.

Demelza
 

If Cris was one to swallow loudly, his gulp would have been heard clear across the lake, but since he was a somewhat discreet swallower, his gulp was only heard and felt by himself. Which was actually a great feat since the moment he felt the girl squeeze his arm, albeit just a little, a lump formed in his throat.

He had to admit he liked the touch of the girl's hand on his arm but not one to shout out that declaration to anyone who would be willing to here, he kept that thought to himself.

He returned the smile when the girl smiled at him. Add beautiful smile to pretty face, Cris made a mental note to himself. He waved off her apology with another smile. "I'm just glad that you're alright. I'm just glad you weren't hurt. Wait, did I just repeat myself?" Cris paused to ask upon realization that he had done exactly that.

Shaking his head, he grinned as he stuck out his hand. "Let's try this again, shall we? Hello Demelza, I'm Cristoffer but you can call me Cris. I'm a transfer from Durmstrang? What about you? Have you always been at Hogwarts?"

Arista was told by one of the older students about a tree house and she knew she would have to be go and check it out. Because an adventure would surely be happening there! She walked on down to the tree house and saw a young girl probably a first year too... Making friends.. Yes??

"Hey!!" she said as she walked over to her. "I'm Arista." she added when she reached her with a small curtsy. "Do you happen to be a first year?"

Abby smiled at Arista and said "Hi Arista yes i do happen to be a first year, I am Abby"

Demelza
 

Was she blushing? Cris forced himself not to stare. She was even more pretty when she did that. Then Cris wondered whether he ever looked that good when he blushed. He made a mental note to ask Jasmine when he next saw her.

"So far I like being here. It's a lot different from Durmstrang that's for sure. My brother, Sander, attended Hogwarts last term and he had lots of good things to say about this place, so naturally I was intrigued enough that I told my parents I wanted to transfer here too," Cris explained to Demelza.

Wait she was from the Wizarding Academy of Dramatic Arts? Now that was something Cris could believe. Demelza had that artistic flair about her. She had that certain je ne sais quoiness about her. His interest piqued he cocked his head as he asked her, "So which did you like the best? The acting, singing or dancing?" He wanted to reveal to her that he liked to sing and dance too, but since he had only just met her, Cris decided that was too much information to share with a stranger.

...and it wasn't like he danced ballet or anything like that. He was more of a hip hop dancer and more often than not he incorporated his martial arts moves in the dance as well.

Then she mentioned something that was very familiar to him, immediately recalling the day Sander returned home for Christmas, greying, wrinkled and often tired. "So you were also affected by that aging illness? So was Sander. He's my brother. He and his girlfriend, Tessa were both infected. Was it really that bad?" Cris inquired.

Melek climbed up into the tree house with her kneazle, Elouan, in her book bag. She, of course, gave the kneazle some breathing air and hadnt closed the top. The kneazle gave an annoyed hiss, not liking being in the bag but Mel didnt care. She had wanted to bring Elouan to the tree house. Melek finally got to the top and made sure that it was safe before taking Elouan out of her bag. She smiled until the kneazle bolted in the direction of a boy who was reading. Mel shouted at the kneazle, "STOP, ELOUAN!" Melek sighed and chased after the kneazle. To her dismay, Elouan hopped onto the boy's head. Mel stopped in front of the boy and tried to reach for Elouan. To the boy, she distractedly said, "So sorry... She is mad at me... I didnt mean for her to jump on your head."

Lux, Cris and new girl.
 

Everything was just better now that he was with Lux "yeah I don't think I'd be able to deal if I had to do tests three years in a row, i'd probably die of stress" he said jokingly but deep down he knew it was true. No one would be able to handle that at all. nope no one.

Putting his arm around her he started to relax more as he saw Cris look back at them and say hello "hey what are you doing" as he gave a big yawn. Oh wait Cris had some girl with him, one he hasn't met before… wait a minute Bay totally thought that Cris would end up with Jasmine.

Looking down at Lux he gave her a look that said "what about jasmine" because Cris and this girls seemed to have chemistry. hopefully Lux would know what his look meant.

Mention of Cris and Demelza
 

Lux was really happy to be with Bay, but she did not like the mention of death. No more talking of him dying even if it was jokingly. Not after last term. "I would not let that happen." Nope, never if she had her say in it. Last term had been stressful enough wiith the whole ageing thing and Professor Hadley placing a coffin in her classroom.

Smiling as she leaned into him, she noticed Cris interacting with Demelza. This was very interesting seeing as he appeared to like Jasmine. What was going on? Why was he being flirty with another girl? Hearing Bay yawn, Lux shook her head. "You are ALWAYS tired." It wasn't even just when he was an old man; even when he was back to normal, he still yawned a lot.

Oh well, at least she and Bay seemed to be on the same wavelength when it came to Cris and Jasmine. After returning his look, she decided to do something about it. "Hey, Cris. So how is JASMINE doing?"

Hint hint. Don't forget about the other girl, Cris.

Jun/Baek!
 

Well...

*gulp*

Paloma looked up to the tree house, then back to the little road she took to get there. She could always go back, right? Like not even try to get there, because it looked interestingly small and sort of not-safe.

But there was no time to chicken out of this! She took the rope ladder and started to climb slowly, just making sure her ballerinas wouldn't be damaged, nor she would fall out of there, and well...make her first trip up to the Hospital Wing during her first month at Hogwarts.

She just hoped that Jun would hurry up!

Jun had avoided all eye contact with the Black Lake. He didn't want to try and get close just yet. Maybe in a few more weeks when it gets colder and he didn't have to go in. Y'know, gotta be on the safe side of things. At least this one thing. He hurried his long legs towards the treehouse, where he had to meet Pal at. Reaching the rope ladder, Jun turned his black cap backwards and climbed. At least this was somewhat useful in getting his body fit for his rehearsals. Humming to himself, the boy reached the top in no time and smiled at Pal.

"I'm not too late, am I?"

Connor was lost in his book. The scene in Mirkwood forest with all the spiders, it terrified him when he was little but now he loved it, the adventure..the bravery of Bilbo Baggins, who reminded himself of well...himself. Maybe he just needed a little shove to find his bravery too? He hoped so. Maybe one day he could go on adventures..

Then out of the blue a little creature was on his head, he looked up at a girl, saying sorry for this unique event. Merlin, this was was weird. "Oh...well i wouldn't think you did.." He said and laughed in a bit of a friendly way. He didn't want her to think he was offended accidents happened after all. "Why is she mad at you? I'm Connor by the way, I'd shake your hand but i'm trying to sit still do you can catch her." He said and smiled at her, he tried to smile at everyone, it was nice and it would make them feel nice.

After maybe taking ten minutes to get herself some courage and up the ladder, Paloma had landed on safe wood and a verrrrrrrrrrry extended room. "Indeed, I love this place." She said, her eyes following every single piece of space around her.

Once she had explored the place, she sat on the floor, tapping the floor as if she was playing the piano, humming all notes possible to her song, Tiny Dancer, as Lou called her. She grinned, but right then Jun appeared.

"None at all, I was just getting acquainted with the place...quite nice, huh?" She said, smiling. "So...thanks for the offer, to...help me with the singing..." She had to really mention it.

Melek finally got Elouan off of the boy. "Bad, Elouan.You dont jump on the head of a stranger." Mel swatted the nose of her kneazle and kept a hold of her so that she wouldnt get into more trouble. "She doesnt like being in a bag or cage and I had to put her in my bag to bring her up here..." She shrugged and smiled at the boy, "Pleasure meeting you, Conner. I am Melek and I much appreciated you holding still so that I can get this bad kneazle off your head. OH and the kneazle is Elouan..." Melek glared at Elouan but then held out her hand to the boy.

Hm. "Honestly, I've never been up here until now. I usually don't go near the water," Because of that stupid fear he had. Still needed to work on that later. Either way, Jun made himself comfortable and relaxed. This was a singing lesson and tension should not be present. It made ones vocal cords tight and singing clearly harder. He nodded, giving Pal a grin. "No problem, since you're helping me with the acting later," Because his trainee program just had to have acting on their needed skills list. At least Jun entered with a level two since he did plays and shows while little at muggle school.

"First things first, sit up straight and breathe in and out," Helped one feel calm and relaxed. And to loosen up them cords too. "Once you're done with that, start with 'ah', low, work into a highish note, not too high, then into a low one," And with that Jun sang the warm-up with out a problem.

Hears Bay and Lux
 

All this time while Cris was chatting with Demelza, he had totally forgotten that they weren't alone in the treehouse...and he would have continued to have forgotten if not for Lux calling over to him and asking him how Jasmine was doing.

Even as he chuckled at the obvious 'hey don't forget about Jasmine query', he winked over at Demelza conspiratorially before replying. "Jasmine is doing fine...well at least that was how she was the last time I talked with her. I'm meeting her at the playpens later today. I'll tell her you asked about her," Cris turned to reply to Lux before smiling apologetically back at Demelza.

"I'm sorry about that. Those are my brother's friends. Well, technically they're mine too. I guess they must be wondering what we're doing over here.....which is none of their business," Cris wanted to call out to both his friends, but decided not to. He knew they meant well.

PhoenixStar
 

Delilah made her way to the Tree House, rather looking forward to the punching lesson that Cat had very kindly agreed to give. It wasn't like she wanted to punch someone in particular.. it was just learning to defend herself, see? Yeah, there was magic but maybe, throwing a good punch might come in handy someday. Who knows? She liked learning new things anyway.

Spotting her friend leaning against the trunk of tree, Delilah grinned and quickly walked over to the other girl and gave her a hug. She'd missed seeing Cat's face, actually. "Hey! How are you?"

Vinnie/Laura :3
 

Vinnie had decided it was time to explore the grounds a little. Last year she had spent most of her time in the library, reading about long gone people and events. This term would be different, she had made some quite adventurous friends to keep her on her feet, to start with. Everyone seemed to be busy though so the Slytherin went exploring on her own.

Making her way to the woods the brunette came across a treehouse. Wait... a TREEHOUSE?! Oh my god, when she was little Vinnie wished she had a treehouse. But thanks to her parents that dream never came true. Now she was standing right in front of one, a serious treehouse. There was no doubt she had to go inside.

With a massive grin on her face the girl started climbing up the ladder. This was great. She could read here and it could be her save base. Oh yes. She hadnt been inside yet but the Slytherin was certain she would love it. Taking the last step on the ladder, Vinnie opened the door and gasped. This place was huge.

As the fifth year stepped inside she twirled around. Her treehouse. She finally had a treehouse. Well not really...but details. At first Vinnie didnt even notice the boy sprawled out on the sofa. Just as she stopped spinning to look at the room more carefully she saw him laying there. Oh...someone had found it before her. Oh well, they could share....if he was nice.

„Hey there“, she nodded at him, approaching the sofa he was lying on.

It was SUCH a beautiful day, and Aubrey fully intended to spend as much time as possible soaking up some sun. She was still really bummed about the canceling the Quidditch especially since she had just found out what it was all about. Maybe she could find a way to sneak some brooms out and give it a go. Where there was a will there was always a way right?

As she continued to walk the grounds she automatically spotted a huge tree house. "Awesome." There was no hesitation from her before she scaled the tree and made it into the house portion of it. "Wow." she exclaimed. This was the best tree house that she had ever been in. It was a moment before she realized that she wasn't alone. "Hello there." She gave the girl a big smile.

So glad that she wanted him around more he laughed at her comment about always being tired. "just can't help it, I'm a growing boy. Maybe I'm going through another growth spurt?" he had already grown a few inches over the summer and had to buy a lot of new clothes, he even had to start shaving his face but thank goodness his father gave him that enchanted razor.

Hearing Lux ask about Jasmine made him chuckle and laugh some more at Cris's response. "lets leave them be Cucumber" to Bay even though he liked Jasmine and he didn't even know this new girl but to him he thought that Cris was a free man to do what he wanted.

Turning to Lux "so what did you want to do today?" hopefully something lazy.

Connor knew this was a weird place..but he was surprised by how much actually happened here. It seemed like something odd happened to him every day. But this girl seemed nice enough. "I see, she just wants to roam around then..understandable." He put his bookmark in his book and stood up. "Yeah, no problem. She seems like a difficult one to catch..It's nice to meet you both, Melek and Elouan. What year are you?" He asked her, it seemed like something he was asking a lot but everyone was around his age it seemed so far anyway.

Mention of Cris as well
 

Laughing, Lux thought that it was certainly true that Bay was a growing boy. "I've been growing a little too. I'm two inches taller than I was last term." Did he notice that? She was sure that no one besides her had, and she was totally cool with it. "Don't you grow too much though, you might get to be too tall to give me piggy back rides and stuff!" Lux would not like that at all.

Cris' response to her question made her laugh more, and she nodded when Bay said they should leave Cris be. She didn't really mind that he was flirting with Demelza, but she still thought that he should remember Jasmine. It was a good thing that he had done that!

What did she want to do? "I'm up to anything as long as I get to spend time with you." Yep, she was good spending time with her boyfriend, she thought as she gave him another hug.

Oh Bay hasn't noticed that she grew taller because he was growing too.. "awesome Cucumber" he said while ruffling her hair. He always liked to mess with her hair. "how about I make you a promise" he stuck out his pinky finger "If I grow any taller I'll build you a latter so I can give you piggy backs!" that sounded like a fair compromise right?

"that sounds good to me" he said as the sun came in through the window. "hey its a nice day, why don't we go for a walk around the lake?" what he really wanted to dow as nap but he wanted to spend more time with Lux more than anything.

More smiles as Bay ruffled her hair, Lux had a feeling that it was harder for him to notice since he was growing more than she was. Liking what his offer, she made a pinky promise with him. That sounds good to me as long as I don't have to go high up on the ladder. So no becoming a giant!" This heights thing was just not good for her, and neither were tall ladders.

Getting to her feet, she stretched so that her arms and legs wouldn't feel so stiff, "That sounds like a good idea and might help you wake up, sleepy head. Maybe she could do cartwheels, and she wondered if he could do them as well.

Lounging like a superstar, he was. Lounging and watching. Because the view was one to be admired from up here. You could see nearly EVERYTHING. And it didn't look like a bad place to hide out if he wanted to be somewhere that wasn't indoors. Then his gaze shifted to a newcomer. It was just a quick glance over at her but then.........

................ staring took place.

Why? Because of the appearance of one girl. It wasn't the creepy HUBBA HUBBA stare, either. No. This was more of the 'what in the name of merlin????' kind of stare. One where his eyebrows were furrowed and his head was slightly tilted off to one side. Jeez, what was this girl even DOING?! Why was she spinning like that? Didn't she know that she in a treehouse and could easily bump into something or maybe someone? Did she WANT to make a fool of herself?

Oh good, she stopped. And came.............. up to him. Merlin, this meant that he had to TALK to her and be NICE or whatever. She wasn't bad on the eyes. Maybe she could stay then. MAYBE. "Helloooooo," he said slowly, sitting up a little. "Wanna sit?" Because if she was going to collapse, he would rather her collapse on the sofa.

Or on him.

Whatever worked.

Paloma raised her eyebrow at Jun when he mentioned he didn't go near the water? "Ummm...." She wasn't sure if she was allowed to ask, since it was a personal matter, but "...why is that? That you can't...go near the water?"

As she agreed that they were to train in each other in some scenic art for them to improve, "It'd be my pleasure to help you as well." She was just excited...nervous...and now back to relaxed.

She obeyed and did as Jun told her, sitting almost at the edge of a chair as one of her teachers used to make her do, then slowly she let out some air, then following him as he sang. She blinked then when she tried to hit her high notes, "ahhhajkjkahhhhh..." Total fail. She put her hand over her mouth then shook her head. "This is what I was talkin' about the other day..." Her eye movements were clear, she was sad about this, because it had ruined part of what she was part of last summer. Sigh.

Jun took off his cap and ruffled his hair. Might as well explain. "Uh, got pushed into a pool when I was little and didn't know how to swim. Now I have a fear of large bodies of water. Or pools. I just rather stay away from them," And it didn't help that Jun attended a school that was mostly surrounded by water.

"Like it's my pleasure to help you out in singing," Jun playfully pinched her cheek and listened attentively to Pal's singing. Whoa. What was that? Okay, he can help with this. "Try inhaling from your stomach, never from your chest. You become short breathed when doing that," He showed her again, pressing his hands against his stomach and singing the note. That's one thing a lot of people did; sing from their chests instead of using their entire diaphragms. Notes usually sounded clearer that way.

Demelza
 

Seeing that he was obviously embarrassing Demelza, as evidenced from her blushing, Cris tried not to make eye contact too much. He nodded in understanding when she mentioned that she missed doing all the artistic stuff that she used to do back in the Academy. He knew how that felt. There was no way in heck he was going to be able to sing and dance in the shower like he used to do back home, here in Hogwarts. If caught, he suspected he would be the not so friendly talk among the students. However, he was used to hiding his secret having done that for many years while he was attending Durmstrang.

And that's why he was taken aback when she posed the same question back at him. "Uh...um...I don't mind a little singing. Dancing?....um....I much prefer doing mixed martial arts," he informed Demelza. Well it was the truth. He hadn't been lying when he said he loved martial arts. He even incorporated it into his hip hop moves.

Then he chuckled when she asked about Quidditch. "Uh uh. I play the game leisurely, but I'm not a Quidditch jock. I'd much prefer rock climbing, swimming, running and speed skating and of course mixed martial arts...and I'm repeating myself again, aren't I?," Cris sheepishly laughed in embarassment.

He noticed her looking over at Bay and Lux when they both had called over and then grinned at her conspiratorially wink. Shaking his head, he laughed back,"Nope we're not doing anything suspicious at all. Just we're just two people hanging out and chatting like every other person here does,"

Cris wondered whether Demelza had a boyfriend. Surely someone as pretty as her would have to have one. He wanted to broach the subject with her, but at the same time felt uncomfortable doing it. What if she misunderstood and thought that he was trying to find out whether she was available to date or not. Not that he wanted to date her or anything. Heck, he had only just met her. Besides, he liked Jasmine...a lot.

For Brigette and Penelope (:
 

Being inside the stuffy castle all morning had gotten to a certain new girl. Lambrini wanted -- no, NEEDED -- to be surrounded by nature. She wanted to inhale the fresh, cool air and feel it brush her skin as it blew softly. So she decided to take a little trip outside, wandering up to the treehouse and climbing into it.

The moment she was inside, she let out a gasp at how big it was. Magic was a neat thing. But as cool as the interior of the treehouse looked, Lamb was still desperate for fresh air. She walked out to the deck and sat down, dangling her feet over the edge. This. This was nice. The wind blew softly, causing her long, dark hair to flutter behind her back. She inhaled, letting the cool air fill her lungs before she pushed it out. A sudden calm washed over her. School-related stress couldn't reach her here.

The ants go marching one by one. Hoorah! Hoorah! Uhhh... Cat didn't remember the rest of the song... so she just continued watching the ants crawl over the tree trunk and then she started counting them. She'd gotten to 45 when she heard a voice. And got a HUG! Cat loved hugs! She squeezed Delilah with all of her strength and released the girl to grin at her. "Wonderful. I was counting ants. I might've started naming them if you hadn't come along." Which was a good thing cause then she would have gotten sort of attached to them and that was not a good thing.

Tilting her head, she gave Delilah a very serious look. "I was promised sandwiches." Not that she needed to be bribed to spend time with a friend, but... sandwiches..

Penelope...was gonna try to study. No, not just try, ACTUALLY study. Hopefully. Probably. If she didn't get distracted. NEWTs were already a pain, but she knew she needed to prepare for them, and not just during the last few months of the term. Her future - or, at least, the part of her future about getting a job that she wanted - depended on her getting good enough grades for it.

So here she was, carrying a textbook and climbing up to the treehouse, hoping it was empty so she could study. And...it was not.

The treehouse WAS big enough that she could probably just sit over there somewhere to study on her own and it'd be fine but...

...yeah, she didn't really want to study. And ignoring people would be rude and stuff, right? So it was totally a good excuse to forget about studying right now. Yup.

"Nice view, yeah?" she commented, tucking the textbook under her arm.

Candice knew she wasn't alone anymore, she heard someone was climbing the rope ladder but she kinda hoped that this person would go the other way and just leave her alone but no such luck. Had she mentioned that she had a very bad luck? Yeah.

The Gryffindor turned around to see the person who decided to bother her when she was about to take a nap.

NO WAY???!!!! WHY...??!!! Why it had to be Angel of all people? "Why you're so cruel to me universe? What did I ever do to you?" she mumbled.

"Hey. Can I help you with something, Angel?"

As Vinnie stopped spinning, she noticed the look on the boy’s face. Was he alright? Did he feel sick or something? Oh well… good thing he was lying down then. She’d have to ask Louis or Jun to spin around with her instead. That wasn’t too bad.

“Sure, thank you”, she smiled and plopped down next to him. How nice that he made space for her. So far the brunette didn’t mind sharing the treehouse with him. “I am Vinnie”, the girl grinned leaning back on the sofa and pulling her legs up. Ahhhh comfy. How had she never heard of this treehouse_ Was it new? Or had it been there all the time while she had been moping around?!

Once again the brunette sighed at herself, in her head. How did she spend a full year without exploring and talking to anyone? No wonder she had felt like she didn’t belong, cause she had made herself the outsider.
Luckily the new term started off amazing and with this treehouse here it could only get better.


And then she saw it…. The view you had from up here and gasped. It was beautiful. Wow

At the sound of someone's voice, Lambrini looked around, peering upward with big brown eyes to see where the voice had come from. It belonged to a girl who was seemingly speaking to her. Lamb was pleasantly surprised, given that not many people had talked to her so far. And it was understandable. She kept to herself and to her best friend Jakoby, but he wasn't here right now, so she was all alone... which she assumed made her more approachable. Cool.

She smiled at the girl. "It's very nice, yes. A lot different from the view I'm used to back home." When she looked outside her bedroom windows, all she saw was an endless collection of buildings. One of the perks of living in the city. But being a girl that loved nature, she had to say she preferred this view.

Errr... was this one mumbling to herself? A thought immediately came to her head that it might not be such a bad idea if she just quietly left the tree house, and pretended that this never never happened. BUT the tree house was really cool, and she didn't want to leave on account of there possibly being a psycho standing in front of her. "What was that?"

Did she need help? Nope, well yeah, but in this situation no not really. Ahhh... this one thought that she was Angel. She was just about to go on and tell her that she was a triplet, but she thought that she could have a little fun with this. "Nope, just checking out the tree house. Pretty cool huh?"

ooc. Sorry for lateness. She loves Jun for helping her though :33
 

Pal wrinkled her eyebrows and really went to put herself in Jun's shoes, or feet when that accident happened. "OY." She shook her head, but then nodded. "Well, how about if next time, we meet only at the Room of Requirement, for us to have instruments to practice, and maybe even material to work on for your acting lessons." After all, that room provided everything they required, right? She didn't want to make feel Jun uncomfortable at all, even if it meant a long ago trauma like that.

The pinch on her cheeks. She couldn't help but let a small pinkish blush run through at sight. She cleared her throat and listened as Jun explained, AGAIN, how she SHOULD do it, and how clear her voice notes would hear if she actually tried as instructed.

Okay, here goes second try...

"ah...ah...ah...Ah...Ah...Ahh...Ahh...AH..." She calmly sang, feeling her diaphragm expand and deinflate as she did it. When finished, she blinked and hoped for that grin of approval from Jun. Maybe it wasn't so perfect as his, but she had made the little exercise, for once...like she had never accomplished with any other music teacher, EVER.

Though, like always...she bit her lip, her little tic of nerves showing off.

Jun nodded. "That would make things a lot easier for us. Since it's already on our floor, less effort in getting there," Not to mention they wouldn't have to climb all those stairs back up. Good workout, but hell after a dance rehearsal and all. No need to go tumbling back down the stairs and end up with the healer. Mean healer, that is. Oh, and his acting lessons! Yeah, he really needed those for his trainee program. That program was gonna make the boy too exhausted one day from everything he needed to do. But it was basically his future right there.

There you go.

Jun grinned and nodded his head at Pal. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?" A little shaky, but practice always helped with that. Jun didn't need to remind her about things she should avoid in consuming. Pal was a performer so it was common sense for them both. "Those are just warm ups for notes. Anything else you want help in?"

Oh look! She had manners. Good for her.

Grayson nodded at her as a way of saying 'you're welcome'. Honestly, she started it by coming up to him. It was part of the protocol for him to make room for her but if she was taking it nicely, he wasn't going to say no. Vinnie? "It's nice to meet you, Vinne." She was even smiling, too. And making herself comfortable. Er, okay. Whatever floats your boat, Vinnie. "The name's Grayson." Hellooooooo to you.

He was watching the girl curiously, of course. Because she was new and had oh-so-casually come up to him, for once. Was she planning on saying anything? Or was he going to have to be the one to make small talk? Ugh. Small talk was NOT something he liked doing. Who wanted to be sitting there and talking about the freaking weather? LAME. And not to mention VERY boring. "It's not a bad spot to sit." There. Small talk.

"See anything interesting?"

Alright. Now time and space was set for the mutual lessons. But she was curious about why would he need acting lessons, if he sang beautifully and danced, too. "By chance, why would you need to sharpen your acting skills, Jun? Are you planning to do something about that...soon?" Because for Paloma, she had to do it to enter her internship and en route performing program, but it'd be neat and fair if Jun came more clear about his intentions about acting.

With a sigh of relief, she grinned wide and obviously took to note the way that her body had just done with the diaphragm and her voice, the notes. FLAIL. "Umm, now that you mention it. I assume you perform from time to time, right? So, what do you do, like a mini advice on how to get rid of nerves." She had many, but when it came to singing, everything else failed, and the whole act came to ashes.

She even put her puppy eyes, not intentionally, but in hope to get a reasonable and practical way to avoid those feelings.

Vinnie still couldnt believe Hogwarts had a treehouse now. Hah, her mum couldnt tell her no here. She'd probably come here everyday now. To do homework, to read, to have parties, to do anything. At least in summer. Treehouses werent warm enough for winter. „Its nice to meet you too“, she smiled at him.

It was crazy how many people she had met now that she wasnt hiding in the library anymore. Hogwarts didnt seem bad at all anymore and she felt quite good being her. Maybe she had let go. Finally.“Hi there Grayson“, she nodded at him. This had to be the first time someone didnt ask about her full name or if it stood in any relation to something. Score, Grayson. Well done.

„Its a pretty good spot to sit“, the Slytherin agreed,“ this might be my new fave thing about Hogwarts.“ Besides the friends she made and the history lessons. She was sooooooo excited about history classes. Could they volunteer to be assistants? Cause she definitely would.

„I am just looking out in general“, the girl shrugged,“ i like being high up.“ That made it even worse that she sucked at Quidditch. Like she was good at flying but the game? Not really, at least not as Seeker. Terrible.“ How did you find it?“ The treehouse, obviously.

She really did have manners, didn't she? Maybe this meant that he had to be nice.

Yeah, MAYBE.

And she had already said hi to him so the boy was a bit confused as to why she was saying it yet again. Was she really that happy to see him? Or was she just one of those people that just said hi multiple times? Seeing as he had just met her, he didn't know which one it could be but the second one was definitely close to the loony side. The Slytherin let out a small snort and a chuckle before saying, "Hi Vinnie! What year are you in?" Might as well ask, yeah?

Don't turn him into a loony. It wasn't going to happen.

Good, she was agreeing. Grayson nodded along, shifting his gaze from the brown haired girl to the grounds. "Your old favourite thing's going to be upset at being knocked off the top spot." It could be true. "What was your old favourite thing about Hogwarts?" This would be a good judge of character to see whether she said something fun like the kitchens or something boring like the library.

Well, her answer wasn't that interesting or something he could carry on the conversation with so, the boy shrugged. 'Twas fair and all. "What? Like on roofs? Flying?" Or did she mean something else? "Oh, I was just wandering around and came across this place and thought I'd have a look. Treehouses. They're brilliant." Not one of the most epic stories he had heard. "You?"

Jun had never mentioned the trainee program to Pal. Well, she never asked.And Jun only told the people he actually talked to. Those could be counted on his one hand. Sad, ain't it? Well, now it was a bit more with new people he's met this year so far. "I'm a trainee for a music label and their program requires I learn acting, Chinese, Japanese, rapping, and instruments to get in. I only have three of out six requirements," And if he didn't improve on either of them, he'd get kicked out and there went his dreams of making it big one day.

Actually, he didn't. "I don't perform time to time. I rarely do, only at auditions," Which were brutal and exhausting. Do not recommend for quitters. But she wanted advice on how to not be nervous anymore? Awwh. That was an easy thing for him. "Pretend you're rehearsing by yourself. Even if it's an audition, pay no mind to everyone else. Also helps if you think of something really funny before hand to make your nerves go away," That way you mind wouldn't be focused on the audition, but the funny thing. As long as you you know you still have to be focused while performing.

The view WAS really nice, and for a moment, Penelope couldn't help picturing how much nicer it would be if she was flying. She was able to distract herself from the cancellation of Quidditch most of the time, but other times, like right now, she longed to be on a broom again. The view from here was pretty, but it would look so much differently when looking at it from all angles while on a broom. Meh.

Those thoughts lasted only a couple seconds though and then she was listening to the girl. "What's your view at home like?" Just curious, especially since different could probably be a lot of things.

Sorry for the lateness .____.
 

Sigh.

Why did Angel had to choose this place to explore? Why can't her fellow Gryffindor choose the Blake Lake or Whomping Willow? Why.....????? Why....???

Candice knew that Angel was a triplet but she didn't realize or thought that the girl in front of her was one of Angel's triplet. "Uh uh." Nodnodnod. "How do you like Hogwarts so far?" she asked. Maybe she should tried being nice to Angel since they're in the same house and all.

Vinnie laughed a little as she heard the boy snort. Somehow it always amused her when boys snorted, like it wasnt a common thing for them to do was it?!“ Fifth year Slytherin“, she nodded, „ and you?“ He looked about her age, maybe younger or maybe older. Probably not a Slyhterin though, Vinnie had spent a lot of time in the commom room lately. Especially cause they had gotten the green bean bags now. They were soooooo comfy.

But now she had found a new place, maybe she could bring a bean bag up there? Jun would help her. He totally would. That would be perfect, bean bag and treehouse could it get any better?

„My old fave should be quiet then“, the girl chuckled. Grayson was funny, he probably didnt even realise.“ I transfered from Durmstrang last term and i am just getting out of my shell now.“ That shell metaphor was quite fitting. „ I used to spent a lot of them at the libaray last term“, the Slytherin shrugged,“ i am in to history.“ People always found it strange how she liked history so she didnt really expected Grayson to think any different. He looked more like the sports type. „my fave thing was and is and will always be food though“, Vinnie chuckled. Food totally was the key to her heart.

„Like flying, on roofs, on hot air balloons, on rollercoasters“, the fifth year nodded,“ basically anywhere high up. I need to find the highest tree and climb it.“ The view from there probabaly was just as amazing as it was here, or maybe even better. Oh...so he had found it just the way she had found it. „Ive always wanted a treehouse but my mum forbit it.....“.

No worries!
 

AJ totally got the impression that this girl didn't really care for Angel and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. Mainly though she just really wanted to have a little fun.

"Hogwarts is cool so far." She had to remember to act more like Angel would just in case that this girl would pick up on it. "What's your favorite thing about Hogwarts?" Angel would be mad if she knew that she was impersonating her, but she would let the girl know... eventually.

"Hogwarts is the COOLEST." There's no place like Hogwarts. She was pretty sure that French school and Durm school weren't as cool as their school.

What's her favorite thing about Hogwarts? Hmm..That's a very tough question. "The Giant Squid. I haven't get the pleasure to see him with my own eyes but I'm looking forward to meet him." She probably had to visit the Groundskeeper and asked him on where's the Giant Squid hideout. "What about you?" Look at her, she was being polite and all. Her brother would be so proud.

Yup. Hogwarts was the coolest. The girl wouldn't get any arguments from here there. "Way better than muggle school." Yup, she learned a new word and now that she knew what it meant she could use it all she wants.

"There's a giant squid?" She shouldn't be that surprised really given everything that goes on at the school. "I have to see that." So, if she found out where to find the thing she should totally let a sister know. "Hmmm.... I think my favorite thing so far are the ghosts." It was pretty cool that they were there and there was one particular one that was a bit of a prankster that she had her eyes on.

"There's still so much that I need to explore though." She really hadn't seen much of the castle considering that she had been so busy with lessons and such. "How are you liking the lessons?" AJ thought they were pretty wicked herself.

BLINK.

Did Cat just say that she was counting ants? Delilah slowly grinned and shook her head a little. Heh. "Well, would you have named one of them after me?" Y'know, just curious. Was Delilah a pretty name for an ant? Maybe. An ant named after her.. now, wouldn't that be pretty cool?

Sandwiches! Ooops. In her excitement to learn throwing punches, she had completely forgotten about the sandwiches she had promised Cat! Ugh. Delilah felt like such a jerk now.. especially since Cat LOVED food. The blonde gave the other girl an apologetic look and said, "I'm sorry. I can make them for you later today? Would that be alright?"

Kace & Steph! :3
 

Kace was excited to go to the tree house. He didn't explore here yet. He was excited to do so. He started to climb and made his way to the top easy. As he got to the top, he noticed someone else was here. It was a girl and she seemed new. He didn't see her before. He approached her carefully not wanting to scare her. "Heyy.." he began. "I am Kace.." he said. "You new to this sort of thing?" he asked sensing her apprehension.

Demelza
 

"You want to hear me sing?" the question slipped out before Cris realized what he had said. It wasn't so much what he said, but how he had said it. A little on the high pitch, like he was totally surprised she had even mentioned him doing that. Realizing his mistake, he quickly lowered the pitch back to normal mode.

Coughing to clear the pixie frog in his throat, Cris repeated the question again. "You would like to hear me sing one day? Believe me, you don't want to hear me sing, Cris laughed, quickly looking around to make sure no one had heard his initial squeak.

"I just do the occasional warble in the showers. You, no critics that way," he grinned back at her. Leaning against the side rails of the treehouse, Cris folded his arms and looked at Demelza. "[B]However, I would love to hear you sing, and dance and act. I give you my word, I'll be very objective.[/b[" he smiled at her. Then an idea popped into his head.

"Hey, maybe if it's okay with you, I could bring Jasmine along. She loves to dance too," Cris pointed out to Demelza.

Pardon her jumping to conclusions. Lmfao.
 

Muggle school? Her ears perk up when she heard that word. "You went to Muggle School before Hogwarts?" Was that mean Angel was a muggleborn?

She didn't know about the Giant Squid? Hah. Candice knew something that she didn't know that made her a bit smug. "There is. You never heard the story?" If she's in fact a muggleborn she might not know the story of Giant Squid that lived in Hogwarts. "I heard the Squid lives in the Lake." Her favorite thing was Ghosts? "Yeah, the ghosts are pretty cool." Especially Sir Nicholas. "Did you know that some weak Gryffindor first year puked when she saw Sir Nicholas nearly headless head during the feast?" That almost costed Candice her appetite. "Have you meet Peeves?" She hasn't had a chance to meet the Hogwarts residence prankster but she would love to meet him.

Yeah. She hadn't seen much of the castle herself. "The lessons are great. I got to use my wand which was so COOL." What a great experience. She was hoping to learn more spells though. "What's your favorite so far?"

"I did. I only found out that I was magical right before I was due at Hogwarts." She was so glad that she was magical because everything that she was learning here was so cool and sooo much fun.

"Story? What story?" There were apparently so many stories and AJ was so out of the loop. She had managed to learn a lot from her friend Ian and Adi, but there was just so much to know and it was her first year after all. She was sure that she would be able to find out a lot on her own, but she kind of hated not knowing things. Plus, sometimes people tried to trick her and tell her lies. AJ was not sure who she should trust with things. "It lives in the lake?" Well, she was sure that if it did live anywhere, then that's where it would be. "Show me." She was going to call the girl's bluff. "Somebody puked? I must have missed that." Ghosts were nothing to get your stomach in knots over. "I have met Peeves and he is a hoot." Well, when he was targeting you personally anyways.

"The magical stick is really cool. I just wish that I knew how to work it better." She knew that it would come with time, but she wanted to be able to master it now. "I think my favorite so far is Potions. All of the lessons have been wicked though." The whole strength potion and arm wrestling was hard to beat. "What about you?"

With folded arms and a slightly tilted head, Coral took a few steps forward. It was so big. So very big. Her eyes darted this way and that, taking in the whole place. There was some sort of weird game looking thing off to the side. Was it a muggle game? Not that she was overly familiar with wizarding sports, but still. It looked strange.

Hearing a voice, Coral-Bay's eyes darted in the direction, her head turned as well as her entire body so that she could be face to face with the boy.

A hufflepuff. A cute hufflepuff. She put on a smile for the boy and introduced herself as well. "Hi, I'm Coral-Bay." She rubbed at her arms, feeling a bit uncomfortable by the sudden introductions. "To what sort of thing are you referring?" Cue the friendly smile.

Kace saw her smile so he didn't scare her. That was a good thing. Oh interesting name. "Coral-Bay interesting name...I like it." he smiled back to her. He noticed she was rubbing her arms and he asked with a quizzical look, "Are you cold?" He didn't think it was cold in here but then again he was used to 40 below temperatures. "Well i am referring to climbing Tree Houses." he said answering her question. "You looked like a newbie when i saw you climbing up here, just making sure you were settled in." he shrugged.

"It's nice," Lambrini smiled to herself at the memory of her view. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on her knee caps. "I'm from New York City, so there's lots of buildings. Being here is quite different, obviously. There's tons of trees, and it's quiet... but I like it. I like being out here and smelling the fresh air. It's... refreshing. Hogwarts has its own hustle and bustle, but it's never overwhelming, like NYC can be at times." Realizing she was rambling, the girl giggled and buried her face in her knees for a moment. "I'm sorry. I talk too much." She lifted her head and smiled up at the girl as she offered her her hand to shake. "I'm Lambrini. What's your name?"

Ohhh. So the triplets were muggleborn? That's explain why she didn't know about Giant Squid.

"The Giant Squid story. The one that said that its real and stuff." Shrugs. "Uh huh. That's what my brother told me." And Willy never lied. Not to her. Show her? "I'm not sure how. Maybe we could go to the Groundskeeper and ask him to summon the Giant Squid?" Surely Agatha's uncle know how to do that, right? He's the Groundskeeper and all. "Yup. What a weakling really." And that girl was a Gryffindor, she wondered why the old hat put that weak girl in their house. "Hoot?" Chuckles. "I bet he's. So what did he do?" Did he prank Angel? She wished she's there to see it.

"Magical stick?" Brows. "Wand you mean?" She's a Muggleborn so no wondered Angel called it magical stick but in this world they called it wand she need to keep up. "I like Potion too. Its really cool. We got a Superman Power for hours. That's WICKED!"

Deniz. <3
 

Cosgrach checked his watch and nodded to himself. He was early. He wanted to be there before her, after all, so it was good that he would -

He halted abruptly and squinted his eyes at the Tree House. Was that..? It was. Her. He checked his watch again in confusion. Just how EARLY could she be there? He frowned to himself, but then shrugged it and walked. He'd have liked to be there before her, but as long as she was there, it was all good.

"Tiny!" he called from below and didn't wait for any reply before he started climbing the ladder. Soon he was standing by her with a huge grin, but didn't say anything and let her speak if she wanted to.

He was ready for a big hug and "THANK YOUUUUU!" though. Ehehe.

She saw him coming from quite a long distance, so she pocketed the letter before he got close. Didn't want him to know she was totally touched by it, right? Sophie had enough of a problem on her hands - how was she going to thank Culloden and let him know she really appreciated him without making his head even bigger than it already was? A totally serious problem.

First and foremost, she decided she had to play it cool. So, with the letter tucked away, she held onto the railing and swung her legs back and forth contently over the side of the tree house, watching his approach. When he got close enough, he greeted her, and she replied shortly, "Sir."

Hehe. Did she sound mad? She hoped so, even though she wasn't.

She waited until he reached the top to turn his way, and when he didn't sit down next to her, she reluctantly pushed herself up to her feet, brushing off non-existent dirt, and plastering on a suspicious sort of expression.

"Do you enjoy tormenting all of your favorite people, or is it just me?" She grinned, then, and hugged him good, whether he liked it or not.

Her brother told her huh? That still didn't mean that it was true because there had been plenty of times when she had pranked her sisters just to have a good laugh. "Okay. We should do that sometime then." Would the groundskeeper just be laying around waiting on them to conjure said squid? She really didn't know. AJ wasn't sure if the girl was trying to make fun of the kid who vomited, but she really wasn't liking it if she was. "Maybe she was actually sick." The first year shrugged her shoulders. "He showed up during an accidental flooding in the corridor and caused chaos." Annnd it was awesome!

"Yeah, yeah. I know it's a wand." Everybody seemed to keep reminding her of that point. She got it and sooner or later the word 'wand' would stay with her. "I think magic stick sounds better anyways." Truth be told. "It was really cool. I even beat a third year in arm wrestling." It was her good friend Adi, and she smiled at the memory. "Astronomy was pretty cool too. It was lots of fun bouncing around from seasons to seasons."

Had he said or done anything that was funny? Grayson really didn't know. He smirked a tiny bit because hey, as long as she wasn't laughing at him, it wasn't a bad sign. Fifth year Slytherin? "Man, that's close. I'm a fourth year Slytherin." Which raised the question of how he didn't notice her or had seen her around the common room. Maybe he would if he did spend some time there instead of wandering around the grounds. Maybe.

Then it was his turn to laugh. A good ol' hearty chuckle. "Or your new favourite shouldn't go boasting?" Wink. Oh? Another transfer too? "Durmstrang," he said slowly, nodding his head, "I went to Beauxbatons last year." You know, if they were sharing and all. Oh jeez. She was a LIBRARY person?! And to think he thought that this one was COOL. "Didn't you get BORED, staying in the library all that time on your own?" Like, HELLO, didn't a part of her want to hang out with someone? Someone worth hanging out with, that is. There was a difference.

Flying, roofs, hot air balloons and ROLLERCOASTERS. FREAKING YES. "I've never been on a hot air balloon but rollercoasters are the freaking BEST. I don't understand why people choose not to go on them." Or, well, he did because of the idea of being scared and whatnot but man, were they missing out. The idea of not being allowed a treehouse wasn't something that Grayson understood. "But it's a TREEHOUSE," Even toddlers had treehouses. "Why'd she forbid it?"

'Sir'? Just one, simple, ruthless -

......he was dying. She was M A D despite his CUUUTE letter and -

.........Cosgrach let out one BIG breath of utter relief as he hugged her back (a little too tightly? He wasn't sure).

"I don't know," he said once they pulled back, "because you are my only favourite person." Could she tell he was dead serious? "I mean, there are other students I like, but, not as much as you." And one man only had one 'favourite'.

Were they good?!?!?

His ONLY FAVORITE, he said? "Uuuuuuh huh." Hehe. Sophie was trying awfully hard to seem mad, but she just couldn't do it, not when she was hugging Culloden like her life depended on it. "Well, obviously not as much as me. I AM kind of the all-around best student and long lost daughter ever, aren't I?" She pulled away, then, and grinned big up at him. She wasn't blatantly teasing this time - her features were soft and genuinely happy. Maybe she was a little full of herself, but at least she acknowledged the truth. Heh.

"Your letter was nice. I've never heard you so sentimental before. I think if you'd said those things aloud, you might've even shed a tear." Back to lighthearted banter. Felt comfortable to be that way. "Thanks for it. And... the potion." Her voice got quieter as she said it, as if it was some kind of super secret thing no one else should know about. "Did you brew it? ...Can you teach me?" Would he? Solely for educational purposes, as she didn't really need it for anything. "S'probably the most interesting potion I've ever read about. It was a good choice." Just so he knew.

'long lost daughter'. Yeah. It was hard to grin when she was being cruel like that (he knew it wasn't her fault, so he blamed LIFE for it), and in the end he had to force the grin.

"You sure are." If he was SURE his daugher would be half of how Sophie was...

...

His grin was genuine, then. "Just to show you I could be sentimental and stuff." He liked the lighthearted mood. He'd also got quieter. WHile it wasn't a secret, he didn't want some idiot to hear about it. "I'd brewed it during summer, yeah. I don't trust others' potions much." He made a face to show that the rest of the world didn't know potions. "Of course it was a good choice." He grinned arrogantly as if it was the only possibility. "And I can teach you. But Sophie - it's hard." He eyed her gravely then. It was the hardest potion he'd ever encountered, but he didn't tell her that. He was sure the tone of his voice and look would do a better job.

Just so she knew she shouldn't be crestfallen if she wasn't successful right away.

Grinning knowingly, Sophie gave Culloden a light nudge with her elbow before leaning against the railing of the tree house and looking out over the grounds. It was nice that he had a sentimental side. She sort of wished more people saw it, but then, not every student could be trusted with such informality with a professor. It had to be carefully done, and both of them knew that, which was why she didn't go running around telling everyone that Culloden really wasn't scary at all and he was really just a big softie and really truly cared for his students. No, he had a reputation to upkeep, and she could respect that. Though... he might have let that guard down a little when he presented those potions to Kyroh and Dmitriy in front of most of Ravenclaw house.

Still, it was sort of... endearing to see his changes over the last year. He'd come a long way, hadn't he?

"Mmm," Sophie nodded, agreeing with the notion of not trusting others' potions. "Understandable." His tone surprised her for a moment - she looked to him, studying his features, and wondered if he said it that way because he didn't think she could do it - but she shrugged once. "Its difficulty didn't stop you, so why should it stop me?" Her face broke into a large grin, then, and she stood up a little straighter. Totally confident. "I mean, I do kinda want to grow up to be like you - don't get a big head when I say that -" she had raised a lone finger to stop him from getting too full of himself, grinning, "- so I might as well start now."

...but he was only proud.

He was the PROUDEST man, because she wanted to be like him, and also because she didn't even consider backing out despite the difficulty. His face shone, and he couldn't utter a word for a moment - he was just looking at her like a proud father. He was a bad imitation of a proud father, though, because he wasn't one; but it didn't matter for once. After he could breathe and reprimanded himself for getting carried away, for forgetting she would leave him one day, for forgetting she was essentially a student, he looked away. His eyes forgot how to produce tears long ago, but it didn't mean he could look into her eyes.

"We -" his voice croaked, so he cleared his throat, "we can start anytime you want."

And he was looking at a far away tree.

Sophie wasn't always keen on noticing when she made others feel poorly, but the way the professor froze up on her for a moment made her feel regret and she looked out over the grounds once more, wondering why he seemed so pained after looking so proud initially. What was wrong? Was it too much? She weighed some options, but mostly, she just tried not to look at him - give him time to work out whatever he needed to without her gaze upon him.

When he spoke, though, a smile slowly spread across her face and she turned to face him. "Oh, good. I thought I broke you - as soon as possible, 'cause doesn't it take... quite awhile to brew? Like six months or something? I mean, we do have the whole school year ahead of us and all, so we've got time."

Totally continuing along like nothing had just happened. She figured he'd feel better if she didn't poke fun at him too much for being human and feeling emotions this time around.

Maybe a change of subject was good, though.

"What did you want to talk to me about, by the way? You had news...?"

When she spoke, he felt better. It seemed she HAD done her 'homework' well, so that took some of the tension off him. He looked at her and grinned then. He deliberately ignored her second question, because he still had to calm down to break the news, and although he knew she wouldn't, he had to warn her.

"Aren't you eager. We've got time, yes. But Sophie, you do realise this is absolute secret, right? I mean, it's not illegal to teach it, I don't mean that -" he waved his hands to show it was all right, "what I mean is, I don't want to teach it to everyone. You and you only." He remembered Sophie Newell's question about whether they would get to learn it, and he thought she would be able to handle it too, but he didn't share his thoughts with Sophie Brown. He wasn't a just man, and he was sure this would be a secret, so there would be no hard feelings.

Now that the important stuff was over, he straightened up and took a deep breath to indicate it was news time and it was important. He held her gaze for a moment to build up the suspense, and then said "I've - I'm dating someone." He paused too shortly to let her speak, only to eye her warily.

"Her name is Victoria Maroon. Bart's mum."

...had Orsino charmed the ground with cushioning spell? The railings suddenly looked too fragile to stop Sophie from pushing him over.

As he went on about how secretive it was that they were going to be brewing this potion, Sophie tried not to roll her eyes - instead, she nodded the whole time he spoke, letting him say what he felt like he needed to say before responding, "Yes, yes, I would never dare to tell a soul. If someone wants to know why I'm spending so much time in the potions lab, I'll tell 'em I'm just practicing all sorts of stuff, okay? I'll tell 'em something different every week. No one'll know! I'd rather not risk your job, y'know, or make anyone feel bad. Kinda'd like you to stick around here for awhile." Though it was a pretty serious matter, she was grinning now, trying to encourage him that it would be okay. Because it would. They were both sly and cunning enough to not get caught, yeah?

Oh. News time. He was being very dramatic, taking his big heaving breath, and her head tilted slightly in amusement as he prepared himself for whatever news he had to share.

...........................???

An eyebrow quirked straight upward. Dating someone? She didn't even have time to process that information for he went on to tell her who he was dating. And... frankly, Sophie was confused. And laughed a little hysterically. "I want to ask you if you're joking, but we joke around enough that I know what you sound like when you're joking. You're... really serious, aren't you?" Both eyebrows were raised now, carefully choosing her words and speaking slowly. Huh. Bart's mother? That was kind of weird. How did he even know her? More than anything, Sophie was just confused, so she asked questions.

"But... since when? How d'you...? What? Why... Bart's mum?"

Eloquent sentences there, Soph.

And there, he wouldn't mention it again, because she KNEW what she was doing. He was actually arrogant that HE was her favourite professor, but he didn't share that. Instead, he shared Victoria - Bart's mum - and her reaction wasn't very encouraging.

"I'm serious." He eyed her again. He knew he wasn't getting a 'I'm so happy for you!' kind of reaction, so actually, this was the best treatment. He was relieved and his body relaxed.

"Since August. So it's really new. Bart's mum, because it's... how it's meant to be? I mean, we like each other so..." So... WHAT kind of a question was that? Did he ask 'Why Tobes?'??? Merlin.

"Bart doesn't know yet, though." He shortly laughed. "In fact, no one knows it except you and we. I'm guessing she also mentioned it to her friends." He didn't tell her to keep this secret too, because he was sure she was clever enough to get the hint.

CB nodded a bit and tugged on the ends of her hair.

"Thanks. My parents gave it to me." GRIN. This was an attempt at being funny. Not a very good one but that's alright. She didn't care about being funny.

Her eyes roamed the room again, wanting to explore more than talk right now. Hallie was good at making her feel comfortable and engaged when it came to talking to people. But she wasn't around so much. They always seemed to be missing eachother. Her eyes darted back to Kace as he spoke. "Hmm? Oh, no. I'm fine." She smiled a bit at his concern. Were all hufflepuffs this nice and concerned about others? Why was Hallie there then? Why as that prefect lady there too?

Coral's brows furrowed in confusion. "I looked like... a newbie?" What did that mean? "Did I look like I was going to fall or something?" her head tilted a little.

Interesting. It being an incredibly recent thing made her feel much better, as she would've been devastated if he had kept it from her for a long while.

How it's meant to be? She snorted at that. "Meant to be, like... a soulmate?" Did he believe in such a thing? "Y'think she's the one?" Soph was grinning now, fully, and a bit teasingly. He had a giiiiiiiirlfriend!

Bart didn't know? That was... odd... but then... at the mentioning of Bart again, Sophie frowned a little, slowly putting some pieces together. Culloden... was dating Bart's mum. If they really liked each other and were soulmates and got married, that would mean... "Bart could be your son some day?" she said aloud suddenly, unable to contain the thought as it occurred to her, and she gave the professor a confused, almost hurt look.

Oh, no. Nononono. No. Cosgrach made a face, snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Not as a 'soulmate', 'course not," he replied, but her mind was already working too fast, and before he could stop it, she was already at somewhere she shouldn't be.

"He's already got a father." He very well understood what she was implying - marriage and living at the same house and 'step dad' stuff, but Bart didn't even need a step father, see?

"Soph, he's not going to take your place." His tone had probably never been this soft before, and he was looking into her eyes in worry. He had only one almost-child person, and that was her.

His reaction to the word 'soulmate' was totally worth it. Sophie snickered a little at his expense. "But she coooould be, right?"

He's already got a father. The words rang through the third year's mind, and she dwelled on them for a few long seconds, looking back out over the grounds toward the castle again. Well... that was good, then, wasn't it? That Bart had a dad still? Someone... he liked and treated as a father, by the way Culloden made it sound?

She was still processing that when his next words made her look straight over the railing and down at the ground, as if embarrassed that he already knew where her thoughts had gone. It took her a moment to decide upon what to say, and she sloooowly tore her eyes up to meet his gaze. She wanted to deny that he had pinpointed her worry perfectly for the sake of her own pride, but she knew it was no use. He wasn't dense. "Okay." A simple and small response, but she wasn't sure what else to say - she believed his sincerity, mostly because she wasn't sure that she had ever seen him so gentle and soft-spoken before. "Then... full speed ahead. If you were looking for my approval, you've already got it." She forced a small smile - despite her genuine support of him, she was still a little embarrassed that he had just needed to tread so lightly with her - and tried to change the subject back, "So what's she like? What does she do?" Profession-wise?

Cosgrach let out one final snort and didn't answer. He wasn't going to answer if she kept being cheeky. Besides, even he didn't know if Victoria could be a soulmate. It was far too early for that.

She was looking at him at last. That was good, right?

...

He got her approval!

He didn't realise he'd been holding his breath, but when she smiled (he didn't note that it was forced) and uttered those words, and THEN even asked questions to emphasise she really approved; he grinned like a little kid and breathed heavily for a short while.

"Thanks - I mean," he flushed sheepishly, "your approval means a lot. More than anyone else's." And he wasn't even going to analyse why that was so. Instead, he hurried to answer her questions.

"She's kind, really kind," he said excitedly, "and she's clever. Her sense of humour is great." He paused briefly, and his excitement was slightly overshadowed. 'She's self confident.' he wanted to say, but she wasn't. They were working on that, though. Yeah. Soon, he'd be able to tell that as well. So instwad, he said: "And she's thoughtful. She works as a Quidditch Division Manager at the Ministry." He eyed her then and waited to see if she had more questions.

It was easy to relax when Culloden's whole body language changed and he suddenly looked very smiley and relieved and happy with all that had just happened. Sophie wasn't sure either why her opinion mattered so much to him, but she didn't dwell on it - she just smiled along with him, the grin turning genuine now, and she watched him speak of his significant other with interest.

"Huh. Kind, clever, thoughtful... sense of humor... Quidditch... sounds like she's the complete package, hm?" Her eyebrows were raised again, this time suggestive and only a little bit teasing. "You really like her, don't you? ... Have you guys been owling a lot since the term started? How are you ever surviving this separation?"

Back to full-blown lighthearted banter. She couldn't stay away from it.

Sorry for the delay
 

He was flustered to the point, that he could feel himself blushing as he felt the now familiar warmth creeping up his neck and up to his face. Was it getting hot up here? Cris released another button from his shirt's neckline to allow for better circulation.

He had to laugh though when Demelza rattled off that he could be a good singer, even broadway potential. He laughed so hard as he visualized himself wearing a top hat, a bowtail suit, singing while tap dancing his heart out. Pan over to him just wearing jeans and a tank top, singing and dancing to the tune of How To Be A Heartbreaker. Cris smiled. Now that he could do.

"Rule number one, is that you gotta have fun,
But baby when you're done, you gotta be the first to run" Cris imagined himself singing in his rich baritone voice. Only, he was so caught up in his daydream that he didn't realize he was actually singing those words out loud.

Wait! Was Demelza saying something? Shaking himself out of his daydream, he heard Demelza say. Perfect. When and Where?

What? What had just happened? "When and Where What?" Cris blinked in surprise.

Kace nodded and was sharing her fascination of exploring this place too. He saw her eyes dart around. He was glad she was fine but she maybe her exploring buddy for this event. He began to climb up higher in the tree house when he heard her question. He didn't mean to offend her. But he smirked and turned his head hanging from the branch, "I just meant to say you just looked new to this whole thing." he shrugged. "Didn't mean to offend you. You did look like you were gonna fall to be honest but you seemed to manage and prove me wrong." He then began to climb higher towards the top tower. He loved the view from up here. "I just love the view from the top tower, you feel like your king of the world...well in your case Queen.." he smiled towards her. He stood up and just took in the view.

Then a question popped up in his head. He was just curious, "Did you have a tree house growing up?"

New York, huh? Penelope'd never been to New York, but she figured she'd like to go sometime. Maybe she and Ascanius could some day. Just one more on the endless list of places she wanted to visit with him. Heh.

Deciding that standing was boring, the Gryffindor moved forward and sat down next to the girl as she continued listening, setting her textbook beside her. There, that was better. Holding those things was annoying.

"Nah, you didn't really talk all that much," she replied with a shrug. "S'not like you went on for twelve minutes or something." That could be considered talking too much. But the girl hadn't done that, so it was okay.

"I'm Penelope," she replied, giving Lambrini's hand a shake. "Nice to meet you. Did you move to London from New York or something?" Or anywhere in the UK? Was that why she was here at Hogwarts now? Since Penelope was assuming she'd transferred, considering she didn't look like a first year or anything.

"Sure. Just poke me when you want to do that." Its still amazed her that she could got along with Angel. Its just like the girl she was talking to right now was not the same girl she met back in Platform 9 3/4. Sick? The girl who puked during the feast? "I dunno. Maybe" Shrugs. But she didn't seem sick when she met her back in the common room after the feast. But enough talking about her, Candice was curious about Peeves so Angel better spilled everything to her. "Accidental flooding?" She cocked her head at this.

"Magic wand just sounds Muggle-is. No offense of course." She's after all a halfblood and her mother was a Muggle but she often wished she's not. "You did? That's awesome. I got to hit that muggle thing with hammer." Whatever that thing named. Astronomy? Eek. Yeah that's not her cup of tea. "I'm not really into Astronomy."