One sentence in, and someone was already calling for her attention. That made Lux laugh inwardly and she didn't mind being disturbed in the least. Looking up, she was pleased to see Andrew. It had been a while since they had last spoken, and a catch up was needed.

But why did he look sad? There was a smile on his face, but his eyes... They told her how he was really feeling. "You aren't disturbing me. What's wrong? Do you need hugs?" After closing her book she patted the ground with her hand, waiting for him to sit beside her.

Austin walked a bit, the blonde first year still over his shoulder. He decide to walk his way to a nearby tree, one he had used many times last term. Anytime the girl called out to him to put her down, he only responded with a chuckle, loving how he had won. If only for the time being. Although he knew he would win the smirk war that was going on between the two, because his smirk was the best out there. Although he'll allow Ophie to have the second place spot. She would like that wouldn't she? Of course.

"You okay there Blondie?" He said with another laugh.

Well, that was quick.

Andrew had barely even approached the tree and Lux had already seen through his fake smile. Perhaps he wasn't as good an actor as he thought he was, or maybe Lux just had a knack for knowing when someone needed her help. Either way, Andrew had been discovered. "I, er.. I guess a hug couldn't hurt." He said quietly after a short pause.

He leaned his back against the tree and slowly let himself slide down to a sitting position. His characteristically classy sweater vest, blue and bronze tie, and freshly pressed trousers had no place sitting against the grass under a tree, but then again, Andy didn't own any clothes that couldn't be described as "too fancy for any occasion". He turned his head towards Lux and opened his arms.

Toby wasn't sure how long he'd have the sun for now, so he'd need to work quickly. He'd already scooped up all of his things and hurried around the lake to a new location, one where he'd be able to get a good angle of sunlight. Now reaching the tree by the lake, he placed the destroyed parts of that last planet in a little pile with all his other things at the base of the trunk, and grabbed that last bag of planet powder.

"Fingere Elementi!" the Hufflepuff cast, jabbing his wand at the bag in his hand for a third and final time that day. Once more the bag floated and rippled and expanded and changed before his eyes, before - POP! - the last planet had formed. "Locomotor Planet." Like with the last one, Toby used his wand to direct the planet a little ways away, though this time slightly closer to the ground.

With his planet now hovering about two feet off the ground, Toby picked the magnifying glass attachment and tucked it into his pocket, along with his wand. Without further ado, he clambered up the tree and up onto a very precisely chosen branch. This probably wasn't the smartest idea, as he had a very very breakable wand and wand attachment in his pockets, but this seemed not to cross his mind.

From his perch on the branch, Toby fixed the magnifying glass attachment onto his wand, just like they'd done in class wayyyyyyyyyyy back in his second year. He swished the wand about for a moment, getting a feel for the change in weight and balance, before glancing behind him and back to his planet floating down there above the ground. From this position, he was in between the planet and the direction that the sun hung in the sky, which was exactly what he needed.

But Toby really needed to hurry, because the clouds looked like they were going to move over it again any minute now. Without even a second of hesitation, Toby placed his wand between his teeth for safekeeping, held onto the branch with both hands, and slipped down so he was dangling below it. This, THIS, would get him the best angle, and a safe distance from the danger zone, too. Toby grabbed his wand and, now dangling from the tree by just one hand, made sure the angle was as good as he could get it.

"Solis Focalis!" Toby sent the concentrated ray of sun STRAIGHT at the planet. It hit it dead on, but didn't really do much. But that was okay, because in that one class, it took a couple of hits to destroy those wax wings. So he kept going. "Solis Focalis! Solis Focalis! Solis Focalis!"

It was working, slowly but surely, as though the planet was getting assaulted with a LASER BEAM or maybe even like the SUN was EXPANDING, which would be totally like this. Yep. Cracks started to appear all over it, along with scorch marks and the odd smoke emission. Again and again he cast the spell, until it finally looked like a few more hits would finish it off.

The sky started to darken again, and Toby glanced behind him (with some difficulty, as he was obviously still dangling from the tree); the sun was quickly becoming obscured by grey clouds, and the Hufflepuff was unsure if he'd get a chance to finish this once that happened. There was just one thing for it. He looked back at his planet, and just went for it.

"Solis Focalis Maxima!"

WHUH-PSHHH!

THAT had done it, which was lucky, because Tobias hadn't known if it was a spell that would work or not. The force of the spell made him swing precariously from the branch, and he quickly grabbed for it with his wand hand, too. There. Totally safe.

Down on the ground, Toby's final planet was now nothing but smithereens, a smouldering pile of jagged rock and ashes on the floor where it had been floating moments before.

"Neat!" came Toby's gleeful yell, and he let go of the branch with both hands, deciding that the quick way down would also be the most fun way down. He hit the ground hard, causing weird shocks to shoot up through both his legs, but apparently didn't care. Hurrying over to his ex-planet, Toby was thrilled to see that it had, in fact, worked perfectly.

Because he was conscientious of the ENVIRONMENT (and maybe because he also wanted to keep the pieces of this planet too), Toby picked up as much of the debris as he could. Once he'd picked up his other belongings from the base of the tree, he turned and headed straight back for the castle, hoping to return the magnifying glass attachment to Airey while the man was still in his office.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaya

Her dad. The Minister? "Whoa. But yeah, feel you on that. My mom was my teacher in Muggle school, so I just had to really be a good girl...most of the times." Yes, she was no goody-goody, but she had to behave in order to get what she wanted, keep on going to her ballet lessons.

At the mention of her brother and the Headmistress, Paloma blinked again. Well, her brother must be old enough to have a relationship? with someone as the Headmistress, right? "So, they're...dating...or what?" Sure, she had to ask, her head was curious thanks to Zahra. And natural instinct, but....this family talk was interesting by itself.

Get in trouble?!

Paloma started to cough, because those kind of nerves killed her, those of getting in trouble with some authority. "Do you...think someone would actually come here? Like, would the Groundskeeper be roaming around there and could see us...?" She had to just find an assurance that this could not go wrong. Whist her preocupation, she kept digging, even faster, then she hit something...

a stick.

with a handle.

Was it....?

Ohhhh so P-loma was muggle-y. Cool, cool. Muggles could be cool. Zahra didn't know like any, but you know. Z was DIGGING with her glowstick now, butt in the dirt, boots dug into a mound.

HUH? PLYMOUTH AND BUNZ? HAHAHA "noooooooo. No. See, okay, story time. ONCE UPON A TIME the Headmistress used to teach HERBOLOGY here. Like when my brother was here. She was his favorite teacher or something. Then she left and went to teach at some big to do University in Cairo, and my brother went there TOO, and when she came back to Hogwarts, well," Zahra pointed at Hogsmeade. Her brother had too. "I'm not close with any of the Professors like that. Are you?"

SHRUG. She didn't know if anyone would come. Zahra didnt' care really either. What was a little trouble anyway? Every day occurrence for her.

She was pleased that he wasn't opposed to joining her for a hug. Some people weren't very fond of hugging, though even they seemed to be all for Lux hugs. Her hugs were like magic.

Moving towards Andrew, she put her arms around him. "What's wrong?" Hopefully it wasn't serious. It wasn't nice to see people sad. She especially disliked it when Bay was sad or upset.

Andrew wrapped his arms around Lux and squeezed her tightly. Resting his chin on her shoulder, he shook his head at her question. Lux hugs were always a sure fire way to feel better, but this wasn't something he could talk about. Not yet at least.

"Lux, I.. I don't think I can talk about it. I don't think I'm ready." He whispered.. His voice was shaky and burdened, and his breaths were short and quick as he spoke. He wasn't sure how to convey to her how serious he was, but he hoped she'd understand. Right now, he desperately needed something to distract him from his woes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOPEendures

Hope beamed as he joined her up in the low hanging branches laughed. "Yeah, it is. I never thought I'd get to see the outdoors again." At least nothing outside of the frozen wasteland. She leaned back against the trunk and looked out over the lake listening to Caleb talk. She watched his shrug out of the corner of her eye and shook her head. So many responses tapped danced their way across her mind but none of them sounded right. "Well, if you ever need an outside perspective you've got me." That was the best she could offer....

"My break was...exciting." Was that a good word for it. She shrugged and very nonchalantly said, "I found out some seriously shocking news." No biggy. Nothing too AMAZING...or was it? She shrugged again. and ran her hand through her dark locks. CHANGE OF TOPIC! "So, what is the second thing you're going to do with our new found freedom?" She was considering the first thing joining her in the tree!

Caleb was listening to her talk, nodding politely as one did when listening to stories, when suddenly, he stopped and wrinkled his eyebrows at her. "Did you dye your hair?" he asked suddenly. THIS WAS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION! If she had and he'd gone this whole conversation not noticing...wow, he was stupid. Then again, girls always changed their hair and expected boys to notice if like, an inch was cut off, so she REALLY shouldn't be too mad.

"Wait, what? You can't just say that and then NOT go into details!" Caleb said when she said she'd heard some shocking news. He settled himself better into the tree and grinned. "Ok, if you tell me what shocking news you heard, I'll tell you about my sister drama," he told her, making a deal. Hopefully that'd be enough to entice her to talk - because now he was being nosy and HAD TO KNOW.

Was she okay? She grumbled from her spot on his shoulder, annoyed that he had lifted her. Ophelia didn't mind the placement --shhhh, he was cuute- but the fact that he picked her up caused the gripe. Nope, nope nope, she was not to be lifted, than you very much. Maybe this guy got a once in a while pass, but other than that, the first year much liked walking on her own. Much more fun. And rewarding.

"I'll know if I'm okay when you put me down, smirky!" She started laughing too, though that didn't stop her from kicking a little --making sure not to hit his chest-- and attempting to tame the curtain of annoying blonde hair that was kind of falling everywhere. Oh yeah, he was getting it now. The shorter girl had all of her fighting power ready. She may be short and young, be Ophelia was a feisty thing. And just so happened to be flirting a little. Okay, maybe flirting a lot. Whatever.

"And you only get to call me Blondie if I get to call you something!" Another smirk, this time with an eye raised. He wanted to play it like that? Well the Ravenclaw was learning the game too. The game of sass and flirting and having fun while being carried like a child who was tired.

Also, didn't he say something about killing a sick horse a while back? Should the child look into that?

After venturing to the kitchen fireplace, he decided the next best way to get rid of a planet was with the great outdoors. This was going to be fun. After reaching the perfect spot outside, he set his things down on the ground. Why? 'Cause he was here to collect some rocks!! Hehehe.

The Gryffindor searched all over and collected some in all different sizes. Some were much bigger, while others were merely pebbles. But soon enough he had at least fifteen of them sitting in a pile right near his bag. Perfect. Adding the last rock to the pile, he reached into his bag and grabbed both his wand and the next sandbag. Casting a quick "Fingere Elementi," and quickly jabbing the bag, he waited for the POP! and smiled to himself. Perfect.

Setting the planet on the ground, he pointed his wand at one of the rocks, "Locomotor Rock!" SWWWWIIIINNNNNNNGGGG right at the planet! And again, "Locomotor rock!" And again. And again. And again. Soon enough the poor planet was starting to disintegrate as rocks went flying at it from every direction. And not before long, the poor little planet was just a poor little pile of dust.

Ah, it was so young.

At this point of the digging expedition, Paloma didn't care anymore about the mud on her shoes, her jeans nor her sweater. It was surely fun, and nice from Zahra to be sharing that with her. She noticed how she was sort of getting tired of digging too, so she stopped for a few seconds and looked at Zahra when she shared the story.

Goody, Pal loved stories. And even more if they weren't assumptions that she made from the context she was told before. Clearing out her throat, and probably looking like a tomato because of embarrassment, she nodded. "Wow. Well, first of all, sorry for thinking that, and second...nope. I like to keep the relationship as it should be, teacher to student. I have plenty personal time with my coaches as it is to keep adding it here..." She wasn't fond of sharing her life with the teachers either...

With a sigh, and really really hoping no one would show up there, to yell at them for digging a hole. "Ummmmm...I can't remember....if the Moon and shore gravity thing applies here too..." It was just that one more thing that was worrying her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaya

At this point of the digging expedition, Paloma didn't care anymore about the mud on her shoes, her jeans nor her sweater. It was surely fun, and nice from Zahra to be sharing that with her. She noticed how she was sort of getting tired of digging too, so she stopped for a few seconds and looked at Zahra when she shared the story.

Goody, Pal loved stories. And even more if they weren't assumptions that she made from the context she was told before. Clearing out her throat, and probably looking like a tomato because of embarrassment, she nodded. "Wow. Well, first of all, sorry for thinking that, and second...nope. I like to keep the relationship as it should be, teacher to student. I have plenty personal time with my coaches as it is to keep adding it here..." She wasn't fond of sharing her life with the teachers either...

With a sigh, and really really hoping no one would show up there, to yell at them for digging a hole. "Ummmmm...I can't remember....if the Moon and shore gravity thing applies here too..." It was just that one more thing that was worrying her.

Zahra laughed as she tossed a handful of dirt up like confetti. "No it's cool. Plymouth probably DID hit on the Headmistress. Mum calls him a loverrrrrr." SNORT. "But yeah, yeah. If I HAD to choose a Professor to be bff with it'd be Thompson, I think." Yeah, yeah definitely Thompson.

What.

What was this Claw going on about. School work? Gravity? Aw man, was she mumbling about Astronomy? "Err................. no? Haha that'd be funny. This would be a MUD HOLE then. We could .... hey.... that's a GREAT idea! We aren't finding any bones, we should fill this hole with water and have a MUD HOLE." WHY NOT.

Giggle!Chuckle!Snort. Her brother sounded like Paloma's cousin, Emiliano. He wasn't married yet, though engaged now, but back in the days, Paloma knew that he wouldn't hesitate on hit on one of the lady professors. But totally irrelevant. "Thompson. Care of Magical Creatures, right?" There were so many professors that, well...Paloma could barely make a good face to name connection, even after a year..."And why is that...?" About being friends with the professor. She was just curious.

Nodding, she took a deep breath and continued digging, though she was still sitting. Maybe at her sitting height, they'd be able to find something. "And slowly, well...this mud hole would disappear, and there'd be no evidence of this work." Although she kinda hoped they really could find something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yaya

Giggle!Chuckle!Snort. Her brother sounded like Paloma's cousin, Emiliano. He wasn't married yet, though engaged now, but back in the days, Paloma knew that he wouldn't hesitate on hit on one of the lady professors. But totally irrelevant. "Thompson. Care of Magical Creatures, right?" There were so many professors that, well...Paloma could barely make a good face to name connection, even after a year..."And why is that...?" About being friends with the professor. She was just curious.

Nodding, she took a deep breath and continued digging, though she was still sitting. Maybe at her sitting height, they'd be able to find something. "And slowly, well...this mud hole would disappear, and there'd be no evidence of this work." Although she kinda hoped they really could find something.

Zahra was getting up now, poking the walls of her hole. Few rocks, few roots, no bones of ancient pirates or merpeople. "Yeah yeah. Mr. Creatures. He's just.... like you can talk to him and he'll listen. I got a GNOME stuck in my shirt last year and he didn't even deduct points." SO yeah, he was Zahra's go-to for Professor help.

She was considering this mud hole thing still. "See... this is why you need a Ravenclaw friend. Here I am, thinking about how I'm going cannonball into the hole -- and you're THINKING,' Zahra tapped her head," about how keep us out of trouble. Smarts, smarts. You got the smarts, Ravenclaw! I think I'll keep you."

"What a peaceful place," Samantha thought as she sat down underneath the tree, the back of her head leaning softly against the trunk. Samantha closed her eyes as she thought about the task at hand. The leaves rustled above her head as she slowly fluttered her eyes open. She looked up and found herself taking a photo. She inspected the photo and discovered she had taken a photo of a leaf falling from one of the tree branches.

Tapping the middle of the photo, Sam said, "Alacer!" The photo now showed the leaf cascading down towards the ground.

The second year glanced back, making sure she was okay. He really did care whether or not she was fine. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She was a cute Blondie, and in all honesty (although he would never admit it allowed) she was one of the very few people who could compete with his sassiness.

What was happening now? She was kicking him? Oh that was it, cute no more. Putting her on her feet again, he put his hands on his hips and dramatically leaned on one leg. "Excuse you, where you kicking me?" He said it in a way that sounded both offended and accusatory. He really wasn't that offended, obviously. She was smaller than him, and couldn't really do much damage. "Do you know what happens to those who kick the King?" He smirked and raised an eyebrow. Oh yea, she was going to get it.

He crossed his arms. "Call me what you want, but you're Blondie to me." He winked. He hoped that she could actually come up with a decent enough nickname. Blondie was an amazing nickname, and he was proud of himself for figuring it out himself. There was nothing she could call him that would be better than him calling her Blondie. But he liked this Blonde first year. She was a feisty one, that was for sure, but she was cute. A lot of fighting power though. She could take down an entire Quidditch team with just one remark, and he was loving that.

Oh, was she OFFENDING him? The little blonde chuckled a bit, stumbling a little as she shifted her weight from hip to hip. Yeah, if he didn't pick her up, none of that would've happened. Sorry, not sorry.

Also, who was really dramatic? Um, apparently him. Not that Ophelia minded of course, as there was a dramatically sassy thing going on that made her want to laugh and twirl and just giggle. Or maybe that was the flirting. Being eleven was complicated. Shut up. Anyway, dramatic and sassy and all around fun. Yeah, that was just fantastic. No really! She was actually having a lot of fun.

"Well, YOUR ROYAL HIGHNESS, what would you do if I was just kicking you?" Dramatic bow and a little smile for effect. And they were both gonna pretend that the blonde didn't start blushing a little. Darn cheeks. A little giggle escaped the first years throat and she covered her mouth with her hand slightly. Ophelia didn't giggle. That just didn't happen.

"And, sir sass, YOU happen to be looking at the TRUE queen of sass right here." The brown eyed girl walked around him in a circle, her arms playfully folded across her chest. See how he liked that. "And as queen, I demand to be taken with a little more respect." Was she taking this too far? Because Ophelia felt like she was taking this too far. A small gulp escaped her throat, and it took a bit of work to push it back in. She was gonna hve to play it by ear.

And about that nickname thing, she actually LIKED blondie. No one else called her that. It was special. Her sibling's nicknames mostly ranged from 'pest' or shorty, this guy's nickname was actually considerate to what SHE wanted. But the eleven year old didn't have a nickname for him yet. There was too much to work with here.

"Well, let's see." He put his hand on his chin, and made a pondering look. "For kicking The King the punishment would call for some tickling." He looked at her with an eyebrow raised. He hoped that she wouldn't mind the tickling. Some people really didn't liked to be touched or tickled, and he wanted to respect that. Even if she was a sassy little first year.

"Oh Queen are you? Well, my apologies your highness." And a nice bow for the lady. He decided to play along, although he will always be the King of Sass. Maybe she could be the Queen of blonde first years. He stood back up and crosses his arms. [B["Well, since you're the Queen, then I guess I could wave all charges."[/B] Although he might still tickle her, just for fun. Even Queens were allowed to have fun.

"Or maybe you're an Evil Queen. Which would mean that there would be extra punishment for kicking The Actual King of Sass."

"Tickling?" She smiled and paused, as if to take a moment of thought. Then, with a sly smile, Ophelia nodded. Her blonde waves bounced around her face and the first year sighed and pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. She was really getting obsessed with those, wasn't she? It was the little hairs that came out and created weird, bang like things that made it REALLY adroable.

"Well, it would be a fitting punishment." A pause for effect. The first year looked down at her slightly dirty fingernails and raise her eyebrows. Again, she was walking around the boy, a wide circle. Oh yeah, she just didn't become master of sass, the child became a master of intimidation too. Except, not really. It was ahrd to be intimidating when you were this cute. Anyway, she was going to say something. "For an EVIL queen like myself. Suprised you haven't figured it out yourself, Mr. King." Licking her lips, Ophelia quickly replaced that with another smile.

"And what punishment IS befitting an evil mastermind like myself? Sent to the stockade? No supper? More tickling?" A giggle. Was she playing this too far? How did flirting work? Because this child didn't know, like at all. This was literally her best guess. And he seemed to like the sassy side of her, so that was something she was going to do. Be sassy. Because that was already Ophelia, and part of Ophelia WAS sassy. He just brought it out more.

Also, ACTUAL king of sass? Was he being serious? Because she could do something with this. Something adorable. Like she was already. Of course, Ophelia was adorable. That was non-negotiable.

"So, Mr. King." A curtsy in his favor. "That's your new nickname, actually. Mr. King. " A smirk. "Where are we going next?"

Austin watched with a smile as she walked around him, her hair in a tail thing. He couldn't remember what it was called. Wait, didn't that have to do with horses too? Anyways, her walking around him would be intimidating... if she were six feet tall and had beefy muscles. But she was a small, adorable, blonde girl who had hair that made her face even more adorable. How was that possible? She must have had some sort of girl magic.

"Well, for an EVIL Queen who kicked The King, would be thrown into the lake." He paused and glanced over to the still lake, not too far away. It was probably freezing, and although throwing her in the lake was something he really wanted to do, it would probably mean their trip was going to be cut short. That wasn't something he wanted at all. He liked this girl, probably more than he let on, and he wanted to spend his time getting to know her. "But I wouldn't want to ruin that pretty hair of yours." Did water ruin girls hair? "So instead, you'll just have to follow me around so that I can be sure you don't ruin my kingdom." That wasn't really a punishment, but he was positive he could scare her enough to where he would get his payback.

Hmm, Mr. King... He liked it. He put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest. "Mr. King it is!" He was loving this King thing. Because he was the king of everything, and it was nice to be noticed for once! "Well, Blondie, where would you like to explore? Or is the darkness too much for you?"

He....
Cared...
About....
Her...
Hair?

Okay, was that a sign of something? Or was Ophelia reading too far into this. No one EVER complimented her hair! Though they had good reason. The blonde had a habit of not running a comb through it in the morning, and after running around in the woods all day, things got a little messy. So yes, with other perfectly perfect brothers and sisters and their disgustingly perfect hair, hers was not on the radar unless it involved pleas to brush it or demands that she crack and at least let Newton run a comb through it. So this was why she was so flustered. It was kind of a weak spot with her.

The eleven year old couldn't tell if he was being sassy or not anymore. Evil boys! She wouldn't let a second year out sass her. Even if it meant that she had to trip over her own feet to find something to say. And she would have to stop glancing up at his blue, blue, very blue eyes every few seconds, because THAT certainly wasn't helping. Ophelia needed something to say. And she needed it quick.

"I-I bet you say that to all of the cute girls." What was the first year doing? Why was she stumbling through her words? Was this the effect boys would have with her this young? Gaaahhh, she could wait a thousand years to ACTUALLY start dating if this would be what it would be like all of the time. This was a lot of pressure. On her heart and everything. Regain composure. Regain composure.

"And as for following you around? Would that make me your co-ruler?" A wink to show she was joking. And, feeling a prickling feeling coursing in her veins, Ophelia decided to take this further. Not much, but milk it for all it was worth. Her hair was apparently pretty and Mr. King over there seemed to be in an incredible jovial mood. So why not?

"Hello, my royal subjects hello." She smiled and gestured a hello out to the lake, laughing a little in case he thought she had gone crazy. The youngest Clarke child was sane, honest. Just a little quirky. Or was the correct word eccentric? How did you pick the word for that anyway?

"I am pleased to announce that your KING here...." Gesture to him to get him to play along... "has selected ME as co-ruler. I'll let him explain whatever else he wants to address." And she bowed and stepped back, laughing slightly at everything that was going on. This was awwwweeesooomme. First he complimented her hair, and then he talked about her following him around, which was completely yes. Just yes. That was all it was. No other adjective worked here.

"And, Mr. King, the darkness is no match for me. I guess you can say, I'm pretty intimidating." And with that, she ran her hand over her robe and blew on her fingernails like she was showing off. Because why act normal around a boy when you could act like an obnoxious five year old? At least that's what she was in her head.

Was she... flustered by his compliment? Did that mean she liked him? Wait... was she flirting with him this whole time? Austin looked down at her, half confused, half amused. It dawned on him that maybe she was flirting with him. Maybe she liked him? No... That couldn't be it. But he thought otherwise as she continued to look at him, and look away. That was a thing girls did when they crushed on a guy... right? He was so confused. His confusion ended when she spoke up. That was definitely something girls say when they liked a guy. He'd seen the muggle movies.

"Nah, only to you." He said with a wink. This girl was something else. One minutes she's nervous and stumbling over her words, and the next she's bowing to an invisible audience. He decided to play along.

He turned to the invisible audience and put his hands up in defense. "Yes, yes, I know it may come as a shock to all of you. But it is true, the Evil Queen has become my co-ruler. This way, she will be under my protection and care, and therefore do no harm to any of you." He gestured over to Blondie, still addressing the lake/invisible audience. "If I find that there are to be any attempts on her life, you'll be facing nothing but the stocks!" He chuckled, and bowed, to signify to the invisible people that he had nothing left to say.

Turning to his new co-ruler, he smiled. "Intimidating you say?" He moved closer to her, and leaned towards her, so their noses were inches apart. He gave her his most intimidating stare and crooked smile. "I think you'll find the most intimidating person here, is your King."

¨Only to me? Well then I must be the luckiest girl in Hogwarts, getting complimented by our King." She smirked and tilted her head to the left, undoing her blonde ponytail and allowing the waves to fall around her shoulders. Since they weren't doing any exploring right now, the done up hair was not needed. Not that not exploring was boring. This was nice. Little back and forth, Mr. King and the evil Queen. It was like a really, really bad book title. And it made for a cute story.

Gulp. He was right in front of her. Nose to nose. Face to face. Crystal blue eyes to her brown ones. Gulp. Okay, did he know what he was doing to her? Because if he did, this was just cruel, and if he didn't, then he was oblivious as they came. How loud was her heart pounding exactly? Because Ophelia swore she could hear it beat in her head. It was like a steady thump playing mercilessly through her ears. And though it was impossible for him to actually HEAR her true heartbeat, it sounded like a ridiculous dance beat.

Another gulp. This wasn't exactly fair, you know. But if they were playing unfair, she could certainly retaliate. Giving her best smirk, the first year pulled a section of hair over her shoulder and started running her right hand through it. He seemed to like her hair. And since he kept making her gulp, it was time to turn up the heat. He wouldn't win this one. She wouldn't allow it.

¨As the EVIL queen, I suppose it would only be right for me to cause mischief, correct? But as an apparently non intimidating child, I have to start small.¨ No were words were said before she reached up and ruffled his black hair, effectively messing it up. The stove top was officially turned on. And walking up to him again, the eleven year old tried to show that she was fierce and tough by going nose to nose with him again, So close that if she were to look up to see his eyes, Ophelia would bump into his chin. Your move, Mr. King. Your move.

Hope blushed. "Yeah, I did." She wasn't so high maintenance like most girls. That fact that Caleb even noticed was just a shock because she had anticipated him NOT noticing. She didn't care if he noticed, but it was...nice. "I just needed a change. A BIG change." One that was so big it was small. "It doesn't look bad, does it?"

"Deal!" She hadn't wanted to right out ask him about his problems with his sister, but now, NOW, they could share!!! Taking a big deep breath she looked down and chewed on her lower lip. "So, while on break I found out..." OH! It was so hard for her to say it. It just seemed so...not real. "I'm adopted." Meh...more detail. "My family and I got into a fight over something so small and I shouted some mean things. Things like 'I wish you weren't my parents' and my dad said, and this is really funny, 'Wish granted. Your adopted'."

She looked up at him and gave a soft chuckle. "I didn't know what to believe. My mom started crying and my dad just...lost it." There it was out. She had said it. "My birth mother...I think I know who she is. It's just...I need her to confirm it." And silence fell.

"Your turn!" She snuggled up into her own seat and batted her lashes in an innocent way. "SO! Why are you and Sophie fighting?" She had met her once, the twin, and she was MEAN so really, they could be fighting over anything, right? "It's not over a boy or girl is it?" Because that would be two things. One: Lame and Two: Not cool. She didn't know where these feelings were coming from, but she had so many different FEELS about Caleb, it wasn't her. It was like she was....crushing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HOPEendures

Hope blushed. "Yeah, I did." She wasn't so high maintenance like most girls. That fact that Caleb even noticed was just a shock because she had anticipated him NOT noticing. She didn't care if he noticed, but it was...nice. "I just needed a change. A BIG change." One that was so big it was small. "It doesn't look bad, does it?"

"Deal!" She hadn't wanted to right out ask him about his problems with his sister, but now, NOW, they could share!!! Taking a big deep breath she looked down and chewed on her lower lip. "So, while on break I found out..." OH! It was so hard for her to say it. It just seemed so...not real. "I'm adopted." Meh...more detail. "My family and I got into a fight over something so small and I shouted some mean things. Things like 'I wish you weren't my parents' and my dad said, and this is really funny, 'Wish granted. Your adopted'."

She looked up at him and gave a soft chuckle. "I didn't know what to believe. My mom started crying and my dad just...lost it." There it was out. She had said it. "My birth mother...I think I know who she is. It's just...I need her to confirm it." And silence fell.

"Your turn!" She snuggled up into her own seat and batted her lashes in an innocent way. "SO! Why are you and Sophie fighting?" She had met her once, the twin, and she was MEAN so really, they could be fighting over anything, right? "It's not over a boy or girl is it?" Because that would be two things. One: Lame and Two: Not cool. She didn't know where these feelings were coming from, but she had so many different FEELS about Caleb, it wasn't her. It was like she was....crushing.

"No, it looks good! Really good," Caleb assured her. He had just been shocked is all...after all, one second he was talking to her, and the next second BAM! NEW HAIR! So yeah he was like obligated to ask otherwise he would never be able to get over it and focus on the conversation. He was actually proud of himself - he'd noticed a girl's HAIR and that was a victory for men everywhere!

WHOA. That was some pretty heavy stuff. Caleb couldn't even imagine finding out that he was adopted - and in such an overly mean way too. His uncle had sort of gone through that...finding out his dad wasn't really his dad and all. "Wow, that's...crazy. I'm sorry, but at least you kind of have an idea of who your real mom is? That's more than some adopted people can say," he said. He was trying to cheer her up...and he hoped it was working. He wasn't exactly sure what to say in a situation like this.

Oh, it was his turn! Ok, maybe Hope really wanted to get away from that convo. His fight with Sophie seemed so...STUPID in comparison now. "Well, I dunno if you keep up with gossip around the school but...Grayson Whitlock and Sophie are like...a THING. Kind of. I guess. I dunno, I got mad at him because he always looks at her like a piece of meat and says the RUDEST things to her and she can do better, but we got in a huge fight over it and now we aren't talking and it's dumb but I'm just looking out for her, you know?" he explained in a rush. He blushed and now he felt so silly - Hope's problems were like, LEGIT, and his were...childish.