Henric chuckled,"Yeah...I don't think she mind, she never listens to me anyway, this rebel here always likes to do what she wants and escaping is one of them." Strange, Princess didn't jump out from his hands when Lux or llia was petting her. Now...you're acting all docile now..huh...making me the bad guy again. He shook his head at his pet Princess,"I guess she likes you too, Princess usually jumps away if I tried to hold her like this..."he explained.

Henric nodded his head,"Yeah,if you're talking about the same Adi,the Hufflepuff prefect, yes...you can say that,"he grinned. Henric thought his relationship with Adi was like Tom & Jerry in a way, constant teasing and trouble-making but it wouldn't feel the same if Adi wasn't around in his life. That reminded him, when would he slip the new ton-tongue chocolate flavoured toffees in Adi's bag...maybe he would partner up with him during their next lesson.*evilgrins*

"My forth year? I really like it so far...the lessons are getting better and better each term, I'm looking forward for Care of Magical Creatures class especially,"Henric replied, smiling."And you must be Lux, right?"he asked her. He heard Adi often called her name at their hufflepuff house table, so that was how he learnt her name. But he didn't know what year she was from.

The Badger was halfway through her way back to the corridor when she heard a voice. HER voice. Except... she sounded worried. Huh. Slytherins and their sarcasm. It was actually worth learning. Just not like right now. Forcing a smile onto her face, Leah turned around to face Ilia.

"Hey ILIA. Oh, I'm okay. O.W.L.s are stressing me out, y'know. The usual," she shrugged. Great, now that she had started a conversation, she could not leave and be alone. It was like a Hufflepuff thing. So she walked back to the Fourth Year and looked at her for a moment before saying casually, "How are you and Henric?"

Kace chuckled and Emmy didn't understand about Kansas winters. I mean she would just have to experience it for herself. Aahh so Cinna was going home. Well least Emmy didn't know what she was doing. It wasn't set in stone. "Well you know I might go home, might not depending on what you wanna do." he told her and held her hand and squeezed it. "I mean if I did it on other people that would be awkward.." he shrugged and was chuckling a little bit. He chuckled at how adorable Emmy was. "Yes I can tell Emmy and I can even notice when you use your shampoo. It always smells delightful." he smiled and he wasn't being creepy at all. Nope he wasn't.

He began to eat the desert he packed and began to enjoy it. Yummmyy he was glad he stopped by the house elves before he made plans for the picnic with Emmy. The food was always good. "What is your one wish for this christmas?" he asked and snuggled closer to her.

"My mum is the BEST!" That was a fact to James, not opinion. Wait, we? His eyes widened a little. "Are YOU half blood?" Oh, BATMAN. "I love Batman! His bike is SUPER COOL. Oh, he wanted one SO BAD. Maybe one day he'd be able to do cool stuff with a bike like Batman.

His eyes lit up at the prefect saying Torie sounded fun. So they COULD have fun? GREAT! HA! "I don't mind trouble. I like trouble sometimes. Torie is really good at thinking up pranks and sneaky things." Mhmm. "I'm good at planning it." Mostly... so he could get away with it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sarahlooo

Element of surprise, riiiiiight, that's what it was. "Either that or you're just too Slytheriny to admit you're a pansy." Oooooop. Evie gave him a teasing grin, definitely, totally teasing, which she enjoyed to do to her friends. Him particularly because he made it rather easy...

If vampires took over the school? Evie was pretty sure there were about 5,000 security precautions that would prevent that, including the school's Board of Governors AND the Ministry of Magic. Plus, they had the protective wards around the school, so even if they tried to sneak in, they probably couldn't. Although, the thought of meeting a vampire was PRETTY cool to Evie. "Well, in the event that that happens," Evie said, tossing her hair over her shoulder, "feel free. But for now, good luck." She was pretty safe.

She laughed before he even finished his sentence. "I believe you, Caleb. What I don't believe is ninety-eight percent of what the aparecium says. I just wanted to see what you'd do if I pulled your hair." And what he did is got defensive and used his prefect power to compensate for something that wasn't even real. It was actually kind of cute. His Slytherinness was cute. "Besides, you'd have to be desperate to send Cutty to do your dirty work. He wouldn't do it without a price." A LARGE price. She knew that for a fact.

He grinned. "Nope, I would totally admit that - if it were true. It depends on the situation too. If there's a lethifold after me, I am a TOTAL pansy, feel free to protect me while I run and hide," Caleb added with a chuckle. It took a REAL man to admit that you were a complete and total coward in some situations. He wasn't some stupid GRYFFINDOR who would just RUN into situations like that and get himself killed. He was smarter than that. "Also, could you NOT tell people I don't have the power to issue detention? The fear of it being a possibility helps my reputation," he added with a wink.

Nevermind that probably over half the school knew he COULDN'T get detention. He just didn't want the other half to catch on.

"I hardly even LOOK at that thing. Mainly I scan it for Sophie's name to make sure she's staying out of trouble," he added with a small chuckle. He was totally serious, though. OR if something was totally made up about his twin - well, he was going to go on a hunt to see who was behind the ridiculous paper, and they would PAY. "But when I glimpsed my name, I read the whole thing. But yeah, Cutty is way out of my price range if I were REALLY doing that," he added with a grin. Although Cutty seemed to have a weird fascination with getting Caleb to loosen up and have fun - maybe he WOULD have done something like that for free if he knew it would help his friend relax a bit? Hmmm. It was an interesting social experiment...What Would Cutty Do? Hmmmm.

Why did she.........sound so weird? Her smile looked off too. Masking her problems? Ilia supposed that was probably right. She had a feeling it was something more than simply her O.W.L.s , because she had been having that stress for awhile. "I'm sorry to hear that." She gave Leah a polite smile. If she didn't want to talk about it, Ilia supposed it really wasn't her concern.

She knew her expression had changed, however, when Leah asked her an odd question. Why would she phrase it that way and.....they were in the same house. Why was Leah asking her? "I am doing fine." As fine as could be expected she supposed. "I only saw Henric this morning for a moment, but he seemed ok?" It was his turn to have parental bonding time with Princess and he seemed his normal self. Had she seen him after Ilia had? "Is something wrong?" Why....wouldn't she just ask Henric herself? She didn't see Leah as the kind of person to not say something if Henric were not ok.

Aw! It seemed James had an attachment to his mother, just like Adi. Though although at the moment he wasn’t feeling that way as he had wanted to get away from her. Mercifully he had but that didn’t stop her countless owls practically every day. He was expecting a Howler any day. But back to his Puffer. “Yup, I am. Everyone except mom had magical blood. She was a Gryffindor.’’ And, and, annnnd James liked Batman toooo! “You do?’’ Adi instantly struck the pose where Batman would rest his hands on his waist and said in a deeeeep voice, “I’m Batman!’’ Hehe.

“So you guys basically work as a team?” Adi liked the sound of this! One of them thinking up the ideas and the other planning it. What FUN! “The three of us should brainstorm up something sometime.’’ SMIIIIIRK! Nothing to see here, folks! Just a Puffer planning… er, things with a fellow Puffer.

Oooh, Princess Diana was a rebel, huh. "She sounds like my cat, Arya. She likes to be naughty sometimes and run off. That's when the seize and pull charm comes in handy." Lux gave Henric a wink. Not like it HURT the little thing, and she was a pretty good sport about it, thinking it was part of some game. "I'm sure she likes you a lot! Maybe she just wants to play!" It was hard to tell with toads, because Lux was not very familiar with them. "Isn't that right, Princess Diana."

Yep, they were thinking of the same Adi. Lux only knew of one Adi at Hogwarts! "Yeah, we are good friends." Smile. "This term is great so far. Nothing weird or creepy happened so far." And that in itself made things more wonderful. "Care of Magical Creatures is wonderful, but then so are all classes. Especially potions!" Now that was the subject she felt happiest with, and most at ease. "Yes, I am Lux! I am a Sixth Year!" Like Adi.

Henric chuckled when Lux mentioned her cat. Oh right...the pulling charm...he should have thought of that instead of running around like a mad man in order to catch his toad. Henric was so used to his muggle ways, he tend to forget he could use magic anywhere as long they were in the school grounds. Silly him..."Oh yeah, you're right...it will certainly come in handy the next time, I wouldn't have to bump my head onto the parkbench too,"he laughed. Henric glanced down on his co-owned pet toadette, did the little bugger just winked back at Lux?! Playing nice and obedient toad again...really...Princess deserved an award for best acting toadette of the year, he thought amusingly.Henric shrugged,"It depends on her mood too, I guess...toads are quite temperamental creatures and are selective of their food choices..." Henric read this somewhere before...

Anyways, back to Lux. Oh she and Adi were good friends, ahh...but who was the Gryffindor girl who was always with her too? He couldn't remember her name, was she Adi's girlfriend? Oh he knew about it,alright...everyone talked in school.He should ask Adi about it, but they never seemed to get around the topic because...you know...it was not something guys talked about to each other especially feelings and such.Hmm...maybe he should ask him for advice regarding girls....Henric face reddened at the thought...ermm...maybe not...

"Yeah...I hope there is nothing weird happen this term...but I can't guarantee it...I don't know about you but there is always something going on in Hogwarts, we just don't know it yet,"Henric told her. It was true though, his past three terms had been eventful thus far.

"Oh,you're in sixth year..wow...so you must had already taken your O.W.Ls last term too, how was it?"Henric asked her.He was in his forth and he was curious how she handled the examinations.

It was nice to know that her idea would save him from getting hit on the head again in the future. That must hurt a fair bit, but he really did seem to be okay which was fortunate. "That's very true! Sometimes my pets can be really moody. Arya has scratched and bit me before." Not very nice, but she did behave more now that she wasn't a kitten anymore. "At least my Pygmy Puff isn't moody. He's always happy." She loved her little Toffy and carried him in her pocket all the time.

Noticing his face reddening suddenly, Lux wondered if Henric was okay after all?? She wasn't sure what was wrong with talking about a mutual friend. "Is everything alright?" Because if there was something wrong with his head after all, she could take him to Healer Murdoch.

"Oh, yes. It can be AWFUL here. The worst was when the Chorts invaded the forest." That demon was still lucky that she hadn't had a chance to kill it because it would have so been on. Too bad they had been dismissed from school before she got the chance. "So far all we have to worry about is Aparecium articles." Did anyone actually believe them? Lux didn't think so...though she had to admit that they COULD be entertaining to read at times. Sometimes she liked to wonder who wrote for them.

The conversation moved to OWLs, and they were much more pleasant to talk about now that she had completed hers. "Well, some were definitely harder than others, but they aren't too bad so long as you study a lot!" And by that she meant devoting most of the term to preparation.

Oh, so Mr. Tough Prefect was NOT tough? Perhaps that was something Evie had made up, but Caleb always seemed like the kind of guy who would take down bullies or someone that ticked him off. And maybe he was, but apparently not when it came to Lethifolds. Evie laughed. "Sorry, but I won't be the one protecting you. I'm running." She was good at magic, but when it came to fight-or-flight, she was probably going to lean more towards flight.

And she laughed again at his wink. "Hate to burst your bubble, but I'm pretty sure everyone over thirteen knows you can't actually issue detention." But at least he had the first and second years fooled and scared.

"Sooooooooooooooooooo... You're friends with Cutty?" It was an assumption. A curious assumption. She was just wanting to know, purely out of curiosity.

So it was just his mum who was magical? That would kind of suck. Jay liked that all of his parents did magic and could save him if he needed it. He definitely had needed it a few times whilst riding around on his broom. He snickered when Adi did the Batman pose and shook his head. Batman was cool, though it was mostly because he was super rich.

"Mhmm." Oh Merlin. Should he really have said that? He relaxed when the prefect seemed to like the idea and wanted to get in on it. "Can do." Mhmmm.

Air. He needed air. With NEWT study and other THINGS on his mind and basically holing himself up in the library or common room whenever he wasn't in classes, Toby was going absolutely stir crazy. It had gotten to the point where no matter where he looked it was like he could see textbooks dancing around the edges of his vision, pink elephant style, and that was when he decided he needed a break.

Without stopping to grab a cloak or a jacket, Toby had headed to the nearest outdoor space, the courtyard. He stepped out into the brisk cold air and watched as his breath turned into steam in front of him. This was good. Nice and freezing cold and even a little snowy, something to snap him back to his senses a little bit.

... Really was a bit chilly though. To combat this, Toby merely shoved his hands deep into his pockets, not really feeling like bouncing to warm up. He looked up at the sky, and daydreamed about flying. He yearned for it, even in weather like this where he'd have surely frozen to his broom. That would be much, much better that studying for NEWTs, though that kind of negativity was not something he would voice to anyone out loud. Probably.

Though the intention had been to go for a walk, Toby just stood there, hands in pockets, staring at the sky, taking deep breaths of the cold, biting air. Outside. Outside was good.

Why was she so sleepy? Sure, reading 50 arithmancy essays wasn't the most thrilling of activities, but it wasn't even dark outside yet. The Scottish winter hadn't come upon them fully as of yet, so she decided a few minutes outside was just what the Healer ordered.

Though it was the cold she wanted, she had still thrown on a coat. No sense catching a cold. Her footsteps sounded louder than normal in the sharp, cool air as she made he way to the courtyard. Ah, the peaceful quiet of a gentle snow. For a moment, all she did was stand silently and soak in the crisp air, the tranquil surroundings. But then she noticed that she wasn't alone.

In fact, Tobias was actually only a few feet away from her. A few short steps brought her next to him. "Tobias," she said softly, almost at a whisper. "How are you? Surviving NEWT year?"

Seeee? James thought his Batman impression was funny! Precisely what Adi was going for. He smirked when the younger Badger agreed to his suggestion. What a great sport he was!

"Okay. Let me know if you or Torie have any fun ideas. I'll let you know if I think about any, too.'' You can bet that he would be thinking his brain off for a good idea. Anywayyy... "I'll catch you later, James. Keep up with the practice. I'll let you know when I get the rest of the cards for you.'' With a grin and a goodbye, the older Puff set off towards the Castle, leaving a happy James behind.

Toby did not have a great track record when it came to being aware of his surroundings. It was strange, as sometimes, if he was distracted (often), he could pick up on any other extraneous sounds. But other times he easily got lost inside his own head at the slightest prompt, and his surroundings all but disappeared to him, or focus on one little detail. He'd never be a good Auror, though for many other reasons too.

In any case, it was because of this that he didn't realise Professor Tanner was there at first, not until she spoke. Toby just stood there, uncharacteristically still, almost peaceful as he looked up to the heavens, until Tanner's voice brought him suddenly back to earth.

He blinked and looked at her, but then soon broke into an automatic smile. "Professor," came his reply, followed by a shrug as he looked back over the snowy courtyard. "'M'alright, yeah. Just about surviving." There was a split second pause as Tobias reflected on how that could be read negatively, so he quickly went on. "It's hard work, but I think I'm on top of it. Been studying since, like, start of summer." Though that had just been because he'd had little else to do with his circumstances. "How about you, Professor?" ... "Not the NEWT thing, the 'how are you' thing."

She thought for a moment that the seventh year hadn't heard her, but that proved to be incorrect. In fact, he seemed rather pleased to see her, a feeling that was mutual. His reply did sound rather more morose than what she had come to expect from the young man, however, and a brief look of concern flashed across her face. Perhaps he had noticed this, since he quickly added more explanation.

Tiara nodded solemnly, continuing to watch the elegant flakes dust the courtyard. "I have no doubt that you are doing all you can," she said, continuing her whisper. "And frankly, Tobias, that is simply all that can be expected." No, it wasn't a deep, philosophical statement. But sometimes the plain truth had a certain power of its own.

As far as her own wellbeing? "Quite satisfactory, thank you. Looking forward to the break coming up shortly." Not that she had particularly wonderful plans, but it alys did a person good to recharge the batteries, as the muggles would say.

As he stood there in the cold and quiet courtyard, thinking about the NEWT exams, Toby felt a sudden surge of anxiety rise in him. It wasn't an altogether unfamiliar feeling, unfortunately; most of his OWL year had been spent dealing with a similar thing. He rolled his shoulders a little, a subconscious 'shake it off' gesture, and fought the compulsion to start biting at his fingernails. That was a habit that always seemed to give the game away, and in any case, there wasn't much of them left to bite at the moment.

He nodded too, watching some stray snowflakes fall and fiddling with the cuff of his sleeve to keep his hands busy. "I am," Tobias replied, but that sounded too confident. More confident than he felt like he deserved to sound. "I try." That was... slightly more fitting.

Toby looked back at Professor Tanner and managed a genuine smile. "I'm glad you're doing good, Professor. M'looking forward to the break too. Going home. Change of scenery. See my little brother, all that." He spoke casually, keeping his tone light. But it still hurt to think about that stuff. Toby missed home so terribly, and 98% of the time would rather be there than here. But it was such a negative thing to say when he was supposed to be all happy and stuff. Thinking about it made him droop a little bit, so Toby fixed a bigger smile onto his face with practiced ease, and bounced ever so lightly on his toes. "D'you have like... loads of work to do before the holidays?" He did. In fact, if he wanted to stay on schedule, it didn't look like he'd be taking much of a break from the extra studying.

Ridiculous, really. Toby didn't need all those NEWTs. Certainly not all twelve. It wasn't like he was trying for a career where they demanded top grades. But in his head, it was all or nothing.

Rolling your shoulders, biting your nails... Both clues of inner turmoil. "I seem to recall Professor Romanos practicing yoga for inner relaxation." Or something like that. "That could help you relax. And if not, I suggest a mild Calming Draught. Healer Murdoch likely has some made up for just such an occasion." But trying a more natural way first might be a good idea.

Tanner nodded as he spoke. "Holidays are an excellent time for mental rejuvenation for precisely all the reasons you just mentioned." But she could tell he was forcing the issue, trying to appear fine when he really was not. She played along and answered his query, still whispering, because at this point why not? "Yes, quite a bit, but no more than my students have, I would imagine." Then she changed her mind and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If standing her talking to me is making you more anxious, please don't feel obligated to stay. I know sometimes the best cure for feeling overwhelmed is just to dive right in and get back to work." That was how she felt about it, at least.

Did Ilia notice her uh STRANGEness? Leah hoped not. Or maybe she did. A part of her wanted to scream at the girl while the other part told her to be nice. As for now, the latter seemed to be fading away slowly until the larger piece took over. Deep in her own thoughts, she ignored Ilia's smile... unintentionally. Oh well.

She had however, noticed the change in Ilia's expression. Maybe she was SURPRISED that the whole school knew about their relationship. "That is GREAT to hear," Leah smiled, a bit too widely perhaps. "No no, nothing's wrong. I just wanted to know more about how you and your BOYFRIEND are doing, if you don't mind. You guys are quite the cute couple." ... It felt weird to say that. Like for real.

Leah seemed a little too 'enthusiastic' in her responses. It was making Ilia feel unsettled honestly. She seemed overly fake in her responses and expression and something was wrong. Boyfriend? That word was said really strangely.....and inaccurately. Cute couple? Her and Henric? Ilia felt a tinge of pink flush her cheeks. "My best friend and I are fine to my knowledge but I have not seen him since early this morning. I don't have a boyfriend so I am not sure what you mean Leah." For Circe's sake she was acting odd. Even if her and Henric were dating why would she care? Henric never said they were dating......she never asked him......he never asked her. They referred to each other as best friends, that wasn't dating.....was it? That was just being best friends, even if she had begun to question what it was that she felt towards Henric.

It was cold, it was slightly wet, and Alf was quite sure that he'd managed to get clumps of snow stuck in the back of his shoes. He plopped himself down on one of the cold stone benches and sucked in air when he realised his cloak wasn't quite thick enough to keep the cold at bay.

"Right." he mumbled under his breath as he tugged a shoe off (not the smartest thing to do in this weather), "This is why sensible Brits wear Wellies, but nooo... not you, Alf, you've got to wear your darned... canvas..." he shook the snow out of his upended shoe, emphasising each muttered word with a smack of the shoe on the bench, "sneakers!"

This is what you get for trying to copy American muggles. What was the word they used for outdated fashion followers? Hipsters? Well, that was what his muggle dad used to call him whenever he bought an article of clothing.

It was coooooold!

WOOT!

Adi was going to soak up as much of the could weather as he possibly could and that was the reason why he was hopping/ bounding about in the snow, heading towards the Courtyard. Maybe he could find someone around so he could have a snowball fight with or something. Or maybe even build a spectacular snow fort. Mhmm! That sounded like a plan!

Bound, hop, hop, bound!

But what was that smacking sound? Adi tilted his head, trying to pinpoint the noise. Aha! It was Alfred aka Alfred Pennyworth, the Butler to Adi since he was Batman. Hehe! "Alfred!'' the older Hufflepuff called as he jogged towards the firstie. ''Do you have the Batmobile ready?'' Hehehe.

Gosh. There was that crazy person the even crazier people in charge of this school had made a prefect. Alf held back a wince at the really tired old joke about his name, and sent a silent word of thanks to whatever power made him magical as it meant not too many people got the muggle comic reference. His first 10 years in primary school had been filled with butler jokes.

But Adi was a sixth year, and he was a prefect in Alf's house. So he managed a weak smile, "I tried, Wayne," he played along, might as well try to get in Adi's good books, "but the cave door's frozen shut and I haven't learned the spells to move it..."

Weak, lame attempt. His dorky muggle dad would've been embarrassed if he'd witnessed that.

Kate was just loving her ventures out to the grounds of the castle. She hated being indoors for too long. It made her feel dreary and lonely, and she hated that blah feeling. She made her way down a corridor and out into the courtyard...

...where she found it was cold and somewhat wet. Well. So much for the bright and reviving atmosphere she had pictured on her way out here. What did she expect in January anyway? Without really paying too much attention to her surroundings, she plopped down on a nearby bench to more or less figure out exactly what she hoped to accomplish out here on the grounds in one of the coldest months of the year.

...and that was when she heard the voice of a boy talking to who she gathered was himself. She could have easily sat on him the way she was plopping down without even looking where she was going! "Oh, I'm sorry," she mumbled, scooting over to allow him some personal space. Then there was the Hufflepuff prefect, whose name she had sadly forgotten since she'd missed the first part of her second year. Oh, --WAYNE! That was what the first boy had called him. Was that his name? "Hi, Wayne," she greeted.