In a more relaxed state of mind, Beverly unknowingly hummed while searching for dandelions; hands digging here and there through the grass. Her guard was down, which hadn't realized, either. She was simply enjoying not having to deal with stuff inside the castle. The fresh breeze made that much easier, and so she was lost in thought.

That was until she heard her name and guard was up again. Rising to her feet, she tucked hair behind her ear, letting her gaze rake over her new companion. "Finn." She grinned timidly. It wasn't someone trying to jump her for her not-yet-found dandelions. Good. "You made me jump a little." Heh. She'd only admit that because he didn't seem like he'd taunt her for it.

What? Haha, him, Finn, making her jump. Suppose there was a first for everything wasn't there? It's not like he did anything startling or said something out of line. It made him laugh, quietly and quickly though. That was a good one. "Sc-scared you, did I?" He asked her in a teasing voice, still slightly amused by her reaction to his appearance.

"Wh-what are ya doing?" He continued, as he had seen her doing some odd digging of sorts as he had awaited for her to see him. Finn approached her more closely, not wishing to speak to her from a far distance. It would seem like a hassle if he did.

Sophia was busy gathering her things and quickly started putting them away in her bag before they blew away. She worked hard on alot of these drawings and would hate to lose them due to some silly nasty fall. Almost done picking up her drawings she seenthat a couple of them were missing, looking around her eyes stopped as she seen the boy giving her a understanding smile. "Um...thank you, you didn't have to have me you know but once again thanks!"said Sophia giving him a soft warm smile. "Guess that's what I get for my clumsy self not paying attention to where I was walking!"said Sophia chuckling.

Taking the rest of her drawings she placed them in her bookbag. "Oh so rude of me, I'm Sophia, Sophia Summers third year Hufflepuff. said Sophia sticking out her hand for him to shake. Sophia was usually very shy around meeting new people, but since being friends with Kace and Lux, she was slowly starting to break away from it. She knew that she was going to make some new friends this year, she was sure of it, she just had to step out of her comfort zone. "I think I seenyou around, you're the new Prefect for Gryffindor aren't you? "Sophia asked him softly but curiously. She seen him around, but didn't know his name, but then again Sophia seen alot of people around and never talked to them.

Not necessarily scared her. Beverly Wayne lacked in the fear department. That's what happens when you're raised by men who teach you to kick everything and everyone's bum. "You didn't scare me," she said, dragging out the last word, then playfully rolling her eyes. She was also a poor judge of character. "Just caught me off guard, is all." And Finn wasn't scary-looking either.

Raising her wrist, where the strap of a small pouch hung around it, Beverly wiggled it. "I'm collecting dandelions...or trying to. Can't find them." There had been a few around here a few weeks ago. "Have you seen any?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist

She was smirking again, when was she not? “Oh c’mon I don’t know if that’s a Slytherin thing or a life thing,” she chuckled and grinned over to Caleb. “I mean really? If it’s a Slytherin thing then I probably am in the wrong house” she wasn’t even joking as she threw her head back and laughed.

When he brought up the fact that being cursed wasn’t that fun, “yeah but not remembering being locked in a closet sounds like a dream” she chuckled and then frowned when he said he probably wasn’t that pleasant c’mon Rumple wasn’t that bad was he? “What? Didn’t try to steal someone’s first born to be your own?” She asked and smirked. “C’mon he probably was misunderstood and just wanted a kid…not that I really get that,” she muttered the last bit and chuckled.

"I did enjoy the ancient runes class - I just got to sit on a shell and Professor Botros thought he was King Trident...and was convinced I was one of his mermaid daughters," she chuckled and grinned over to him. "Easiest runes class ever really I just wish that the History of Magic classes were that easy" she laughed and rolled her eyes at his Crup comment.

Her smile widened when he brought up that Crups weren’t hard to come by. She chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Oh c’mon that’s was ages ago – I think I would have been a third year then and still living with my aunt,” she flushed slightly as she thought of her name “Titania” it was an awkward family name considering she and her aunt both had names from Shakespeare…awkward.

Oh look he was blushing sort of…not as badly as Zander always did whenever she brought up anything of the sort or well when she brought up Toddles too. Still, Puck couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw it happen. What? Blushing could be really cute and adorable. “Oh really? Well…some people do have prices for such things” she laughed, “or just don’t like someone enough to try it at all” she added with a laugh.

Boys weren’t always simple. Some were complicated. “Oh c’mon jumping out of the tower is probably just as dangerous as Quidditch maybe even less actually because you aren’t soaring around precariously poised on a stick in the sky” she laughed and grinned over to him.

"Well, probably not EXCLUSIVELY Slytherin...but definitely a big part of it," Caleb told her with a smile. Quite honestly, his desire to succeed was one of his favorite parts of his personality. Same with Sophie - he LOVED that they could use each other to achieve their ends. She was probably the only person he wouldn't 100% backstab if it came to it...probably. He couldn't be sure, but then again, he didn't think he'd ever be in a situation where he had to take out his sister. Or anyone, for that matter, except evil wizards! Being a big bag Auror and all.

"Oh, I TRIED to!" Caleb told her with a laugh when she joked about him being Rumple. He could joke about THAT part at least, because it was just so ridiculous. "And the crazy part it, it was ALADDIN I was trying to con. Can we just talk about how ridiculous that all is?" he chuckled, shaking his head and causing his glasses to bounce a bit on the bridge of his nose.

And as for that Ancient Runes class...Caleb shrugged. "I kind of remember that. I think I was...coming out of the curse, if you know what I mean. I was aware of what was going on, but totally confused," he explained. It was hard to try and explain the whole thing to people...how did you just FORGET a month of your life, and not remember that you had tried to convince someone to give you their unborn child?

The only people equipped to handle that kind of nonsense were therapists, in Caleb's opinion.

Oh Quidditch...Caleb felt like it had been AGES since he'd ridden a broom. He'd probably be utter rubbish if he tried out now...let alone tried to sink a quaffle in the goal posts. He shrugged. "Probably now yeah...with the Quidditch pitch being like...a giant sinkhole. Even if we did have it I dunno if I'd try out, with prefect duties and whatnot," he explained. Plus he'd never been the biggest fan, he'd mainly just done it to not disappoint West...

There was absolutely no need to tease him, even if was harmless. Just sayiiinnngg. But, in all fairness, he had done so to her a little, so Finn gave her a very tiny smile at that. "Ahhhh." He said, faking hurt, "I-I thought you would.. would be the first person I'd scare." Obviously it would be much more difficult with her. But there was still time for this fellow to do so.

There came his answer. Collecting dandelions, Finn didn't think he'd ever heard of that one. Always a first, though. He gave her a nod, then paused, hesitating, ".... Collecting. Special re-reason why? Or is it.. is it more for f-fun?" She didn't have to answer that. Especially if it was personal. Did not want to intrude on personal things. "N-no." Finn said, answering her. He was already here, talking to her, maybe he could help, hang out with her all at the same time. The slytherin got down on his knees so he could be closer to the grass, inspecting around it, trying to see better. "Or maybe..maybe... if you've searched this area... could be... somewhere else?" Just a suggestion.

They could explore other parts of the lake.... If that was ok with her. Maybe she wanted to be left alone?

Talk about a bestie making you feel better. Adi felt sorry that Benny had to deal with his insecurity and he felt the same about it when it came to AJ but he couldn't help it. He'd stop functioning if either one of them drifted away from him... "Good. I think I can deal with that.'' Indeed he could.

"You almost got away with it,'' the Puffer agreed as he continued to heap handfuls of water onto Benny. "Too bad we don't have any balloons. That would be even better.'' Annnnd the other boy was fighting back. Adi was already completely soaked but now water was continuously being flung at his face. He might have even swallowed some because he was laughing.

But finally the Puffer collapsed next to Benny, worn out from the water fight. Instead of sitting, he went flat out on his back. "That was fun.''

Had she hurt his feelings? Poor not so little guy. Beverly stifled an amused grin at his little show. "I'd like to see you try. I'm no Gryffindor but I bet I'm tougher to frighten." Her eyes glinted with challenge. She had meant both; the first as a game of sorts and the latter as a fact.

"I'm collecting them to make a crown of dandelions to put on my head." She let that sink in, then cracked a smirk. Did she look like the kind to do such silly things? "I'm actually harvesting them for potion ingredients." Been slacking so bad this term she could already hear her dad clicking his tongue in disapproval.

Wrinkling her nose at his answer, Beverly took another glance around before turning her gaze back on him. Oh, did he want to help? Well that was...new. No one ever helped her but Jeremiah. This was kind of him. "I've already searched here." She kicked the tip of her boot on the boulder. "We can go look somewhere else." Yep, she'd just inducted him into her search party.

Zander shook his head and careless waved a hand in the air to dismiss her thought. "No need to thank me, it's erm-it's only the decent thing to do," of course he didn't have to, but he would've liked it if someone did that for him. So you know, of course he would help. Plus the badge made his conscience even louder than usual. If had been asleep, it would've been another story all together, but he had been cloud watching, trying to waste time really. Maybe a little conversation would be good for him? Not that he didn't want to converse... Just... He came to the lake to be alone normally, but this girl... She looked like she needed a friend or something. She was a bit nervous, huh? Noted. Besides, the Gryffindor saw a little bit of himself in that. Or a lot of himself? "I'm pretty bad at that too... The not paying attention thing... I reckon we'll get better at it though." Lulz. Or not.

Zander would probably never learn to be more observant. It was just a Zander Adair thing, probably. He watched curiously as she began stuffing her papers into her bag, "Nice to meet you Sophie Summers," he reached for her hand with his own. He'd never really get used to this whole 'hand shake thing'. Why people insisted it be done... was beyond him. Though maybe it was just the idea of holding hands with a stranger or something that freaked him out. "Yeah-I-um-yeah... New Prefect," trying his best NOT to get all pink. Why did that always happen??? He'd been a Prefect for a good three months now, you'd think it'd start to sink in or something!? But no. It was also the first thing people knew about him. Kind of terrifying. People made assumptions about him about whatever they associated with Prefectship. For some it was innate hatred, others it was amazing expectations, and then some it was the thought that he must be crazy for accepting that kind of responsibility. Whichever it was... It was daunting and not what he wanted. Being plain ol' Zander Adair should be his defining characteristic. Not some piece of metal on his robes. "You can call me Zander, though, I'd uh... I'd prefer that." Merlin forbid people actually called him 'the Gryffindor Prefect' out loud.

Anyways. New topic. This was getting squirmy. "So uh, did you draw those yourself, then?"

"I-I know." The words came out of him before he could stop himself. He shook his head, telling her he was wrong. Literally, he did not know, and she knew that too. So, so they should still be on the same page and all, right? Yep, no harm done. "May-maybe I will. One day." Though, one probably had to have had a plan of action, rather than being spontaneous if you were trying to attempt that.

Her answer, wasn't expected, really. Sounded a bit silly, something little girls did. "You-you don't strike me as-as that type of... girl." He froze, his eyes grew slightly bigger, suddenly worried if that almost sounded like an insult to her. Because it wasn't. Please don't take it as an insult. Please please don't. Finn didn't want to deal with any of the consequences of her reaction. "Oh. Yeah. Po-potions. Good." Lots of nodding. What kind of potion required dandelions, though?

"Yeah, yeah. Somewhere else. Good. Let's go." He said, standing up once again. This wasn't the typical thing he did, but then again, it was better than not doing anything at all. "Lead... lead the way." He added, gesturing with his hand for her to go forth.

Vinnie had just gotten lost in the book when someone plopped down next to her. It was kind of her thing, getting lost in books. Like she soaked up the story and became one with it for the time being. Especially when it wasnt a book about facts, but a story.

For a tiny moment the brunette didnt even realise someone had sat down...until he heard the person say her name. "David!" Now that was a pleasant surprise. She loved having him around, he alwaaaayys made her laugh for some reason. "Its Alice in wonderland", the Slytheirn smiled," what you doing out here hm?"

To be fair, Vinnie didnt know if David was an outdoor person or not...she should totally find this out...Yes. Good thing he was here.

Puck laughed when Caleb brought up trying to steal the baby. “Oh come on” she rolled her eyes and smirked over him. “What? Seriously she laughed some more as she thought about Rumble going after Aladdin. “Oh I would have paid to see that honestly,” she grinned playfully.

Oh his glasses were bouncing while he laughed? Was that a normal thing for people with glasses…wouldn’t that be unsettling? She didn’t say anything about it though just grinned. “Really? You must have been completely confused with that class…” she agreed and grinned some more.

“Yeah I remember that,” she shrugged and chuckled. “Its weird but with that whole ‘anti-quidditch’ thing that went on a few terms ago” she chuckled and grinned over to him.

Oh? So he knew, did he? She watched as he shook his head, not taking it seriously because it was obvious he didn't know her-know her. "Am I that predictable?" she teased, resting her hands on her hips. At him taking her challenge on, she dropped her hands and nodded. "I look forward to being scared, then." Would he pop out of random walls and yell BOO? Or set spiders on her favorite spot in the common room? Exciting.

"If you did then we couldn't be friends," she informed, nodding solemnly. At first look she might seem like a girl who woke up on the wrong side of the bed, but she could totally kick bum if it came down to it. Hiss! "It's a hobby of mine. Brewing and harvesting ingredients." Just fyi.

Multi-colored eyes raking their surroundings, Beverly pointed toward a healthier patch of grass. It was already drying up as they neared deeper into Autumn and closer to Winter, but there was hope. "Maybe there. Come on." She didn't wait for him to follow. He'd shown interest in helping so she was sure he'd fall in-step.

"No no, no you're not... I mean... I don't... I don't know. Ma-maybe?" He honestly did not know and didn't want to say the wrong thing. An her posture, was she suddenly getting sassy at him, or just playing around for the fun of it? How could one scare her, though? She didn't seem easily scared. "I.. yeah, sure. I'll see what I-I can do." Nod nod nod.

He let out a sigh of relief. So, he supposed this did make him friends with her? Seeing as he had not thought of her as one of those girls? "Guess we're on the... on the same page, then." Good thing, of course. It definitely helped that she was a slytherin too, made things easier for him. "You like potions? Or or experimenting, at least?" That type of subject can be interesting, it was just a lot of time and effort being put into it, though.

Finn followed Beverly's gaze and started to head in the direction she was generally going towards. "Exactly... how many do you need?" He asked, trying to keep apace with her. It seemed like she had been on a good search for them before now. "I-I mean, looks like you've found quite a few al-ready."

Bianca was bored of studying. She needed to take a break for a while and decided to have a nice walk around the castle. Grabbing her coat, she walked around the ground and stopped at the lake. At least feeling the breeze of cold December with could calm her for a while. She couldn't wait for Christmas break. She just got an owl from Gary that he currently stayed in London until January and he told that he would love to spend the Christmas and New year with her and Bryan. She missed him badly since he worked as a photojournalist for muggle traveler magazine that made him traveled around too much. How did he look nowadays? Did he already had another girlfriend? Hehehe.

The brunette girl just sat at the lakeside, watching people around. If she had her cousin's camera, maybe she'd taken some photographs around now. Sadly she didn't. Gary would never lend her his camera. She just threw some rocks to the lake.

Beverly pressed her lips into a thin line--or tried to at least as they fought to rise at the corners in amusement. "I'll let you ponder on that before I decide whether I'm offended or not." She preferred unpredictable, but maybe Finn was a better judge of character than she was. Side-eyeing him, she grinned a little. "I'm not going to punch or hex you if you say something wrong." Maybe. But he didn't have to be scared of saying what he wanted to.

"Suppose we are." She nodded in agreement. On the same page and now they were friends. That's how it worked, yeah? She supposed so. "Both...sort of. I'm really good at potions," she started, but not in a smug way. More in a tone of a person who worked hard for it. "My dad's a Potions Master and my life has been surrounded by all things potions. I guess I'm fond of them now rather than interested." If that made sense. "Do you like brewing or experimenting?" Hmm, Mister Finn?

How many did she need? "Several. I want to keep them stored in case I need them." And it had been an excuse to leave her duties. Shh. Raising her arm, she squeezed the pouch between her index finger and thumb. "Actually I've found zero." Mellow.

Great, now he had to silently wonder if what he had said was good or not. Maybe being unpredictable worked, especially if you were in slytherin, he supposed, but he wouldn't voice that, so Finn just nodded at her. An to her next words there came a flush of relief to the slytherin because he was so glad he didn't have to deal with being hexed. "Oh, you're... you're not? Yeah-yeah, thanks, good..." That was nice to be assured about.

An Finn listened, silently of course, not wishing to bother her in mid sentence and have her lose her train of thought. "So.. it's just... just something you do... because you're surrounded by it?" That's what he was getting from it, at least. At her question he couldn't help but let out a laugh, "Not sure. Maybe-I don't know... Maybe depends on the type... type of thing I'm making."

The Slytherin looked at her for a bit when she said she had found nothing at all of what she required. Well, that was disappointing, wasn't it? "Maybe you.. you have to get through all the...all the bad before finding the... the good." He said with a shrug, hoping it would lift the spirit of her search. Finn scanned the area, trying to find any patches of grass that might look lively or healthier than others. Then he walked over to a little area and crouched around. "Let's try, let's try around here, yeah?" He said as he gestured towards the spot he was at.

Dandelion search party to commence now.

It was rather cold out lately, but Lux still enjoyed coming to the lake sometimes since it was so pretty and peaceful.

Not too many people were out today, and that was nice because sometimes the area was too crowded and she did want some time to clear her head after all the studying she did earlier that day. Exams needed to be over with as soon as possible so that she could relax and not feel stressed anymore, though being busy was nice because she loved the distraction when she missed her boyfriend so much.

Heading closer to the water, she spotted a girl throwing rocks and realized that she was one of the people who had come to the greenhouse. "Hello," she said with a smile as she joined her.

Kate should really head back inside. The lake had been a nice place to hang out, but there wasn't really anybody down here to talk to. There were plenty of people, but some of them Kate thought might want to just chill out and not be interrupted by some random firstie looking for a friend. She had just turned to head back, when she heard the excited-sounding voice of Timmy. "Timmy!" she said, smiling widely. She took a good, long look at the girl and added, "For some reason, it feels like it's been months since I've seen you." She had expected to see much more of the girl, but then Hogwarts was a really big place.

Kate looked around at the beautiful area and nodded. "I completely agree with that," she said. Making this their hangout spot, that is. "It's so pretty down here, and it looks like there are lots of other people here." Kate was game for making this a permanent thing, especially now that she had a friend to hang out down here with! "So what have you been up to? I kind of thought you moved or something. Has it really been that long, or is it just me?"

Did he really think she would? Maybe she did wear that expression her brother poked her about. The get-out-of-my-way-or-I'll-punch-you look. If only that look would scare certain people. As to Finn, she didn't want to scare him. "Yeah, no problem." See, she was...nice.

Beverly tucked some hair behind her ear and nodded. "Sort of. It's like...most do potions because they have to, it's part of the curriculum. When I do work on them it feels just like a hobby, natural." Pause. "If that makes sense." It sounded better in her head, but he got it, yeah? "Well, what's your favorite subject then?" He didn't sound at all sure about potions, and her curiosity was tingling now.

"Get through all the bad before finding the good," she repeated thoughtfully. "Sounds like something off a get-well card. I like it." Quite inspirational her little friend here. And it worked. The Slytherin rubbed her hands together and nodded. "Okay, here is fine." In fact, the grass looked the healthiest here. "It's okay if they're not so fresh, as long as it's not completely bald." She didn't need the little stub.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

It was rather cold out lately, but Lux still enjoyed coming to the lake sometimes since it was so pretty and peaceful.

Not too many people were out today, and that was nice because sometimes the area was too crowded and she did want some time to clear her head after all the studying she did earlier that day. Exams needed to be over with as soon as possible so that she could relax and not feel stressed anymore, though being busy was nice because she loved the distraction when she missed her boyfriend so much.

Heading closer to the water, she spotted a girl throwing rocks and realized that she was one of the people who had come to the greenhouse. "Hello," she said with a smile as she joined her.

Sitting here in the cold December weather maybe seemed crazy for other people, but the brunette girl didn't care. Yet somehow she enjoyed it. The breeze of December could calm her from the stressful thought of life and brought her into a daydream about spending Christmas with Gary and Bryan, they shared the silly chit chat, the food, wine, laughter... EVERYTHING! She really couldn't wait for Christmas break. At least spending Christmas with them could make her not to think about NEWTs for a while (unless her cousin started asking her and her twins about that. But if he did, she's gonna literally kick his butt.) Could it come really soon, please?

She couldn't stop thinking about Christmas break... and throwing the rocks to the lake. She even didn't realize that there was a girl who was sitting with her. Sorry not sorry but sometimes she could be not aware about anything around her, especially when she was daydreaming.

"Oh, hello..." She said to her. Well, how long she had been here by the way? "Sorry... but I'm not ignoring you. You know, sometimes when I daydream or think of something, I forgot that I was in a public place and there are people around me. I didn't realize that you were here so... Yeah, I mean, No. I am not ignoring you." Then she realized that she had met this redhead girl before. "Hi...."

Crap, she didn't remember her name.

Margo was NOT ready for this. This was Adi's dumbest idea yet....how in the name of Merlin, did he ever thing she would want to come down by the lake. He had lost his marbles. Going near the lake when there was Kraken in it was just asking for trouble. So going down the grounds but staying FAR FAR FAR away from that stupid lake, Margo began to look for Adi.

He said he would be here.......if he didn't show soon Margo was just going to leave. No way was she going to be sticking around the lake by herself.....even with Adi she would most likely be leaving very soon.

He was laaaate! Who would have thought he would have gotten so absorbed by reading a text book? Oh well. Adi was now heading for the Lake to meet Margo. Upon reaching it, he cast a look around. Where was she... where was she?

Oh! There she was! Adi noted she was standing a very good distance away from the water. That was to be expected. But hopefully today would be the day Margo got rid of her fear of the Squid and thus the Lake in general.

"Heya, Margo!'' The fifth year approached her. "There's no need to be afraid. Just trust me, okay?'' He gave the girl a cheery smile before proceeding towards the water. Reaching the shore so that his sneakers were just an inch from the water, he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Helloooooo? Mr Squid, you there?"

There was Adi....did she trust him? Yes of course she did but that didn't stop the water from looking sot menacing! Jeepers, Adi was trying to kill her. And then he moved closer to the water.....he was nuts, there was no other explanation. "Adi, be careful!" Margo cried as she watched him get even closer still. Nope Margo stopped about 10 feet from the water, not a chance was she getting any closer.

"Oh no, Adi please don't yell!!! The Kraken will here you!!!" Margo shivered at the thought of being in that stupid lake when she first arrived at Hogwarts, how close to death had she come.........okay, not really close at all, but it still was scary.

It didn't matter that is was down right cold out. Hady had on a pair of insulated gloves and her usual oversized hoodie. With her hands inside the large pocket she made her way towards the lake sitting herself down several feet from the water. Hearing voices she shifted her gaze spotting Adi with a younger girl. Apparently they were looking for the squid...was yelling how they got him to appear?

She wasn't exactly certain and shook her head slightly laughing. Rather then say anything she turned her attention back to the water already consumed in her own deep thoughts even as she pulled a green candycane from her pocket, opened the wrapped and put it to her mouth. The candy kept her calm but didn't do much for her thoughts.

Thinking was becoming seriously overrated lately.