Whomping Willow
 

http://i1149.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9dcb6439.jpg
Image credited to Govoni
A very violent magical plant that has been on the grounds of Hogwarts since 1971. Anyone or anything that comes within range of its branches will get attacked so it’s best to keep a safe distance. The Groundskeeper is not responsible for any “injuries out of stupidity”

Jooooeloeloeloel
 

Sarahloolooloolooloo *had to do it* xD
 

Home was nice and all, but this... was the real deal for Javy. Inwardly inhaling in the smell of the outdoors. He loved it. The grounds of Hogswarts just made the smell sweeter with the nostalgia he had from his younger days as a student here.. from the good times of course.

Him and Piers didn't have a class planned for today, so it was a time for chilling. Bringing along one of his quilts and a basket filled with leftover enchilada pizza that was still perfectly good and butterbeer bottles. They could prolong the need to return inside longer now. "Comfy?" Javy asked his friend who was just lying in the grass. "Come on and help me with this, it should at least prevent the grass from getting in your hair." Yes Piersie, they were going to sit on the blanket out here.

Afterward, Javy plopped down sitting beside with the basket of food in between them. Now what to talk about. "So.." Hmm? Looking down at his friend he then noticed something wrapped on a plate. "What's that you got there?"

Bay wanted to walk around the grounds to take it all in, he was back. Thank goodness that he was his normal age now but he felt like he missed so much being so old last year. He didn't realize that he was walking towards the Whomping Willow, making sure he kept his distance he stood back and watched it move with out any wind.

Having spent the morning in the Common Room, Terry had decided that now was probably a good time to go out and get some fresh air. Being cooped under the lake, as fascinating as it was, could sometimes get to you and at least once a day he liked to go wander around the school grounds. That and this would of course be his last term at the school, might as well make the most of it whilst he was still here.

The Slytherin followed the path, heading towards the Whomping Willow, his eyes scanning the area for someone he knew. Either that or something interesting that was happening, unlikely in the first few weeks. He arrived at the tree, squinting up in the autumn sun. He still wasn't 100% sure what the purpose of the willow being here was. To ward of intruders perhaps? He doubted it. As he looked back down to eye-level he spotted a familiar face.

That was Ana's friend Lux's boyfriend yeah? Bay? They had been talking about him when he intruded on the pair on the train journey here. "Hey mate" she smiled moving to stand next to him. "New term, new something to go wrong" he chuckled, starting the conversation. It was inevitable at Hogwarts that something should go wrong. He hadn't known a time. nor read about one, where things DID go smoothly.

Hearing a voice behind him he turned his head "Hey Terry" he has met him before surely and he's pretty sure that Ana has mentioned him a few times and one of those times she said she was dating him. "yeah well were off on a good start.. no Quidditch and all of that" he said with a smirk. "some freaky looking tree right?" why on earth would anyone buy such a plant…

"its like they've loaded up the school with dangerous things for us to try to keep away from" he laughed. oh and speaking of Ana he hasn't seen her in a while "wheres Ana?" thinking that they would be going on a walk together.. well it seemed like Terry was catching some air just like Bay so maybe he just went alone.

Piers was long lost in his thoughts of the outdoors when Javy came around. He hadn't even heard him coming until he spoke up. Piers popped his eyes open and responded with an affirmative grunt as he sat up and then hopped onto his feet. He scoffed at Javy's comment. "Don't pretend you're concerned about my hair when we all know it's yours you're worried about." His light, fluffy, delicate hair.

Regardless, he helped Javy spread out the blanket on the grass, even though he thought it was slightly unnecessary. Ah well. Piers plopped down on the blanket near Javy as he asked about the plate. "Oh, just a little surprise. For desert." So he didn't get to know what it was just yet.

"What do you have there?" he asked, gesturing to the basket. Whatever was in there, it smelled good.

One of his eyebrows quirking up at him, "Whose pretending? Chances are you'd have me pick out anything that ends up in your perfect hair." See, big favour for making him get him off his bum for a moment. "..Is there a reason for me to be worried about my hair?" Something that he wasn't aware of, perhaps?

Now this was much more comfortable, lying on the quilt instead of the messy grass. "Really now?" Anything to make Javy more curious was on the mention of surprise.. and dessert. Smart move to be asking him a question before he could press any further. "Food and butterbeer.. you hungry already?" Smiling a little before opening the basket to show the leftover enchilada pizza. Time to dig in.

Well... He couldn't deny that. "You'd have me do the same," he responded instead. He would neither confirm nor deny that statement. Piers wiggled his legs and got comfortable, raising an eyebrow at Javy's question. "No," he replied simply. "Your hair is fine. Nice and fluffy, as usual." Could they eat now?

Grinning a little bit, Piers grabbed the plate of secret desert and set it off to the side so Javy wouldn't get impatient and sneak a peek. It was top secret, after all. His curiosity piqued when his friend opened up the basket to reveal two of Piers' favorite foods mashed into one. Enchilada Pizza. "I'm always hungry. You know that." They had lived together most of the summer, after all.

Piers wasted no time reaching into the basket. He grabbed himself a slice of pizza, took a bite, and let out a satisfied sigh. "You, my friend," he said after swallowing his first bite, "are an amazing best friend." He made him FOOD. What was not to like?

Whilst Javy was serving, he was still eyeing that..surprise. Hm. If it only it was closer. He could then try to get the smell of it to determine what it was. It was too bad the smell of the pizza and Piers' scented cologne was blocking it. Hmm, maybe not it wasn't so bad after all. Taking one of the pizza's to chew on, "Don't I ever.. It's amazing your shape hasn't changed from it." Smiling, it felt good having his own cooking appreciated, even if it meant he had to have the least amount of portions..

Why was he the one doing most of the cooking again back home? Oh yeah, because of this rare sight of confession. "I do believe that's my line." Smirking, but he'll take it just the same. It felt nice to hear that. Popping off the lids of one of the bottles to take a sip, "Remember when we rode on those branches?" Indicating those of the Whomping Willow's. Everything just seemed to be filling with memories around here.

For Grayson :3!
 

Kace decided it was time to go visit the famous tree. He was waiting for this and he remembered he told Grayson about it. He wondered if he was gonna see that new guy around. He didn't see him at the feast but he figured he would be busy meeting all the new slytherins.

As he approached the tree, he told the safest distance. He didn't want to get whacked. He hoped one day he would be able to through the secret passage. While he was here, he took out his sketch pad and started to sketch the tree.

The Quidditch issue hadn’t really bothered Terry. He had never played it, never even had any intention of playing it but with three of his own dorm mates on the team, he really did sympathise with its cancellations. Some of them were relying on Quidditch for their future careers, to have that seemingly taken from them was probably a bit of a blow. And personally he thought it took some of the house spirit away, Quidditch always brought out the healthy competition between the four houses. But still, the safety of his friends and the student body as a whole was so much more important than playing the game. For he’d much rather have his friends alive then to see them hurt or possibly even worse.

“Yes, that was a bit of surprise” he sighed a little in response. It truly was unexpected, not the way he’d thought the term would start. But thankfully the conversation swiftly moved on to the whomping willow before them. “I’ve been here six years and I still don’t really know what the purpose of it is yet.” Protection he assumed. But from what? Or whom rather? “Still, its pretty cool. No one else can say they have a giant tree with a mind of its own that can cause significant damage if you go anywhere near it.” No muggle would believe you anyway.

Where was Ana? “Good question” he shrugged in response. He hadn’t seen her that morning. “Probably in her dorm, I didn’t see her when I passed through the Common Room earlier.” As long as she wasn’t studying the entire year like last term he was fine with her not being around that morning. Besides, she probably liked her space and Terry liked to have a walk once a week entirely on his own. It made a healthy relationship, at least that was what he thought.

THIS was the place he wanted to come and see! He had heard quite a bit about it and out of all the things Kace had told him back at the potions shop in Diagon Alley, this was the one he was probably most interested in seeing. Did he want to miss the opportunity to see the tree whack something? Not at all. Besides, he had to come and see this for himself to see if Kace was telling the truth or just pulling his leg. You could never be too careful.

Speaking of, look who it was! Tucking his hands deep into his pockets, the Slytherin headed down the grounds towards Kace at his usual pace. He wasn't rushing for anybody. Kid was standing at a safe distance from it too. Shame. No whacking today, then. That still didn't mean that he couldn't observe things from a safe distance.

"So this is the infamous whacking tree, huh?" This was his way of greeting the fellow fourth year. Obviously.

And what was the boy drawing? Was it the TREE? Birds? Hogwarts?

Why was he drawing when there was a WHACKING TREE he could look at?

Piers sat up a little straighter when Javy mentioned his 'shape'. He was rather good at staying in shape. And he was pleased his friend had noticed. "I take care of myself," he pointed out. He looked good, man.

Continuing to eat his pizza, Piers was still grinning a little bit when Javy mentioned riding the branches of the Whomping Willow. He laughed and washed down his bite with some butterbeer. "You mean when I broke two ribs and sprained an ankle?" He snorted. "I think 'got attacked by' is a better description of what happened." He seemed to remember Javy didn't come out unscathed either.

"Clearly," Javy hadn't ever really paid much attention to his friend's size. He was just Piersie, after all. After surviving the whole accelerated aging thing however, he's grown to appreciate their youth and each other's figure more and more. Of course, in his mind that was how he was connecting it. "It'd be tragic if I needed to control your portion intake." Because hello, that meant more work into cooking for as long as he lived there. "Luckily you got nothing to worry about." His friend was still in good shape.

"Along with me breaking a leg and getting a cracked skulled after being tossed out." Chuckling, being attacked was definitely the proper wording."You sure were convincing on how great Quidditch was with that bright idea on riding the branch." Hence his insisting on only watching the game back then. It became one of those grand stupid things to be laughed about years later. "So how many crazy schemes did we get ourselves into?" He personally lost count by their fourth year.

Kace was in deep focus when he was drawing his pictures. He didn't even notice Grayson made his way to the tree when he heard his comment. He turned around and grinned. "Yeah it is.." he said gesturing towards it. "Nice to see you again mate." he nodded towards him. "How are you liking your house so far?" he asked him. He remembered watching him being sorted and how nervous he seemed to be.

Just two dudes standing here staring at a tree, some people might think thats weird but Bay was oddly comfortable. Swaying where he stood with a slow rhythm he was glad that Terry was here. "yeah totally. Being there on a trip when the headmistress received the letter, we were all freaked but no one knew what it was about, until now that is" he sighed. Of course someone would threaten Hogwarts, it wouldn't be a school year with out something awful happening right.

"i'm with you on that one mate. thats one randomly placed tree they have here" he said while sizing it up. "you know what I wonder if anyone else has a tree like this" he thought out loud. "oh yeah… if I was in a fight I'd totally love to have this tree on my side" he laughed while thinking of this tree fighting a group of bad people for his honour.

Hearing him talk about Ana made him smile, Bay thought that they were such a cute couple, but of course he wasn't going to tell him that. "oh I haven't seen her yet at all… I totally miss my friend" he confessed, she was the first person to teach him about sweets and they had cookies in the kitchens and she was teaching him about foods from her country and some words too. "I'll have to go hunt for her later then" he smiled as he was still swaying.

"so how was your summer? do anything fun?" talking about summer was always a good topic, it was just so peaceful here he wanted to keep everything flowing.

Since the intense, rapid aging occurrence, Piers also had learned to appreciate their youth. He and Javy had both been so grumpy around each other while they were OLD. But now they were good again, if not closer. Piers still grumped though, as he did. That was just a personality trait. Javy didn't seem to mind. "Why, thank you," he said, taking his friend's comment as a compliment. "You're not so bad yourself." He took another sip of his butterbeer. Perhaps he should be a little less sarcastic. "Y'know. You're rather... fit." It wasn't against the law to call your best friend fit and attractive, right? Riiiight. It was cool.

Piers chuckled at the memory of getting tossed around by that blasted tree. "Oh, Merlin. Hundreds and hundreds. I can't even count the number of detentions." There had been quite a few of those, too They sure did get into a lot of mayhem as students, hadn't they? Those were the best of times. Piers sighed after a good bit of laughter. "I'm sure glad we're here. At Hogwarts, I mean, teaching together and hanging out, just like old times." Life had been SO dull before Javy came. Honestly.

Blinking, Well.. thanks." Javy was expecting a backhanded compliment from Piers, to be honest. Not that he was complaining about the actual compliments. It was quite nice actually, making him smile a little. "Yeah.. as you are." Poking Piers' stomach just to prove it. Very firm like his. He couldn't help but wonder how he was the lone one in the article to not receive any offers. He was quite the catch.

"Well, we did have a lot of energy to burn." Taking the last few bites into the pizza. It was just unfortunate to those who happen to get in their way of exercising it. According to Javy, that was. "Me too, mate.. it's like we were meant to stick together." Like Partners in crime.. well, without the whole crime since that wouldn't fly well with them being Professors. Glancing around, his eyes found that mystery plate. "So Piersie, what's for dessert?" You know, that thing that's been risking invasion by ants.

Javy smiled so Piers smiled. And then he laughed when Javy poked his abs and made a grab for his arm, but just ended up swatting his hand instead. It helped that they generally worked out together to stay in shape. BUT, "Yeah, whatever. You're the one who got the owl response." He backhanded Javy's knee but laughed it off. Obviously kidding. Obviously not jealous. Obviously.

It was kind of corny how Javy said it, but it was true. They seemed to be best friends no matter what, able to pick up right where they left off once they saw each other again. Piers perked up again when Javy mentioned dessert. "Aha!" he said, grabbing the plate and bringing it to the center of the blanket. "Your favorite. Angel food cake with strawberries." Piers grinned as he lifted the cover off to reveal the dessert. It looked so GOOD. He just hoped Javy wouldn't ask who made it, because it certainly was not him.

Touz <3
 

Grayson hadn't noticed that the fellow fourth year was deep into his drawing. Just that he was drawing. "Huh," he started, glancing back at the tree, "Has it whacked anything, yet?" Or did it usually just stay there swaying in the distance?

What? The Slytherin turned to look over at Kace. Nice to see him again. "Oh yeah, it's good to see you again as well." Cue a single nod from him. The next part took a it of thinking. Just a bit. "It's alright," What? What else was he expected to say? "It's a lot different to things back at Beauxbatons. In a good way. And I've met some interesting people." Interesting. Not all of them were the good kind either.

And then his blue eyes flew to the drawing. "You drawing the tree?"

Kace chuckled, "I mean it has whacked a few birds if that is what your asking, but it is has not whacked any humans yet." Man this kid really wanted to see people get hurt, but he found it humorous all the same. He raised his eyebrows when he mentioned meeting interesting people. "Yeah Hogwarts does carry around those kind of people, i mean i am kind of unique as well." he joked just a little bit.

Now onto a little broader question. "Have you met any cute girls mate in your house?" he asked. I mean he could, Kace was taken but he wanted the new kid to have a girlfriend soon. Plus he was new, usually girls always soon over the transfer students. He was from Beauxbatons. That was interesting. "Hmm...Beauxbatons you say? I gotta say i have never been there. What is it like?" he asked curiously still shading in his tree drawing.

"Yeah i am drawing the tree, it is not the best.." he shrugged. "But i can show you this..." he flipped opened his sketchbook and showed him some graffiti art. "What do you think?" he asked him.

.....INCOMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111


Zahra cartwheeled (poorly) and landed SOMEWHAT ON the unsuspecting HUFFLEPUFF. hahahaha! BOOM.

"SUP PUFF." Hi and junk. hehaho!

Marigold let out a SHRIEK!GIGGLE when SOMEONE WINKWINK landed on her. Play-shoving Z off her, she sat up eagerly.

"Yo! How was your summer?" Tell her ALL the details. She could handle it. And maybe tell her some of HER juicy secrets too.

Spill, Z, like the lion you are.

Beautiful day out wasn't it? If Aubrey had a choice she would definitely be outside at all times especially in the warmer months. Ever since the school had started she hadn't had much time to go exploring, and she has been itching to do so. AJ had somehow managed to shake Angel, and that was a good thing because she tended to spoil her fun sometimes.

She had no idea where she wanted to go, only that she wanted to see all that she could possibly manage. A thought popped into her head. Maybe there were things that she wasn't suppose to get into, like how it was at Diagon Alley. Did the head lady person say something about that? She really couldn't remember because there was food and well not much else really mattered at that moment in time for her.

AJ continued to walk on and noticed a huge tree that she was coming up on pretty quickly. Man would she like to climb that.

Poor chap. Javy knew that Piers was still fuming over the letter, even if he won't admit it. "It's as good as nothing without an actual sender's name on it." See, they were even. "Starting to wonder if it was a joke." Cue the wandering, hopeless look in eyes.

That was no fun thinking about it though, so instead he impatiently watched the plate in Piers' gruff hands before he revealed.. Oh. "You devil.." Considering the amount of time in the kitchens Piers' spent, Javy wasn't going to be surprised if he hadn't made it.. or did he? Either way, it was the thought that count, and made Javy wrap his arm around Piers to pull him closer.. for a mini-noogie before releasing him. "You're in the lead for best mate anyone could ever have." Grinning. "You want to split it?"

Aw, man, he hadn't meant to turn this conversation into a depressing one. He couldn't help but feel a bit bad now, especially seeing that lost and hopeless look Javy was putting off right then. Even if it kind of was adorable. In a manly adorable way. What? "Oh, knock it off," Piers said, swatting Javy's leg again. "You have great hair, you've got a pet duck, and you're sensitive, what's to joke about?" He was hoping his remarks would lighten the mood. But if it wouldn't... "In all seriousness, mate, I'm positive it wasn't a joke. She bought you duck food." If that wasn't intrigue, he didn't know what was.

Piers grinned widely when he saw Javy's face, clearly pleased at the dessert he had brought. He didn't even think about why Javy was pulling him in until he felt his precious head getting noogied. "Ooooii!" he laughed out, shoving Javy off and ruffling his hair back into place. "I know, I know," he said, practically beaming at the compliment as he reached over to mess up Javy's hair. "You don't have to noogie it into me."

As for splitting the dessert. "Hell yeah." The only other option was to not share, but Piers was feeling generous. He cut the cake in half and tossed Javy a fork. "Dig in.

Javy could just sit there gazing at Piers with a lost look in his eyes still and be pitiful looking, but you know.. that was his bestie's job. Smiling a little at how funny Piers looked when he got to looking sad, it was adorable...ish. Yeah, that's the word. He was too distracted to even hear what Piers was going on about, "Yeah... I suppose." His attention fully back on Piers again. "It's frankly stupid that you haven't gotten one, they're really missing out on getting to know what a fine man you are." Come on, it was the truth.

Laughing a little at his reaction, sometimes Piersie was like a doggy or goose. Just giving you the urge to at least pet them. "Of course I had to." Patting his head a little, it was either give him a noogie or... or...a.. Hm. Javy's face turned into concentration for a moment as his hand slipped away. He was suddenly hungry again. "Thanks." Catching the fork, before taking some to eat. "This is delicious.. Maybe you should take care of dessert from now on." Yeah, it was that good.

With Javy looking at him like that (like how? what was he thinking about?), Piers kind of realized often he complained mentioned the fact that Javy got a response and he didn't. And then he felt embarrassed because he thought he was trying to keep it cool, but he totally wasn't. Urgh. "Oh, whatever," Piers said, shrugging Javy's comment off with a laugh. "Knock it off, you'll make me blush." And he didn't want to do that. He just wanted to eat cake.

And... get his head patted? Piers laughed again but didn't make a move to knock his hand off. He just stuffed a forkful of cake into his mouth. Then his eyes met Javy's and Piers noticed his face change just slightly, for a very brief moment. Then his hand dropped and Piers was a little... perplexed. What was that about? He swallowed his bite and looked back down at the plate. "You alright, mate? he asked without looking at him again.

He seemed fine now, talking about dessert and such. "Yeah," Piers laughed in response. "If I'm in charge of dessert, we're going to the kitchens to eat whatever the elves made."

Javy couldn't help one of his eyebrows quirking up again. Piers... blushing? Now there's a sight that he wanted to see. Though why he wanted to see that kind of sight, well, it doesn't matter now he had a little objective now. Even if Piersie didn't want to blush, he was going to do so sooner or later. "Eh, don't worry about it.." So for now he'll just let Piers be all moody with attempting to hide his emotions again. He was use to it.

Trying to stuff his face with cake was useless. Because for one well, he was sharing with Piers so he didn't have much to cram in his mouth. Second was that his change of attention was more noticeable. You alright, mate? "Er.." Looking up at Piersie.. Piers. He looked so concerned, that was new. It was quite a.. different.. feeling for Javy to see that, enabling his brows to furrow more. "Yeah.. just wanted more of this cake." Putting on a grin to hide the feeling of embarrassment. Weird. He never got embarrassed around his friends.

The prospect on making another cake was enough to redirect his thoughts. Thankfully for him. "Heh, if we're going to kitchens it's going to be with me telling you how it's done." That's right Piersie, you would be making it.

Well, now he felt silly and embarrassed for bringing the subject up again. It was his own fault. Pff, why was he even embarrassed about this? This was Javy he was talking to. He didn't need to get embarrassed. Regardless, Piers cleared his throat and shrugged. Moving on...

Piers looked up to analyze Javy's expression one more time, but he couldn't quite figure out what he was thinking. He chewed his cake slowly as some thoughts buzzed through his brain. "Okay," he responded a bit quietly, even though he didn't believe him. Something else was up, but he didn't press it. He didn't think about it anymore because then even more questions would rise. Piers cleared his throat to cut the silence.

He was going to make him make food? Piers groaned and swallowed another piece of cake. "You know how much I don't like to cook." He wasn't that bad, but... He'd much rather just eat already prepared food.

Awkward..gross. Javy looked at Piers, suddenly he felt self-conscious on what to say and act making his eyes wander back to the cake. He didn't want to look like a stupid.. wait, what? This was Piersie, his best friend for Merlin's sake. If anything there shouldn't be anything left to be embarrassed about after everything they been through...right?

Chancing another look, he could see the worried lines in Piers' face. What is he thinking? Shifting a little so he could be more comfortable, Javy went to grab Piers' hand that was about to shovel another piece of cake in, "Hey.. are you okay?" Ignoring the warm feeling he was getting for a moment, before releasing his hand. Since he was going to eat that, after all.

Yeah, Javy knew about his cooking abilities. He couldn't help the little pang of unfairness. Why did he have to cook everything? Right, because he actually liked it and they would starve or get sick from take out all the time. "It's not like I'm going to leave to cook alone, I'll help you." Because, you know it wasn't smart to just waste all the ingredients if they didn't know how to prepare it. "So what do you say?"

Piers was just about to go insane. He didn't know what was going on. There were very few times that Piers didn't know what was going on with Javy, and he just didn't like it. And for once, he didn't know what to do or say. Last time Javy was quiet like this was when Piers had unknowingly upset him, but he could tell that this was different. It felt different. And it certainly felt different when Javy grabbed his hand. Piers lifted his eyes to his and was temporarily frozen, just for a few seconds, until Javy pulled his hand away.

"Yeah," he croaked and then quickly cleared his throat. "I'm fine." What the hell was that? He was most certainly going insane.

Back to cooking, yeah. Piers was just going to agree with everything now. "Okay. Fine, I'll do it. Be my guide, and I will cook." But he made no promises that he wouldn't use magic or occasionally make a house elf do it for him. No promises. Piers looked at the plate and realized that his half of the cake was gone. Whoops.

"Thanks for lunch," he said, looking down as he brushed some crumbs off his pants. "I should probably get back up to the castle. I've got some, uh, lessons to finish. Books to unpack." Piers pursed his lips for a moment before starting to clean up and put the extra food back in the basket. He didn't know, what else to do, though, so.

Javy continued looking at Piers. Really because it was the only way he could tell if he was telling the truth or not. Looking into his eyes.. those brown eyes.. I'm fine. So he said, but for whatever reason he couldn't come up with a witty backhand comment. Why could he not come up with one? "Alright then.." This was much different than that loyalty charm he was hit with that turned him into a major Hufflepuff. He was thankful on the subject change to distract his thoughts from going further into this.

"..Cool." Smiling a little, maybe he could pick the flavour and topping so it'll be more fun. Eyeing his cake, he saw how much he was left with. Inwardly sighing, some things will never change.

Looking back at Piers, Javy was only left to blink. He was leaving already? "Oh.." He felt a little pang inside at that, even though it seemed to be a somewhat legit reason. Couldn't it wait? He wanted to say, instead saying "No problem.. thanks for the dessert." Waving his wand at the foil to wrap itself back around the cake. "..Do you want any help?" It was the natural thing to do for your best mate to stick with them... right?

Piers ran a hand through his unkempt curls. Now that things were awkward for no reason at all, Piers was gonna go and keep himself busy in his office until it was time to do something else important and time-sucking. Once all the food was packed back into the basket and Javy had the cake wrapped back up, Piers stood up and brushed off his trousers one more time. Did he want help? He would have, if he actually had a lot to do. There was one box left that needed to be unpacked, so it wasn't really work that couldn't be left for later. It would take all of ten minutes to put away and organize.

"Well, nah, you don't have to. I mean, it'll be dull. Don't want to bore you." He shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets because he didn't know what else to do with them. "I'll see you around though, yeah?" Yeah, obviously. Dinner and all that good stuff.

Well, gee. Javy stared at Piers at his rapid exit. He might as well had just said to go away, but you know.. he didn't. Things were not making much sense anyway, as he grudgingly got up to roll up the quilt and clean himself.

Don't want to bore you. Seriously, Piersie? Was he even aware on what he was saying.. maybe it was something in the cake that was messing with their brains today. If so, well.. "Nah, you could never bore me." About to pat his shoulder he saw a few crumbs and stuff on his back area, making Javy wipe them off. "You missed a spot, mate." Because randomly patting that area with no reason at all wasn't something Javy would do. "Lead the way, Piers. Maybe you can finally show me that collection of yours." You know, that one that Airey distracted them from. Anything to prevent him from thinking much will do.

Apparently Javy didn't care. Part of him wondered if that was good or bad. Merlin, what was he thinking? Javy was his best mate, why was was Piers acting that way? When had Piers not wanted to hang out with Javy? Piers didn't realize it would happen this way, but he was pleased that Javy insisted on coming with him.

Piers nearly panicked for a moment with where Javy's hand was going, but -- Oh. He was just brushing something off his back. Heh. That was okay. "Thanks, mate." No panic here. Just thanks.

He finally laughed a little bit when Javy mentioned his collection. "Alright, sure. Let's go." Now that much of the wierd tension was gone, he felt a lot better. He and Javy would find something to do in the office so Javy wouldn't realize he had been lying about the books to put away. Piers grabbed the basket up for Javy and then started to make his way up the hill, looking back just to make sure Javy was following him.

Benny
 

Angel was walking around, when she suddenly saw a massive tree that was just in the middle of no where, she had no idea what it was doing there but well she thought it looked like a fun tree to climb and maybe one day she would be able to climb it as well.

Angel just looked around and watched as she saw a branch move, was she seeing things or was this tree looking a bit different now, she wasn't sure but then she thought maybe it just swayed in the wind.

A nice autumn day was not something to be missed or wasted so Ben had headed out of doors to enjoy the still warm weather of early fall. It seemed like he wasn't he only one and he easily passed quite a few classmates and house mates as he meandered along both paths and open grass to find the perfect place to perch for a rest.

Nearing the Whomping Willow, a favorite of his and Adi's it had become, the Gryffindor paused just to take in the scene from the hill the large tree resided on. Closing his gaze under the soon for a moment. It was there after a few minutes after reopening his eyes that he noticed a small presence closer to the willow.

"Be careful.." he warned, the branches started to move like it was swaying.

Angel suddenly heard Benny's voice. "Be careful of what?" Angel liked trees and no tree were harmful. "I love tree's and normally I would give them a hug but well this tree is too big for that but I might just sit here and draw it." Angel had no idea what to say or do but she wasn't going to let Benny have all the fun, she stayed out of the tree ways just but she had no idea what the big fuss was. "What you doing Benny?" Angel decided to ask her friend.

The tree had whacked a few birds? "Animal cruelty, man," he tutted, shaking his head at the tree. Poor birds. Humans were a much better target, didn't the tree know that? Jeez. But the boy looked over at the Hufflepuff when he talked about being unique and snorted. "You're right about that. And not to worry, unique is a GOOD thing." See/ He was being NICE.

Cute girls?????? "Er, NO," he stated, looking at the boy curiously, "I haven't met many girls that I'd consider cute." Jeez, he hadn't even been looking. "Why'd you ask?" Was he meant to have a girlfriend by now? He had no time to dwell on that since the talk turned to Beauxbatons. "It's alright," he said, shrugging and looking back at the tree, "There are some down right weird people there. And you had to talk French and wear a hat whenever someone important came by." Jeez, no wonder he didn't like it there. There were other reasons too, of course.

ANYWHO.

Grayson did think that Kace would show him the drawing he was doing of the tree which was what made him look over at the fellow fourth year eagerly. He was being shown something else so he wouldn't be too disappoint--

HOLY FREAKING MERLIN!

"You DID this?!" His eyes were wide as he STARED at the piece of art. "Merlin, your talents are wasted here." Proper graffiti, like the ones you'd find in the ghetto areas of town. "Brilliant!"

Kace was chuckling when he said Animal Cruelty. "Yeah it is man...yeah it is. Or either the animals are not the smart.." he suggested with a smirk. Woww.. he even got a compliment from Grayson. That was nice. He was liking this side now. Maybe his hufflepuff kindness was rubbing off.

When he mentioned about girls, he shrugged and smirked. "Well i just asked because i was curious. I mean I have a girlfriend in Gryffindor so i just figured I ask. No mean to offend you dude." he said to Grayson still smirking. He seemed defensive but he probably like someone. But then he heard him talk about Beauxbatons and he nodded. Hmm...Kace wondered this. "I wonder what it would be like to learn French.." he thought out loud to Grayson. "Was it a hard language to learn?"


He smiled when he commented on his art. "Yeah I did! I mean I just do it as a hobby.." he shrugged while shading in some of his sketches. "Yeah i could do it downtown but I would get in trouble.." he winked. "If i don't get caught but my mom wanted me to get a Magical Education though. She said it would help me in the future." To be honest he had no idea what he wants to do yet. But he had a while to go.

Benny hadn't even registered that the figure could have been Angel, it wasn't like he could tell her from the back. But it appeared she reconized him. "The tree..." he answered as he moved a little closer, stopping again as he remained cautious of the movement. She wanted to sit and draw it? "Well just stay a nice distance away. It can be pretty tempermental." It wasn't like it was exactly a normal tree. At least not something that one would find in the muggle world that she seemed more familiar with.

"Nothing really," he said with a shrug, putting his hands casually in his pocket. "Just enjoying the nice weather."

*evil*
 

Angel had just decided to get a bit closer to the tree when it suddenly moved, the tree moved.

"EEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Angel didn't think twice but she jumped back, right into the person that was behind her, she didn't like this tree one bit, what did it have against her, she loved all tree's by principle but this tree she didn't and it was it's own fault.

Ben hadn't even fully registered the Whomping Willow's movements had gotten more violent or at least energetic until just before Angel's yell. That had been what he had been afraid of and why he and Adi usually just kept a certain distance away to enjoy the tree but not the danger. The girl jumped back in reaction and no doubt surprise and towards him and the third instinctively reaching out to grab her arms to pull her back and catch her from falling.

"Are you okay?" he asked, a touch of concern in his voice.

Angel was still getting over the shock. "That tree moved!!" Angel had never seen a tree do that before. "I'm explored plants and tree's and never have I seen one move like that."

Angel was still in load of shock, so the next move even caught her by surprise. "You saved my life Benny." Angel quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I hope we can be great friends." Angel really did want to be good friends with him, expecially now he saved her life.

Hop! Hop! Hop!

Adi was hopping towards the Whomping Willow. Well, he was only hopping in that direction because that's where his toad Gus was heading. Hop! Hop! "Don't get too close to that tree, Guster,'' he called to his beloved toady friend. "Don't want it to take a wallop at you.'' If anything ever happened to his toad...

Adi could see students lurking somewhat close to the tree, though. He shook his head. They were crazy. He followed Gus with some more hops. It was then he recognised the students. Benny and Angel. And WHAT in tarnation was Angel doing? Kissing Benny on the cheek? O_o

Snatching Gus up from the ground, the Puffer snuck up on his bestie and new friend. "Having fun, guys?'' he asked, looking from one to the other.

The animals weren't that smart? Grayson snorted. "Guess you're right," he said, almost as if he expected another bird to be whacked by the tree, "Maybe they'll learn not to sit on a tree that hits back." And jeez, he really was being nice, wasn't he? That was new. And unexpected. And he didn't like it one bit.

Woah woah woah. Let's just clarify a few things, mkay? "Not offended, man," he said, smirking, "Just haven't been looking around for these cute girls." Adjusting to a new school and all of that nonsense. But why was he talking about himself when Kace had just given him a juicy piece of news? "Whooooooo is this girlfriend of yours?" And more importantly, did Grayson know her? "French isn't hard to learn when you're made to learn it from a young age," Shrug. "Hard to keep track of all the masculine and feminine terms." And translating. MAN, that was difficult sometimes.

A hobby. Uh huh. Grayson nodded along, his blue eyes still on the piece of artwork. "No mother would agree to something like that," Plus there were THUGS and whatever there. And as cool as it would be to hang out there, he knew that his brother would follow along and he didn't want the kid to be dragged along to something like that. "Guess she's right. But you know, you don't have to do magical education all your life." Wink.

....what? Zahra wasn't shouting happily about summer? All the pranks she played? All the people she laughed at? Marigold frowned, then turned back to her. "If you need to talk about it, we can. Or not." She just wanted to let Z know she was here for her.

She started braiding the grass in front of her. "Just thinking, I guess. What brings you out here?"

Kace nodded and agreed with the new slytherin. "But something tells me they will be back and sit on the tree and not learn their lesson." he shrugged and chuckled. Kace was glad he wasn't offended, he just wasn't looking yet. Understandable. "Well mate, you better get looking unless you want all the good ones gone." he gave him a piece of advice with a wink. Noww he wanted to know who his girlfriend was. He smiled and started shading a little more of his drawing before answering.

He put down his pen and answered, "Well her name is Emmylou Duchannes but she goes by Emmy. She is a newly sorted gryffindor from Beauxbatons." he said. "Do you know her from your old school?" he asked curiously. "Maybe mate you can teach me some french so i can impress my girlfriend?" he offered to her. "And in return i can teach you how to draw some graffiti art." he said pointing to his sketch pad.

Grayson did have a point, no mother would agree to something like that. "Well that is why she gave me a sketch pad so i can doodle and all. She said it was safer than me going on the streets. I did use to graffiti on some town walls with my friends summer before last." he said showing off his rebellious side. "You do have a point mate, i do not have to do magical education ALL my life but then again how would I make the money being an artist?" he asked the true question.

Grayson didn't usually like admitting these things out loud but Kace was smart. Or had a point. Whatever, it was one of the two. "Guess you're right. Maybe they reaaaaaaaaally love the whomping tree," His eyes were on the tree and they were narrowed a little, almost as if he expected a bird to come out of nowhere and prove him and Kace right. Er, get looking? Grayson blinked and then turned his head slowly to look over at Kace. "They go by that quickly?"

Why did it matter whether he had a girlfriend?

Answer: it didn't.

Still. He didn't like the last statement that Kace had said. Maybe he needed a plan.

Emmylou. Duchannes. There was something about the surname that seemed to ring a bell, especially since she had gone to same school as him. "I think I've heard of her before. Maybe her name..........." He nodded slowly, his voice trailing off. Clearing his throat, the boy continued, "Congrats, mate. How long have you two been dating?" A small smirk spread across the fourteen year old's face at the mention of teaching French. Oh, the urge to teach the boy all the Franch swear words was overwhelming. But the boy was offering to teach him how to draw graffiti art. Huh. WELL. "You've got yourself a deal, Lecium." Smirk. "What kind of things do you want to learn how to say?" And there'd better be food there, mkay?

So Kace's mother was one who actually enforced his drawing but in a safe way? "Man, you're lucky!" And LOL. What?! "You're telling me that you've been vandalising property?" Oh jeez, this was GOOD. And he didn't expect it, especially since it was coming from someone he thought was good and wholesome or whatever. Basically someone his own mother would want him to be more like. "Dunno. You could design things for magazines. Maybe even go into architecture. They're quite arty and probably pay well."

Kace smirked and replied, "I agree with ya mate, i think they have a love affair with the tree. They do fly quickly because some know they might get hit." he chuckled and started sketching. He heard his question and replied, "Oh we have been dating for just 8 months now. Nothing too big yet." he shrugged and started shading some more. He was glad he knew of her since they did come from the same school. Maybe they might run into each other one day?

He saw Grayson smirk when he asked him to teach him french. "Well i wanna learn some of the words for food and some conversation starters and ermm possibly some curse words." he winked at the last part. Then when he got into trouble he could mutter some and his mother won't know it. It will be to his advantage for sure. "Well i am glad we made a deal.." he said holding out his hand for him to shake.

He saw his reaction and he nodded. "Yeah....i have vandalized property before but i haven't gotten caught. I even do it with my buddies sometimes too." he shrugged and grinned mischievously. See? There was another side people didn't really know. "So after I did sports and my mom saw me go to bed, I would sneak out during the night and do some drawings. My mates do the same thing too. It was a relaxing thing to do besides that fact of the edge of getting caught that is." he smirked yet again. He took Grayson's suggestion to heart. Maybe he could do it. "Those are good suggestions mate, i will take them into account." he said still shading in.

A love affair with the tree????? SNORT. "That is the weirdest thing I've ever heard, mate," It was true. Really. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was true." Wait. Did he say just eight months? JUST eight months? Grayson threw the boy an incredulous look before saying, "Sounds like it's big to me." Uh huh. Smirk. "Congrats, though. Dunno how you do it."

Food and conversation starters were really boring topics of conversation. Well, maybe not food. And certain conversation started might not be bad but when it came to other languages there were much cooler things he could be learning about. Like swear words, which was the third thing Kace said he wanted to learn. "You came to the right person. I will teach you how to say them all perfectly," He then lowered his voice and said, "Especially the curse words." THIS was more like it. He even shook the fellow fourth year's hand. "Me too."

OH. MERLIN.

OH SWEET FREAKING MERLIN.

Grayson's blue eyes widened as he stared over at the Hufflepuff. "You know, if you told me this back when we met in Diagon Alley, I would have said you're fibbing." Honest. He might have called the boy out on trying to make himself look cool. But this was TRUE. Holy freaking merlin. "Not getting caught is a useful skill to have. But aren't you afraid of breaking the law?" This guy was a Hufflepuff, not one of the overly brave ones. "Good. Don't want my suggestions going to waste," he said, nodding at the boy. He hardly gave them so good on you, Lecium.

"Yeahh i mean it is crazy. I didn't know eight months could go by so fast." he told his new friend truthfully. He heard Grayson's comment and chuckled. "Yeah I dunno how I made it through either but Emmy is great. She is not too moody or too crazy and clingy." he told him. "She is just perfect for me." Alright enough with the sappiness. He was interested in learning the foods and curse words. Evil smirk. "Well i know how to say pizza in french which is La Pizza but that is all i know." he grinned sheepishly.

He saw Grayson's eyes widen when he told him the story. "Yup mate it is the truth. I mean i knew you would never believe me. I could probably draw a little something on the grounds for you to see..." he winked at him and shrugged innocently. "I am not afraid as long as i am in a group. If i am in a group i am more comfortable." he told him. "Maybe you can tag along one night?" he offered.

"Time sure does fly by when you're having fun." What? It was true! And if he had been dating someone for eight months, it wouldn't exactly be a small deal to him. Just saying. He hardly knew anything about replies either but, instead of admitting that, he just nodded along to what Kace was saying. Uh huh. Not clingy. And then he ended up raising his eyebrows at the kid. "Do you love her?" Because Romeo over here was starting to sound sappy with using the word 'perfect'. ........... SNORT. La Pizza. "That's one of the easiest words to learn. And most useful." You had to know how to order one of those.

He was planning on drawing something on the grounds. Drawing. Something. ON THE GROUNDS. "What, like on a tree?" Pity he wouldn't be able to draw something on the Whomping Willow without getting thwacked into outer space. "And if one of you get into trouble, you all get into trouble. 'Long as no one rats you out, it's a team effort." Uh huh. Oh man. OH MAN OH MAN. Did he want to tag along one night? "Er, YEAH!" Like HELLO. "But I can't draw."

He asked a question Kace had an easy answer to. "Yeah I do love her mate...but Emmy doesn't know what love feels like. She still really likes me though when I told her. So I will give her time." he shrugged and good things come to those who wait. Kace chuckled when he learned the easiest food word. "Do you know any other food words i should learn??" he asked him curiously while still grinning from his reaction.

Now it was Kace's time to snort. "Nooo not on like a tree.." he said. "I was thinking more of like in the courtyard on the brick walls.." he said lowering his voice. He did have a point about someone being a rat. "Well that's true mate. Usually when people rat, it could possibly cost them their life." he shrugged. He smiled at his reaction when he asked him to tag along. "Oh don't worry, i can teach you. Trust me i didn't know how to draw either but then i got the hang of it." It was true. His best friend asked him to tag along one day and he learned the most cool skill of all.

Connor walked near the large tree...it was the weirdest looking thing he'd seen in a few days, Hogwarts was at no shortage of weirdness.. He was sure it was the weirdest place he'd ever been. But he was loving it, how different it was. The people seemed a lot nicer.. And Girls.. he hadn't really ever been into girls but he was starting to be.. but he was a nice guy, he wasn't going around hitting on everyone or anything.

He was still focused on making good grades and just making friends..He wanted to feel at home first, but that didn't stop him from trying to be more confident, Charlie said that's what would help... Hmmm. For now he was content to try and write something..Another idea he'd gotten from Charlie.. He opened his notebook and started writing a little story.. He'd never written a thing before, so it was a little sloppy but he liked getting lost in his own little world.

The story was about a pirate, he was daring and tough, a real swashbuckler. Hmm.

I'm so sorry!!
 

Arista had noticed it was a beautiful day when she had been sitting in the common room, so what did the little Royal do? She sprung out of the castle and headed for the trees. Since school had started she had not explored something she did not like one bit! She had to explore. She had already recieved a warning letter from her mum not to cause trouble... Of course she wouldn't.

Arista of course had no idea where she wanted to go. She was just walking. OOooo loook big tree!!!! The redhead ran over to it a little to fast because once she did she ran smack it another girl... Dang. She rolled off of the girl and smiled gave a small laugh before extending her hand to help the girl up. "Eh sorry about that. I was a little to excited to see the huge tree!"

No problem! <3
 

As she was thinking about approaching the tree to get a better look, she felt a jolt and before she knew it she was on the ground completely taken off guard. Trying to get her head on straight again she spotted the culprit who hand her hand extended and was apologizing. "No biggie. I'm still in one piece." She took her hand and pulled herself back up.

"Looks like you are excited about exploring as I am." It was then that she recognized the girl. "Hey didn't we meet in the sports store?" What was the name of it again? It started with a Q and sounded funny. "Wanna get a closer look?" She would love to climb it and she only hoped that this girl would be as willing as she was.

Marigold leaned her elbow on her leg and her chin on her elbow as she listened to Zahra. Ahhh, parent/boy problems of course. Sheesh. "All the way to Durmstrang? That seems a little... Harsh to me..." Thank Merlin her parents weren't like that. They were more likely to ask Mitch to live with them than for her to go away.

"I tooooootally know."

Angel smiled at Benny. "You saved my life Benny." Angel really had no idea why someone would plant such a crazy tree in a school and she decided that she would go and see Professor Bentley and see if she could tell her more about this what ever it was.

"Whomping Willow?" Angel wasn't sure if she had heard the name right. "I've never heard of a tree that whomps people before." Angel was a bit scared now, surely this school would have a warning sign somewhere for a tree this dangerous, what if someone tried to climb it.

"Oh I'm just learning about this school." Angel smiled as Adi joint them, had he seen the kiss and if so what was his reaction to it, she hoped he wouldn't be cross with her.

Since the weather was still relatively warm, Schuyler was taking advantage of it. She was strolling the grounds with a pair of wayfarers perched on her nose. It wasn't exactly summer weather, but it was sunny enough for sunglasses so she wasn't about to miss this opportunity to wear them before winter set in.

There were some broken tree branches (broken by the Willow, no doubt) a few feet away from her. Her eyes bounced from this to a nearby boy who seemed to be writing something. Hmm. Well, this could be entertaining.

She picked up a small tree limb and nimbly walked over to the boy from behind, careful not to make much noise. He did look very absorbed in his work, so she wagered that she could get a little scare out of him.

And so when she got close enough, she raised the limb above her head and then.....

WHOOOOOSH turned to CRAAAAACK as she slammed the big branch against the ground beside him.

......

just like the Whomping Willow.

He was about finished with the first few paragraphs when he heard something hit the ground and rolled out of the way, afraid he was going to be smashed by the monstrous tree! He ducked his head down for a moment before looking back up...there was a girl standing there holding branches..

He thought for a moment that it wasn't very nice, but she clearly didn't mean to harm him, or she would have hit him, it was obviously just a joke. He laughed a little bit and stood up. "You really got me...I'm Connor." He said holding out his hand to shake with hers. He knew that he needed to learn to laugh at himself a little..

Lux & Nommer
 

"She doesn't know how love feels like?!" Okay, that had slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself but he didn't care. It was just surprising, mkay? "That's nice of you," he said slowly, even nodding his head as he did so, "How did you know you were in love?" It was just a matter of curiosity, that was all. "Tons but I can't share them here," he said, smirking at the boy, "You'll have to wait for your lesson." Patience was key or whatever. And there might be people overhearing them.

Oh good, Kace didn't have a death wish. Good on you. But the courtyard walls? "I guess. What're you going to do if someone finds you?" Boy needed a plan in case the worst happened. "I guess. Or their reputation. Nobody's gonna trust them with their plans anymore." And there went the social life of the filthy rat. The fact that the Hufflepuff hadn't been good at art before kind of made Grayson feel a bit better. Unless, of course, the boy was simply being modest. "Well, I promise to be your best student, then." Uh oh. Of course. This was him, he was talking about.

He smirked at his reaction. He couldn't help that it slipped out. "No i guess she doesn't. I mean I am her first boyfriend so this is all new to her. She doesn't know what the feeling is like." It was the truth but at least she still had feelings for him so he was good. How did he know if he was in love....Good question from the slytherin. He had the answer. "Well my sister Belle was in love once and she told me it is like...you can't stop thinking about them. You want to be a better person with them and all that.." he said waving off the sappy stuff. "All that sappy stuff was true so I knew." he shrugged.

Aww man he had to wait for his lesson. But waiting was usually a good thing. "Alright mate I can wait. But I better know some words at the end of the term." he smirked. He had a good point. What happens if someone finds him. "You have a good point. Hmm...i didn't think that far ahead. But I will deal with it when the time comes." he shrugged. Not really TOO worried about it. "Alright mate, i can give you a little lesson now.." he said flipping his sketch book. "Here we are gonna sketch the tree.." he said beginning the sketch and showing him how to begin.

"Since when does a kiss on the cheek involves teaching someone about the Willow?'' Adi demanded at both Benny and Angel without bothering to keep his tone in check. His voice had hardened and his question was rude. This was not the regular, always happy, full of energy, over friendly third year Puffer. "Gus wants to learn about the Willow, too. Do I have to kiss him also?'' he added sarcastically.

Adi continued eyeing the best friend and... her. Why did she have to follow his best friend all around? Did Benny realise that he spent all his time with Angel now? Did ya, Benny?

In hindsight, taking Arya out for a walk on the grounds probably hadn't been the best idea Lux had ever come up with. At first, the kitten had stayed close, but then a butterfly happened. Going after her new toy, Arya had ran off to who knows where.

Sighing, she tried her best not to panic. Arya had started off in this direction, so she should BE in this direction. The huge problem, of course, was that the Whomping Willow ALSO happened to be in this direction.

Spotting a girl sitting on the grass a good distance away from the tree, Lux made her way over. "Have you seen a kitten anywhere?" Please say yes.

Angel smiled at Ben. "I could have been killed by that thing." Angel really was glad she had a friend in Ben for life hopefully. "I think it's so important to have friends that have each others back." And with that Angel gave cutie-pie a hug for luck. "We can be friends for life right?" Angel hoped that Cutie would say yes because it was important to her to have some great friends.

"Oh I might have to read up on it." Angel then thought of something. "Do you think it has other brothers and sisters out there somewhere in the world?" Angel wasn't sure if there was because surely they would have heard about it, though being a muggle she probably wouldn't have yet.


"Oh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Angel blushed as she suddenly realised that Adi was mad and she didn't like it. She did the only thing she could think of and ducked behind Cutie, he could find out what was wrong with Adi right before she came back out, she was hoping he could anyway because she was scared at the minute, it seemed Adi was getting ready to feed her to the sharks and she hadn't done anything to him, not that she could remember anyway.

Adi eyeing had turned into a glare. A mean glaaaaaare. "Normally?'' he managed to choke out with a snort. "I didn't even know it involved kissing to begin with.'' He turned his attention to Angel who had now gone red and had found it convenient to hide behind Benny. "So much for being a Gryffindor, Angel'' the annoyed Puffer said rather rudely.

"What's wrong? Nothing's wrong. I'm just peachy.'' No. He wasn't fine. Adi was annoyed, vexed, angry or whatever you want to say. What was the reason though? He was unsure. But one thing he could honestly say though, Angel was the reason.

O____________o

Why was Adi snapping at her, she had no idea what she could have done to upset him this much, seriously she hadn't done anything, she was a brave person normally but at the minute well she was very scared the look in his eyes were scaring her to death, the glare made her think he was going to do something mean to her and she wanted no part of it.

Angel just listen to them both, she could feel the tears coming in her eyes, she wanted out of there and she wanted out of there fast. "I am brave." Angel cried. "I'm just not stupid." Angel wasn't stupid when someone looked this angry with you, you had to make sure they couldn't get you and with that she came out of her hiding place and legged it back to the castle.

Adi could see concern and confusion etched on his best friend's face but he didn't care much about what either him or Angel thought right about now. And he certainly did not care if his comment was uncalled for. He did, however, like Benny's next comment very much. Yes, comparing his attitude to a Hippogriff was brilliant. But he wasn't going to tell Benny that. No, Benny, your best friend was too annoyed to be nice to you. What he did say in that same hard and cold tone though was, "If you think that was meant to be an insult, you're mistaken. Thanks for the compliement, Benny.''

Adi now diverted his attention to the cause of his annoyance. And dear Merlin! Were those tears in Angel's eyes? Good. Take that for taking his best friend away. "I never said anything about stupid, you...'' He was about to add you big baby to that sentence but he caught himself. See? He could still be polite...somewhat.

So you see? Adi had figured out what the problem was. He watched the first year run off without a bit of remorse.

Adi felt his temper rising. And when Benny called him a jerk, that set him off even more. "FINE! Who needs you, anyway?'' he shouted. "Go with your girlfriend then. Spend all your time with her!''

Gah! He hated them both right now. He glared at Benny's retreating back. Adi wouldn't admit it but he was jealous of Angel. In his eyes, she was slowly pulling his best friend away from him. If Benny wanted him to keep away, that's just what he would do.

What, no scream?

Schuyler had at least been hoping for a girly scream. Hey, even a non-girly one.

But the boy had ducked. And then initially he looked annoyed, but - surprisingly - that facial expression passed quite quickly to be replaced with an amused one. One end of the spectrum to the other, yeah?

Well, welllll. Look at him being all formal. Schuyler was slightly taken aback by the sudden introduction, but a moment later she dropped the tree branch and smiled as she shook his hand. "Thought you might scream," she told him. "I'm Schuyler."

Connor shook her hand and laughed a little. "I'm surprised i didn't..It's nice to meet you, Schuyler..So..you like pranks?" Connor couldn't hold grudges, he wasn't like that.

So he wanted to make friends instead...like he always did.. "I just came down here to write a little. I'm trying to write a story but i don't think i'm that good at it yet." He shrugged and sat back down. "What year are you?" He asked her, almost everyone he knew so far was younger or older, very few his age.

"I like a good prank, but I wouldn't consider myself a prankster or anything," she answered. More so she just liked to have fun and that meant doing thing like pretending to be the Whomping Willow or capturing your best friend in an oversized sweater for no apparent reason.

When he mentioned writing, Schuyler nodded and glanced down at his paper. "Yeah, I saw you scribbling away.." She'd assumed it was homework, but no it was a story. "What's it about?" The story, that is. Was it something crazy and imaginative and original? Because if it were those three things so far, then he was off to a good start.

"Seventh." Seventh and final year. FINAL year. Okay, she wasn't going to think about that right now. She returned the question, her eyebrows lifting with the inflection in her voice, "And you?"

She was going to guess...... sixth year?

It was nice out. Even though there seemed to be various shouting matches going on, which only made CB's curious eyes wander in that direction. Strange. Something about girlfriends, was it? She diverted her eyes after a while and went back to reading, but continued listening. Hogwarts students were awful strange.

Flipping the page, she continued on with her self taught history lesson as more of the shouting went on and less of goofing off did, only to be disturbed bothered approached by another student.

With a soft, almost inaudible sigh, she closed her book, leaving her hand between the pages she had previously been reading. "A kitten? 'Fraid not." A lost cat was more important than reading, she quickly decided and put a smile on her face. "Do you want help searching?"

Pets were her weak spot.

Connor shrugged. "You seem like a prankster to me, But i'm not always right. So..I guess you're not." He shrugged and then looked back at the tree he thought mere moments ago was about to end him. Hmm.

Oh, his story! "It's about Pirates, well a certain pirate who's in search of a treasure trove near Scandinavia from when Vikings first raided England..I'm just kinda starting it.." He'd never written a story before.

Another Seventh year? He'd met lots of those lately.. "Oh Cool..i'm a fifth year, I just transferred here actually." Though he was sure that his accent said that enough..

The girl hadn't seen Arya? Oh boo!

Quickly looking around the area, Lux supposed it was a good thing that she couldn't spot the kitten near the Whomping Willow. That had been her main concern. But supposed she missed seeing the little thing? Or that she wouldn't wander over there at another point?

The offer to help was very sweet and appreciated. "Would you? I would really be grateful if you did." Not everyone would offer to do that for someone. "I am Lux by the way. My kitten's name is Arya."

How did the Hufflepuff know so much about this? Or about how the girl was feeling? Was this what being in a relationship would be like? Oh jeez. Regardless, he tried to keep his expression neutral and said, "I guess. It sounds mega confusing and complicated." They had to talk about their feelings. It was also surprising that the boy had talked to his sister about it, mainly because Grayson couldn't imagine his brother coming to him for advice about love and whatever. But then again, his brother was twelve. "If that conversation wasn't awkward, you're dead lucky. And I guess you know what being in love is like so good for you." Should he ask? Should he? "Is it really as sappy as it sounds?"

Grayson smirked. "A deal is a deal, I won't back out on it." Besides, there was every chance that Kace could go around saying these words and the look of confusion on a non-French speaking person's face would be hilarious. This was something that shouldn't be missed. Nuh uh. "Good. Don't let anyone rat you out, mkay?" Oh jeez. Oh MERLIN, they were going to start drawing NOW?! Ugh, he was going to suuuuUUUUUUuuuuuuck. The Slytherin scooted closer to the Hufflepuff and peered over his shoulder. "How do you know where to start?" Like HELLO. That was a huge obstacle to overcome and Grayson didn't like it.

Kace chuckled and said, "It wasn't too awkward actually mate. Now it would have been mega awkward talking with my mom dad on the other hand." He didn't want to imagine what their advice was. I mean his father didn't know he was dating yet. His mom on the other hand knew because Belle being the blabber mouth she was told her. But she wasn't mad. I guess it was a good thing right? He smirked when he asked if it was sappy as it sounds. "Actually it is as sappy as it sounds to be honest. Once you experience you will know." He wanted to tell his mate the truth. But once he fell in love he will know soon enough.

He was glad they made the deal. I mean he wanted to learn some French words to impress Emmy! Nothing wrong with doing that for your girlfriend right? He was interested in learning the curse words. "Oh course mate, i won't let anyone rat me out. If they do, i can bring them over to you and you can punch them.." he winked and chuckled. As Kace was drawing, he asked a good question. Where do you start. "Well i usually start from the bottom...so draw from the tree trunk and then start drawing the branches..." he said sketching them.

Not awkward? Maybe it was because Grayson didn't have any sisters or that he was the oldest child but the idea of talking about feelings with his younger brother sounded nothing short of awkward. And parents? "Yes! You can't talk to them about this stuff. That's just asking for awkwardness and questions and, er, comments." Besides, talking about feelings was just downright weird, mkay? And something that he'd end up regretting, he was sure of it. "Oh jeez," he groaned, rolling his eyes, "Have fun with the sappy feelings."

Kace knew him. It wasn't just a matter of knowing what he liked and didn't like -- because Grayson was pretty transparent about that at times -- but the boy knew what he'd do. "Uh huh," he said, balling his right hand into a fist and punching the palm of his left hand, "They'd be in for it, that's for sure." As for the drawing, the boy tilted his head even more as he watched the boy draw. This looked difficult. Like more difficult than bringing yourself up to hug someone. "I gueeeeeeeeeess. And you branch out from there? Add the details later?"

"Maybe other people think I am. I don't know." Schuyler didn't think of herself as one, though. He did, obviously. So she shrugged, too.

Anyway.

She listened to him tell her of the pirates and treasure that were all in the story he was writing. Ships and swashbuckling. Sounded boy-ish. She nodded. "Cool. By story, do you mean book?"

The Gryffindor decided to make herself comfortable, so she took a seat on the grass beside him. He was a fifth year? Ah. So she had been off by a year. Close enough. "I transferred in my fifth year, too," she commented. "What school did you go to?" Now she'd guess again. And she was going to guess......... Durmstrang?

"Hmmm okay, i guess if you don't see yourself as one than i won't either." He smiled and then nodded. He supposed it would turn into something resembling a book, he'd never written anything before but he hadn't really thought about it yet.. "I guess? I don't really know to be honest. This is kinda new to me.." Everything seemed to be new these days really..

She would understand then, how odd all of this was. "Really? How did you feel about coming here? Do you like it? Where did you transfer from?" Full of questions as always. "From Salem, My mom went here so when we moved to London this is where she wanted me to go." He thought his accent would give him away but he supposed not

Schuyler smiled at that. Basing his opinions off of hers? "Or just get back to me on that once we've known each other a little longer." That was the logical way to go. But anyway, his book. Or story, rather. She nodded along with his answer. "So, what are your other hobbies?" She couldn't contribute much to a conversation about creative writing because that really wasn't something she ever did. Reading the works of certain poets was often soothing for her, but when it came to writing angsty, teenage poetry, she'd leave that to her peers.

It was nice, though, that they found a similarity in the subject of transferring schools. It seemed he was pretty curious about her switching schools as well.. hence all the questions. "I was open to transferring, although I did like my old school a lot. And yes," she smiled, thinking more of the people here at Hogwarts than the actual school, "I do like it here." Very much. She was on the cusp of answering that she transferred from Salem when he mentioned that that was where he'd gone. There you go, another similarity they could discuss. "No way, I transferred from there, too. Used to live in New York, but we moved to London as well, for my dad's job."

She skimmed her palm over the blades of grass. Not plucking any, though. Maybe Olly had gotten into her head about that habit. "So, how are you faring here? Made some friends?"

Connor shrugged, Who was he to decide what she was? "You're probably right but until then i will take your word for it.." He wasn't a judge-mental person, his mother had always taught him to learn about a person first before deciding what to think of them. Otherwise you might come to the wrong conclusion. His father on the other hand had always told him to trust his gut. It was hard to do both. So he didn't.

The Gryffindor grinned at the mention of a US city. "Thank, merlin another American..i knew you didn't sound as British as everyone else here.." He was beginning to think he was the only one here! Not that it would be so terrible, but this was better.. "I've never been to New York, but my Dad talked about it a lot..he said it was a beautiful place..I'm from New Orleans Originally.." So they went to the same school before then.. "Umm other hobbies..well back home i liked to fish and me and my friends would go on boat rides in the gulf..but i'm not sure what to do in Scotland at all.." He laughed a little, There was fishing here but you had to throw the fish back.

Faring here..that made it sound like he was stranded..which made him think of a book, but not now! He was having a conversation. "I think i'm doing well here. I've made a few friends, though there aren't many my age. I've met mainly older people. Except my roommate, Jeremiah, he's a little weird though...but not in a bad way." He didn't seem to like people, something Connor didn't understand.

Kace nodded and chuckled. "Don't get me started on my mom's comments. She could be judgmental and if she doesn't like a girl I bring home, I can just tell but my dad on the other hand, he is a go with the flow type of guy." It was true though. His parents were total opposites. He chuckled when Grayson rolled his eyes and said with a little sarcasm.."Thanks mate but one day like I said before, when you will have a girlfriend you will understand." he grinned slyly.

He was glad he had Grayson by his side. He knew he could be a friend to count on. "Well i am glad I can rely on you for backup.." he smiled. Now for the drawing aspect, he was seeing Grayson was struggling. He smirked and helped him out. "Yeah you draw the trunk first and then draw the branches from it. I add the details later but someone people add it in while they are drawing. It is all up to you..." he shrugged and continued to draw.

OMG!! One of these days I will post on good time!!
 

Arista breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Oh thank goodness! She giggled as she pulled the girl up. She couldn't believe she had ran so fast she almost killed someone. Well that was dramatic but still she could of broken her right???????? But thank goodness the girl was fine!

"Yes adventure, exploring.. My middle name right there!!" she laughed some more. "Oh my gooness!! Yes!! Your......AJ!!!" she remembered her. Looking towards AJ she gave her a smirk and said "YES!! Lets go!!!" This girl new her and she loved it!! She so wanted to climb it, "I so want to climb it!" She said as she inched closer towards the tree.

Haha, it's cool. :)
 

This girl was full of energy and AJ loved that. She thought that she would be able to go exploring everywhere with this girl and not have to be held back. The first year was glad that she ran into her again... it would be a shame to not start an awesome friendship.

"You sound like my kind of friend." If Angel was here she would most likely be giving her judgy looks, but fortunately for her there was no Angel in sight. "It's me! Arista right?" The Gryffindor was pretty sure she had her name right, but she had met so many people that she wouldn't be surprised if she forgot a name or two.

Now Arista was talking. "Me too... let's go." AJ started to inch closer with her new friend.

Arista smiled. She was liking AJ she admit she wasn't sure how cool the two of them will be. But after running into her a second time, she was sure AJ would definitely be good friends. That was proven when AJ suggested they move closer to the Whomping Willow. Now hopefully the two would become even more friends after bonding over hopefully climbing Whomping Willow.

"That's good to hear!!" she cast the girl a smile, "I hope we can become great friends!!!" Thank goodness her mother was not here. Judgy looks would be at the two! "Yeah, I am proud to say that is me!!" Again she giggled. The Gryffindor stopped suddenly and grinned. She wanted to climb it too??

"Cool!! You know I hear its hard to even get close to..Do you still want to try it?" Because if she was still in then she would definitely go on more adventures with her, and maybe let her know about the Forest Adventure..

His mum's comments. Grayson snorted. "Sounds like a hoot, your mum. Man, some of her comments must be hilarious," Some, mind you. Maybe it was a different case for Kace here since he was the one dating the girl his mum didn't approve of. "Guess that's mostly the case, isn't it? Dad's always up for me doing anything reasonable but mum always says no because it might be dangerous or whatever." And this was ended with a rolling of his eyes and a shake of his head. Also. WHEN he had a girlfriend????? "How are you so sure I'll get one?" Because having a girlfriend required having feelings for someone else and no.

Grayson smirked at his fellow fourth year. "'Course! Don't hesitate in letting me know if someone's giving you trouble, mkay?" This was almost nice of him. Oh jeez. This school was going to turn him soft. Whatever. Brush it off. "Uh huhhhh," he said, nodding slowly as he kept his blue eyes on the drawing, "I think I'd add them later. Work on the base and whatnot. It seems the most logical."

"Me too." She responded to the whole friendship thing with as much enthusiasm ash her new friend did. It wasn't every day that you were lucky enough to meet someone as adventurous as you were. With the exception of one person everybody had been telling her what not to do, but not Arista! Glad that the girl had confirmed that she indeed was the girl from the sport shop. "Too bad they canceled it huh?" AJ was really looking forward to trying out for the team and giving a new sport a go.

"Why would it be hard to get close to?" It was just a tree right? Then again she had to think about where she was. Nothing was just anything at Hogwarts. "Of course I want to try it. I bet I can climb it no problem." She had yet to come to a tree that she couldn't climb yet.

Kace nodded and was listening to Grayson tell his side with his parents. Their parents were somewhat of the same. He agreed and said, "Yes it is always the case when your mom thinks what you are doing is dangerous. My dad is encouraging me to pursue my artistic talent but my mom sent me here for education.." he grinned and started sketching some more. "So I will see what my future holds..."

Kace chuckled at his next question. How is he so sure Grayson will get one. He shrugged and grinned and replied, "Well mate, you got some unique humor there for starters and maybe a girl will fall for that.." he said giving him a compliment. Maybe it will inflate his ego to get a girl? Well if it didn't then Kace would just leave him alone on the subject of girls. It would be nice to double date with him in the future.

He nodded and was still sketching when Grayson mentioned he would punch them if people gave him trouble. He smirked at that. He glimpsed and saw him working on the base. It seemed good and Kace replied, "You are getting better." he nodded when he saw him add the tree branches and all.