Eden hugged her knees to her chest and kept looking at the tree. "AJ seems really cool." She was so different from Abby, it was quite funny. "I haven't spoken to...the other sister." She thought her name was Angel...she thoooought.

"So you're the only one in Ravenclaw? What is it like being a triplet?" she asked. Wow. Eden could NOT even imagine.

Abby smiled at Eden and said "It is fun but tough as well cause sometimes me and my sisters can't agree with anything and yes i am the only one in Ravenclaw the hat saw something different in me compared to my sisters" Abby was glad to be back at school and glad to be meeting other people outside the friends that she had already

Kace decided to take a trip down to the Whomping Willow. He just really wanted to see the violent tree. He wondered how long this tree had been around? It must be really old and the most famous landmark. Everyone from Hogwarts would know what it is. He wanted to the touch the tree but he didn't want any limbs removed or eyes removed. He liked to keep those intact. He might as well enjoy the crisp fall air.

He took out his book and began to read. He might as well much himself seem a bit smarter than he actually was.

Phoenix was running. Mainly because he was full of energy, but partly because it was better than doing the whole study thing he was supposed to have going on. Ew. Studying.

Anyway, he was doing the rounds of the grounds, trying to expend as much of this restless energy as he possibly could. Cause sitting still was making him crazy. He'd got sidetracked though, and his mind almost seemed to have vacated his body, so he didn't notice the lad sat down...

And he tripped over him.

"Aaahohmyrgdfhkj..."

Faceplant the ground. Smooth.

"Sorry!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemon

A Ravenclaw's curiosity was just to much to resist, and Dima was moving closer and closer to the Whomping Willow every time he passed it. The third year had common sense and knew to keep his distance so he wouldn't get whomped, but his thirst for knowledge was insatiable.

How many people had it hit? Where was the knot that supposedly froze the tree? Could it have been the source of the ominous deaths of Hufflepuffs?

In previous years, of course. No one had died this term. Yet.

On his way back inside after a day of scouting for the Giant Squid, Dima found himself standing in the general vicinity of the tree. Thinking.

The whomping willow. She hadn't been this close to the tree since the SNAC meeting two years ago, when she had been knocked into the snow. Now she knew to keep away from the tree. Penelope moved closer to the tree until she was standing next to Dima. "The tree will hit you if you get close enough." Did Dima know that he shouldn't get closer to the tree? He should have the common sense to know not to go near trees that hit people. When the tree had hit her, she hadn't realized how close she was to the tree. If she had known that she was within range of its branches, she would have moved before it had a chance to hit her. That time she had just been knocked into the snow where she could have frozen to death. What would happen if the tree decided to hit them now? The ground looked a lot harder than the snow, but at least they wouldn't freeze to death.

"Yeah, that. Working, long time to progress." She tilted her head to the sides and looked down at her music sheets then back at her guitar, and at last to see him.

Grinning, because she liked the compliments about what she did, she shrugged. "It has been a long developed process, here too. I just started out really young." Since she was five, then it all became history. "Like...for example, is there something that you really like to do since you were a kid? Besides just playing?" It was not just a hobby, though.

"Aye, like the friend. I like to be friendly. Sorry for the...look. It's kinda frustrating how sometimes they don't...work together." The notes, she was referring to. And she said that in the most heartfelt way. She shook his hand and bowed her head, "Nice to meet you, Finn. What year are you in?" It was odd how, she hadn't seen him before. Or maybe their classes didn't cross at all.

Finn simply nodded at her as she looked back at her music stuff. She seemed deep in thought, so he didn't bother her for that little period of time.

"Young is good. Lots of practice." He said, giving her more encouraging, approving nods. "Something I like? Since I was a kid?" Finn repeated. It was hard, with his life, so, it left him wondering. He glanced up at the sky, concentrated in his own thoughts, focused on himself, wracking his brains for anything. The boy was like that for quite some time, never averting his eyes anywhere else, as he almost tried to force himself into thinking something. "No, don't think so." Sure he liked things, but things to do, that was a bit different. A bit pathetic and sad, really, considering he was already sixteen years old. He should have something by now. But, nope.

"Aye?" He said, slightly confused. That was a first. "What?" Finn was slightly confused about what she was talking of. "I'm not sure what you're sorry about..." He paused, trying to think of what she meant, but in his eyes she hadn't done anything at all. "Highly doubt... though... there's no need for apology."

"Sixth. You?" He simply asked.

Eden nodded. "I bet the fighting can get pretty bad." She said softly. Especially with THREE girls...all the same age..all living together in the SAME house and stuff. Gosh.

She could NOT imagine having a sister at all. "Well that's nice-you probably get lumped together with them a bunch. So it's good to have some difference from them." She assumed, at least.

Abby laughed and said "Yeah the fighting can get pretty bad but heck i like to be different from my sisters" Abby could never forget the feast last year when she slapped Angel

Eden nodded. Yeah, she could totally see it. "I feel like if I had a sister, we'd fight all the time." No doubt about it, nope. "I don't blame you. I'd get tired of being grouped together all the time." She said with a smile.

"How do you like classes so far? Aren't you a fifth year?" Or maybe a fourth. Hmm. Eden wasn't sure.

Kace was busy reading his book, I guess he was so concentrated on it because he didn't even see a dude bump into him. He felt a huge bump into his ride side...

OMMFFHHHHH

He was looked to see who bumped into him and saw it was a dude around his age. He even face planted on the ground. Bloody Merlin he hoped he was okay. "It is fine..." he said waving off his apology. "I think the more important question are you okay. You took a mighty face plant just there." he pointed to where he had the impact. This dude seemed familiar but he couldn't remember his name for some reason. He would ask eventually but he wanted to know if this dude was okay first.

Phoenix Harrison Toros was not used to being quite so ungraceful.

Okay that was a lie, but really, at least he could usually stay upright.

AND WHAT ABOUT HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE???!!!

"Yeah... I'm alright... is my nose okay?" Phe squinted his eyes to try and see, but that didn't exactly help. So instead he settled for brushing dirt off his knees and checking nothing was ripped... Nope. He was good. Phew. That was a relief. This jacket was expensive, yo.

Kace looked at his nose and it seemed fine to him. There was nothing broken or anything. "Yeah mate your nose looks fine." he squinted just to double check and nothing looked out of place. "I am Kace by the way." he smirked because this is not how he usually met people for the first time but this is something he would remember. "But my question is can you move your nose? It doesn't hurt too much?" he asked because it could look fine but it could be hurting. Had to be safe ya know?

Why was she surprised. He paused trying to decide if he should explain further or leave it there. But for some reason he felt like keeping this conversation going."Not to be rude, but my endurance level differs from ... say yours," Just a random example. "So if I consider it simple it doesn't necessarily mean it's simple according to you as well," See his point.

Yeah he didn't understand half the things she just said. He did hear about Ravenclaws and their tongues and brains. "Technically I'd have been saved by magic," Pause. "But yeah preformed by a girl," He shrugged showing that it didn't annoy him .... much.

Glancing at the tree he started considering the possibilities and the scenarios. He wasn't in Gryffindor for a reason, so he wasn't just going to barge in. "I wouldn't mind giving it a shot," Probably not his best decision.

Evie didn't think he was rude, she just thought he was very mistaken and had the poor misfortune to be so underestimating. "But you don't know me at all," she challenged, stepping closer to where he was. "So, how do you know that you're better than me?" Hmm? She would like to know that.

Yeah, saved by magic performed by a girl. She didn't want to have to spell it out for him.

.... He wouldn't mind giving it a shot? Evie raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, go on then." She wanted to see this endurance of his and see if it was really all he made it out to be.

Some time alone. This was what Adi needed. Being alone meant he didn't have to put on his happy face all the time. Benny had done his best multiple times to make him laugh and it all had worked. It was just that whenever he saw or thought of AJ he got depressed again. Adi didn't want to hurt his best friend by being sad around him. That would make the Gryffindor feel as though none of his efforts worked.

With him, the Puffer had brought his Ancient Runes text book and he had every intention of studying for a bit but right now he was plagued by thoughts of AJ. He missed her so much.

Sighing, he made himself comfortable on a patch of grass then flipped open his book to a random page. Isa Rune popped out at him but that was all he saw before a smiling AJ appeared in his mind.

Greeeeat. He couldn't concentrate. With another sigh, he miserably flopped onto his back and closed his eyes. When did life get so complicated?

"I said nothing about better." He was almost certain. "Me being stronger doesn't make me better than anyone," Other things did, though. Like his charm and mind, in his opinion. But certainly not his social skills. "But you're correct I don't know you," She could be really strong, totally possible.

Ookay, the time for words was up. Time for action.

Dante rolled up his sleeves out of habit and eyed the closest branches. It didn't take long for him to make a choice on what direction to approach it from. Without hesitation he took a couple of fast steps closer. Then a huge trunk was flying his way so he immediately ducked and scuttled out of the way to avoid two other ones in a fast motion. See, he had good reflexes, he forgot to brag about those.

Being the arrogant person that he was, he took the chance to turn to the girl, whose name he didn't know yet and flash his teeth in a smirk-y smile. Which was the exact moment he was hit from behind by a huge trunk and was sent rolling closer to the Ravenclaw girl and away from the tree.

This boy thought he was pretty impressive. Which he could have been, sure, but all Evie could see was him trying to talk himself up to her. The way he talked made him sound like he was trying too hard. But who was she to judge?

.... Wait.

He was actually going to do it? Evie raised an eyebrow, her arms still crossed over her chest, ready to watch the next few seconds of excitement. Or embarrassment, on his part. To her surprise, he actually dodged a few large branches. His reflexes were indeed impressive. But she knew his mistake before the repercussions even happened. In a split second, just as Evie was opening her mouth to warn the boy, he was suddenly down on the ground and rolling towards her.

Evie stared at the boy laying at her feet for a moment to see if he would get up. Then she knelt down and prodded his shoulder. "Hello?" Was he passed out? DEAD? What would her father think of her schooling experience now if Hogwarts had turned her into a MURDERER?

Let's face it, life without Adi just wasn't worth living. After their fight, things just hadn't been the same. She wasn't her usual happy self, and her grades were suffering. She was pretty much a walking zombie. In fact the other day AJ had almost taken Lux completely out without even realizing it. Who does that? Adi was wrong, and she was wrong. AJ was okay with admitting that now. All she knew was that she had to find her boyfriend and make it right. Things had to be fixed or else she wouldn't be able to function.

How was she going to go about getting him to meet her? She had blown him off in practically every class since the fight. Maybe he didn't want to make it work with her anymore. Maybe he had moved on. That thought made a shiver run down her spine. The kind of feeling after you just missed an accident. No, that couldn't be true.

She made her way down to the grounds and hoped that she could clear her head and come up with some sort of game plan. Planning ahead of time wasn't really her thing, but she needed to get her thoughts together if nothing else.

The bridge was a good place to go and think. It was their place, but she just couldn't. It would hurt to sit there and think about happier times that weren't spent at the bridge. Just as she was about to turn around and just go back to the castle she saw someone laying down by the willow. That was Adi. She would know that form anywhere.

Her heart beat sped up, and she decided it was now or never. Walking over to him she took a deep breath in. "Hey, you..."

Maybe he should just pick himself up and bury his bespectacled face in that textbook? Yes, that would be best. "In three seconds,'' Adi thought to himself. "One... two... three...'' Three seconds passed and the Huffleuff could still be found on the ground on his back, his eyes still closed. He had NO motivation what so ever.

All he could think about was how he and AJ had had a good thing going and then he blew it. Well, it wasn't all his fault. This could have been over ages ago but AJ was too stubborn.

Ugh! He needed to pull himself together. Moping over AJ wouldn't get him through OWLs. But then wait... "Oh no. I'm hearing her voice now." Is this what it was like to go mad? Thinking about someone endlessly and then hearing their voices? He was imagining things. Or so he thought.

Boy did Adi look bad. Was she that bad too without even noticing it? Goodness, they needed to make up and get back to the way they were. This was stupid. It was her fault that this had gone on for as long as it had. Why did she always have to be so difficult. It should be different with Adi. This fight had taught her that, and one thing was for sure... she would never let things get this out of control with somebody that she loved so much.

Adi still wasn't realizing that she was actually there in the flesh, and she couldn't bare to look at him in that pitiful state any longer. AJ felt the same way he did. The only difference was that Adi wore his feelings on his sleeve and AJ was more of a suffer in silence type.

This was ending right now. AJ plopped down on her stomach beside Adi. She used her hands to prop her head up. There was no going back now. Her face leaned in close to his ear. "Boo!" No Adi, this wasn't the ghost of AJ.

Silence.

See? Adi knew he was imagining things. Now he could mope in peace, yeah? Maybe a doze would help him to feel better. It was quiet here and hopefully no one would come to disturb him. Mhmm... a doze did sound good.

But he became aware of unexpected movement beside him. Oh greaaat. He hadn't even drifted off as yet and someone was there to bother him. Sigh. His eyes remained closed, hoping the person would go away. That is, they remained closed until the ghost like greeting came about quite close to his ear.

His eyes flicked open as he turned his face to see AJ. Oh. So he hadn't been imagining things. Adi was taken aback by AJ being there. Wasn't she mad at him?

"Uh... hi. Did I do something wrong again?" Probably that was why she was there. To confront him for something. The thought made him feel as though he had been impaled.

He still wasn't opening up his eyes, and it pained her to know that she was the reason for her. Adi was always a super happy go lucky kind of guy and now he wasn't. Not at all. This kind of behavior was foreign to him. This was going to be difficult. Not that she really expected it to be easy.

Finally his eyes were open, and she wondered how he was going to react. AJ had actual butterflies in her belly and...

Oh.

That wasn't the kind of welcome she was expecting. Granted, she wasn't expecting him to welcome her with open arms since she was the one who made in clear she wasn't speaking to him, but she did expect a different greeting.

"I dunno. Did you?" No, AJ. This was the exact kind of thing that was going to get them fighting all over again. Why did she always have to be so stubborn? Another deep breath was taken, and she looked at her boyfriend. "I came to talk to you." If that part wasn't obvious.

Adi could see from AJ's face that his greeting took her by surprise. Gosh, she was so beautiful. Did she know that? Well, yeah... he told her that tons of times. He didn't want to look away but her reply pushed him to do it.

Looking up at the sky, which he could now do without the glare and light hurt his eyes and in turn his head, he said in a tight voice. "I don't have the energy for another fight.'' And this one wasn't even over. Besides, he hadn't done anything as he kept to himself and only really talked to Benny.

"Well, that's a surprise, Adi continued. "The only time you were willing to talk to me was when you needed help in Arithmancy. Did you know how much it hurt when you blew me off in Astronomy?'' And in Transfiguration... he missed having a chance to help her. But he hadn't bothered to ask her if she needed help. She probably would have said no anyway.

Sitting here this closely to him and with it just being the two of them made her want to just hug him tightly and to put everything behind them. Then he looked away, and AJ regretted being short with him, but what did he expect? He had a right to be defensive after everything that had happened. She was here trying to make things right. Did he have to be so cold?

"I didn't come here for a fight." If that was what she wanted then she would have come over here with a totally different attitude and she sure wouldn't have plopped herself down beside him like she did. "Please look at me."

Annnd there he went, again. Maybe she shouldn't have blown him off, but there were things that he shouldn't have done either. Her hands weren't the only ones that were dirty. "Do you know how much it hurt me when you lost your cool with me after you tell me that your own mother doesn't want us together?" Because she could play that game too.