Kace titled his head and furrowed his brows. He wondered if she was okay? "Are you alright? I didn't mean to startle you. I didn't mean to make you nervous." he said. He wondered how her and Ethan were doing. "Oh I have been good..." he said answering her question. "I mean I am studying for my NEWTS. That is like such a challenge because my attention span is hard enough to keep focused as it is." he grinned. He took in the scenery and took out his books from his backpack and began to skim through his textbooks.

"What subject you studying for?" he asked just to keep the conversation going.

Josette quickly nodded her head when he had asked if she was alright. But then she shook her head no when he was apologizing to her. "O-Oh, no it's alright. Y-You hadn't meant t-to..I-I'm fine.." The brunette smiled before she nodded once again to confirm that she was alright. She listened as he told her how he was doing, which involved studying for his NEWTs just like Ethan had told her he was doing also. Josette smiled back at him when he had mentioned how he was struggling to focus because of his attention span.

She had to think, "Um, I've been studying f-for Ancient R-Runes..B-But I'm having a b-bit of trouble with T-Transfiguration.." That wasn't one of her best classes to be honest. It was giving her a bit of stress.

Kace didn't believe it one bit. I mean she was still stuttering but he was going to let it go. He was just gonna let the poor girl be. Aaah so she had a little trouble in Transfiguration? He could help her with that. "Well what do you need help with on that? Do you need help with theories or like wand movements and such?" I mean maybe she could mention which spell to work on. "How are you and Ethan doing by the way?" he asked. He needed to bring it up.

She laughed and shook her head. He was pretending, yes? She could not did not push him that hard. "There are probably a lot of things you don't know about me." Leah said mysteriously. She wanted to know more about Jackson too, like his family, what he hated, any allergies. Basically everything.

Why was he doubtful towards her compliment? Leah smiled and explained, "You were pretty awesome in the first lesson of the year." Maybe it was just his acting that was good. Nevertheless, he was a cool Loki. "Tell me about your former school." Leah did not know much about schools for performing arts and was always interested in learning more about them. To be honest, she would go to one herself, but she loved Hogwarts too much for that to happen.

Yeah, this was going to be awkward. She wondered why said it in the first place. It was obviously cold. And then there were arms around her. Warmth surged in her as she felt herself blush. "Yeah, much better." She whispered. Leah shifted slightly and after a hesitant moment, leaned her head on his shoulder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nanyjj

She laughed and shook her head. He was pretending, yes? She could not did not push him that hard. "There are probably a lot of things you don't know about me." Leah said mysteriously. She wanted to know more about Jackson too, like his family, what he hated, any allergies. Basically everything.

Why was he doubtful towards her compliment? Leah smiled and explained, "You were pretty awesome in the first lesson of the year." Maybe it was just his acting that was good. Nevertheless, he was a cool Loki. "Tell me about your former school." Leah did not know much about schools for performing arts and was always interested in learning more about them. To be honest, she would go to one herself, but she loved Hogwarts too much for that to happen.

Yeah, this was going to be awkward. She wondered why said it in the first place. It was obviously cold. And then there were arms around her. Warmth surged in her as she felt herself blush. "Yeah, much better." She whispered. Leah shifted slightly and after a hesitant moment, leaned her head on his shoulder.

There are probably a lot of things you don't know about me

She was right. He didn't know much personal things about her. And of course he was interested to know more about this Puff girl. "Hmm..." The Korean muttered. "Yeah, I don't know much about you. It's sad, isn't it?" Sad? Why it's so sad, Jackson? "Well, maybe I only know that you... like cauldron cakes. Just that." She was the one who introduced him to cauldron cakes. And it seemed like she liked any kinds of sweets but cauldron cakes was more specifically. "Maybe uh... Let's start with your birthday? And uh... your family and also what do you like to do to lighten up your mood." Such a good start huh? Once she answered that, he'd gonna tell her his answer.

He was good at first lesson? Thanks for the drama that Botros had assigned to them. "Uhm... But still. it doesn't make me good in runes." Jackson said. And she wanted to know about Kirin! Jackson still missed that school but for now he really enjoyed Hogwarts. "It's not as big and old as Hogwarts. In Kirin we still get common lessons in the morning and uh,,, the performing classes after the lunch. We learn to act, sing, play music, and also dance there. Every year there's a festival and we have to perform there and last year, before I moved here, my class performed The Three Musketeers drama and I... was D'Artagnan. Have you heard about the story, by the way?" If not, he could lend her the books, if she was interested to read about that of course.

Jackson didn't know why on earth he decided to gave her a hug. Well, she did say that she felt cold and of course he had to do something to make her warm, right? But maybe... he should've lend her his coat or scarf. But... Hey! Leah did like his hug because she didn't refuse it and instead, she rested her head on his shoulder. She should know that Jackson Hwang was a good hugger. Hehehe. He realized that his heart beating faster. Oh no... What did it mean?

There was a tree by the lake that had books in it. BOOKS! The idea was that if you took a book out you should put one in to replace the one you were taking. It was like a little tiny library in a tree. They needed one of these things in the Ravenclaw common room if they didn't already have one. Actually, they should have more everywhere. It wasn't as good as the actual library, but maybe they could get a pretty good book exchange system going. That would be cool. She should talk to Mr. Kitridge about this idea. Did they have any books that looked interesting? If she found a book that she wanted to read, she would have to leave a book. Penelope always had books with her, but many of them were textbooks and school library books, and it would not be okay to leave any of those sort of books here. What she needed was one of her own books, but not one that she was currently reading. Did she have a book that she could give? If she didn't have one with her she might have one in her dorm, but it was a very very long walk back to Ravenclaw tower from here. Maybe she should just go to the library later.

Angel was just looking around, she had been around this tree loads but she had never seen books in it before, how didn't the books get wet? Angel was really confused about it all. She looked around and suddenly saw her friend Penny, she hadn't seen her for ages or so it felt like.

"Hey." Angel smiled as she gave her friend a nudge, she hoped that she didn't scare her or anything. "How have you been?" Angel thought she might as well ask it even though she felt she knew the answer, the cobwebs were getting everywhere and she was surprised the grass wasn't over growing.

Merlin, Grindelwald, Harry Potter, He was alive. Alive and breathing. Damien had never felt so thankful for the oxygen in his lungs, the blood pumping through his veins and for the very real feeling of the wet grass he was laying on and the cold early spring air that swept over his unmoving form.

He couldn't believe they'd gotten free from the chamber and whatever had been hidden deep within, those inky black shapes that had taken poor Lux and poor Cinna - A pang of guilt, acute and deep in his chest struck him at the thought of the two best friends and how they'd been dragged off, kicking and screaming. They needed to do something, grab someone and tell them what happened, surely the Professors would do something about this.

They had to.

They. Had To.

He looked sharply to his side as Evie spoke, blue eyes taking in her features with concern. "I'm- I'm fine." He said dismissively. "Are you okay?" He asked, sitting up. "We- We need to find someone. Make sure you're okay, I'll get help." Damien moved, trying to stand but his leg protested, the pain shooting through him and making him yelp.

"Holy, Holy... " He bit down on his lip, sinking back down into a sitting position, not daring to move quickly, least he further injure himself.

"I'm fine. I'm not half as bad as you." His leg looked a lot worse than her arm. If Evie's arm hurt half as bad as Damien's, she knew standing up wasn't going to be an easy task for him. And she knew even more when he came back down to the ground in pain. Without hesitating, Evie took off her sweater and carefully pulled up the remnants of Damien's pant leg. She got out her wand and cleaned it up the best she could, muttering an apology for the pain it might cause. And then she took her sweater and wrapped it around his leg tightly, using a couple sticking charms to keep it tight and secure.

As for helping the others (if they hadn't been eaten yet)... "We'll both get help," she said in reply. Evie was fine. Her arm hurt like hell, she was tired, sore, and scared and her stomach was in knots, but she was fine. Fine enough.

Keeping her injured arm to her side, Evie pulled herself up to her feet and held out her hand for Damien. "Try again? We'll get help and then we'll go to the Healer." Whatever they did, they should hurry so A) those girls didn't die, and B) their limbs didn't catch disease and fall off.

You know what made him happy? A tree full of apples. That's what Maddox had walked into when he strayed a little from the pathways earlier and after helping himself to a good few from the tree it was time to head back to the castle.

Sure the fresh air was lovely but it was also riddled with children, children that almost always found a reason why he couldn't just curl up on his cushy pillow and nap away the afternoon.

Not today. As far as he could, he was avoiding the little buggers. No 'he broke my wand', no 'she copied my homework' and most certainly no 'we almost got killed'. All very common themes at Hogwarts but none he was willing to tackle on a full stomach...it just didn't seem possible at the moment as proven by the slow waltz like stroll he was taking along the shore of the lake on his way back to the castle.

Would this go any faster if he was a cat?

Angel was in a fun and happy mood today, now all she had to do was figure out was to do with the happiness that she was feeling if Benny had been here she would have totally been throwing a massive party, which reminded her, she still had that one to arrange with Hady, she hoped that they could get to it soon because she knew it would be epic, she really hoped her sisters could make it because they both were fun and interesting.

He wasn't going to argue that, his leg was probably much worst, but it didn't matter about the severity, it simply mattered that she was hurt. Damien hissed with pain as Evie cleaned and dressed his messed up leg, but he said nothing except a small, muttered word of thanks.

"Okay, together." He said, relief flooding through him, right now, being alone was the last thing he wanted, he was still very much shaken up after all and having someone every that he needed to be strong for helped him keep calm.

Damien watched her, his eyes on her arm, guilt flooding through him again as he saw the way she held it close. He should have told her no, not taken the dare and suggested they go to the library or somewhere equally as safe and quiet, then maybe Lux and Cinna wouldn't have found the entrance and he and Evie would be whole and safe too. He took her hand, slowly getting to his feet, gingerly putting wait on his mangled limb. It still stung, but it wasn't as bad as before. "Thanks, Evie... " He softly said, still holding her hand.

"We better get going and fin-"

MADDOX, PROFESSOR MADDOX. THE GODS HAD FINALLY SMILED UPON HIM.

"PROFESSOR!! PROFESSOR! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!" Damien called out, hobbling down the path and toward the Professor who seemed to be taking a nice, leisurely walk. Merlin, please let him help them.

Evie was all business. They had stuff to do. Hufflepuffs to save. She helped pull Damien up with her good arm and noticed that he kept her hand in his. It was comforting, which is what she needed right now. She couldn't have imagined doing that alone and she was glad Damien had been with her. Glad that he was still with her then, too. Evie squeezed the boy's hand when he thanked her. She was thinking about what to say when Damien suddenly started shouting across the grounds. Her eyes lit up and widened and focused on the image of Professor Maddox several yards away. Oh, Merlin.

"MADDOX!!" Evie shouted, joining Damien. But the situation was urgent and Evie let go of Damien's hand to run towards the professor, new hope and adrenaline pumping through her veins. "Maddox!" she shouted again as she approached the professor, clinging her injured arm to her side. "You have to help," she exclaimed, already gasping for air again. Her stomach was churning. Evie's words were quick and hurried, but probably mostly sensible. "There's something in the Chamber! It attacked us and I think it took Lux and somebody else." SO, LIKE, HELP PLEASE?

PROFESSOR IT'S AN EMERGENCY!

Maddox! Maddox!

Emergency.

"Just keep walking Maddox. You don't hear them." The Charms Professor muttered to himself as he held his head straight for a moment, now convinced everything would be easier if he was a cat. No one talked to cats--though Miss Shacklebolt did that first lesson. He would be safe. He would bolt back to his office before they even saw him transform. It was the perfect plan in truth and the man was all set for it...until he actually saw the children.

Dammit this is why he didn't want to look. Mister Belfort he could have...probably...pretended not to see but now Miss Shacklebolt was right there and--hang on.

"What?" Ravenclaw say what now? Blue eyes shifted between the girl and her friend who was steadily hobbling over. What....how...wh--"They--it--whatever took someone?????" Miss Carrington. Always the Hufflepuff, Merlin.

"Did either of you see what is was? Where it went??--The bloody hell were you both doing down there in the first place??" He rubbed at his face, wondering HOW students ALWAYS seemed to find SOME WAY of getting near killed. It was remarkable really. "Just....just start from the top, quickly." Oh Merlin, oh Merlin, oh Merlin. They had to move fast.

She chose not to answer the question, seeing that it was more a rhetorical one. It certainly was sad that they did not know much about each other despite their half a year long friendship and possibly something more than that, but it was not too late to try. The brunette could not help but laugh at his confession. "I'm glad you know THAT at least." Jackson had to buy Leah lots of cauldron cakes now that he knew her unusual liking for the sweet. "Hmm. My birthday is April 14th. I am an only child and my family just includes my father and mother. What else? Oh, I like singing … I'm probably not as good as you though." She added, embarrassed, and looked towards him for his answer.

Leah half-smiled. She did not have much to say because she was not a runes expert herself. She leaned forward excitedly, eager to hear what the school - Kirin - was like. The Three Musketeers? A wondering look might have appeared on her face at the words. It might be a Muggle thing. "No, what is it about?" She asked.

Jackson was a good hugger. She instantly felt warmer, but maybe it was just her face burning. A silent moment followed and she straightened up, thinking that the boy might be feeling uncomfortable. She glanced at him with a shy smileee.

Adi had it allllllll set up, picnic style. It was his girlfriend's birthday and he wanted it to be perfect so he had told her to meet him down by the Lake at a specific time though he himself had come down much earlier to get everything ready. For this, he had enlisted the help of the House elves because it involved food. Of course it did. Like he had told AJ's dad over the holidays, AJ could never stop eating.

There was a colourful cake with 'Happy birthday to the Most Awesome girl in the World!' written atop it, complete with a lopsided unicorn drawn in icing. He had PURPOSELY let the elves made the elves do the unicorn lopsided because it reminded him of the one AJ had drawn on her name tag for the seminar with Apollo. Hehe.

Then there was tacos. No celebration for AJ was complete without those. Nooope! Chocolate Frogs and her favourite drink were also included. Adi sat on the blanket, his feet crossed. All he needed now was his baby girl.

What day is today? Today is MY birthday. What day is today... AJ hummed this to herself to a beat she completely made up all the way down to where Adi had asked her to meet him. For once she was early because she was excited to spend some alone time with her boyfriend, and FOOD. That was going to happen. She just knew it.

As she made her way down, she noticed the spread Adi had going. Oh my goodness...

She ran the rest of the way down and beamed at him. "Adiiii..." LOOK AT THE LOPSIDED UNICORN! "All this for me?" She was starting to bounce a bit. "This is great." She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

Could they dig in now?

All he needed was his girlfr- THERE SHE WAS! Adi had looked up when he heard his name. He immediately jumped up from the blanket to hug AJ. "No, it's for the Unicorn overlord,'' he said with a whole lot of seriousness. But he grinned at the kiss and returned a nice, big, quick one. MWAH! "Happy birthday, baby!'' Cue another squishy hug from him before he pulled her down beside him.

"Fifteen. You're getting old. You'll be needing a walking stick soon.'' Bahahaha! When he was with AJ, he just seemed to joke a whole lot more and he knew that was because she would always play along. Like during Divination when Bob had been 'stolen'.

Anyyywho. The cake was first, yes? Good thing it wasn't too windy out here. Two candles which read '15' were already stuck to the cake next to the unicorn which he lit. "You know what to do.'' The Hufflepuff kept grinning. Oh right! He needed to sing the birthday song, didn't he?

"Happy birthday to yooooou, happy birthday to yooooou, happy birthday to my Unicorn girl, haaaappy birthday to yooooou!'' He should have brought his guitar. Ah, well. He bet AJ didn't mind anyway.

Exiting the Chamber through the secret passageway, a small herd of arachnid quickly scurried along the edge of the lake towards the castle to be reunited with the first wave of their siblings in Mother's plan.

Damien was never more glad to have been abandoned. His leg, even with the makeshift bandage, was still not cooperating and he definitely couldn't run ( earlier it had been different, adrenaline and all that), and he felt like practically cheering Evie on as the girl rushed forward to meet Maddox.

He followed at his own pace, just making it in time to see the Professor rubbing his face and hear his questions. The thought that they might be in trouble flashed through his mind, but he pushed that aside, there were more important things to focus on. "Professor, it was something Big, and they spoke, and they were insanely fast, Had to be hundreds of them!" Damien quickly explained the words running out of his mouth faster than water runs from a faucet. Start from the top, start from the top???? THERE WAS NO TIME FOR THAT. Lux and Cinna could have been being.. His stomach lurched and Damien could not finish the thought.

"We were in the girls' bathroom, the chamber opened and we jumped in, it was just me and Evie, sir, and all of a sudden- Voices, Freakin' Voices, everywhere and something grabbed Lux and Cinna, Professor, we have to go and save them, T-they-" He run a hand through his hair. "Evie's been injured, I think- I think something bit me,"

He was beginning to feel nauseous and a little light headed, he wasn't sure if that was from the bite or from the situation, he hoped it wasn't the bite or scratch, whatever the hell it was. "Professor, what do we do?" Because regardless of how he felt, he was not going anywhere.

"That would be me," she said with a laugh. It really was pretty much the same thing. "Thank you." Annnnd now she was beaming. Well, more so than she was before. Her cheeks would be hurting any minute now, but that didn't matter when there was cake to be inhaled.

As she was pulled down, she made herself comfy next to the boyfriend. Here Adi was thinking that she was getting old while AJ was thinking that she was FINALLY getting away from everything thinking she was a child. Oh, the different ways people looked at things. "I'll just borrow your cane since you are so much older than me." She could play that game too.

Oh yes. She sure did know what to do. But first...

AH. There it was. AJ's eyes never left his as he sang her the infamous birthday song. "Nicely done." Now to make a wish. Yup, she knew what that would be. The fourth year leaned over and blew hard. The candles didn't stand a chance.

Adi feigned a look of surprise. "But, but, buuuut the Unicorn overlord is a DUDE not my girlfriend,'' he teased. Though he could really see AJ being an overlord... overlady? "What does that make me then? Deputy overlord?'' And noooo, peeps. Adi never minded coming in second to AJ. "Anything for you.''

Okay, he couldn't help but give a hearty laugh at THAT. "I just may have to modify it before I can lend you. See, mine has all this manly Hippogriff stuff so I'll need to make it all girly before you can have it.'' LOL! His baby and girly stuff? Riiiight. Adi wouldn't have it any other way.

N'aww. He was right. AJ didn't seem to mind he was just singing without the guitar. He held her gaze until she was ready to blow out the candles. "What did you wish for?'' he asked casually, now removing the candles and reaching for a knife. A healthy slice was cut for the birthday girl and placed on a plate with a fork. "For you.''

Oh! He almost forgot! "I got you something.'' Adi reached into the basket to pull out a snow globe. In it was a little girl patting a baby unicorn. This was totally AJ, yes?