The Tower Patch was a great place to hang out. The only thing was today Adi come up here by himself. Yep, weird, he knew since he was always in the company of someone or the other.

But he cheerfully strolled around, humming and looking at all the flowers and hedges, finally coming to a halt at the fountain. Fountains were always fascinating to watch. And of course there were those plaques... sad stuff really that had happened. Adi knew a bit about it.

But wheee! Look at the water splashing in the fountain! Somehow that splashing water made him happy. Well, extra happy. Hehe.

This place was probably one of the seventh years favorite places in the whole castle. She could be outside, and not have to go all the way down all seven floors to get there. She would come up and work on her art.

This was the same place where her and Lux made up last term and got their friendship back on track. As did there being kidnapped. So the seventh year headed to the tower patch just to walk about and see if there was anything new.

She made her way around and down the path to her favorite spot to work on her sketches. Maybe she would stop and take the time to sit and work on something. She was getting ready to sit when she seen someone hanging out around the fountain. It was Adi. "Hey, Adi. What are you doing here?" She asked as she moved over to where he was. Had she actually had a real conversation with her fellow seventh year hufflepuff? Well it was happening today or so it seem.

Adi hadn't noticed someone else had joined his at the Tower Patch. Not until he heard his name being spoken. Turning, he came face to face with Cinna. He grinned, pleased to have some company. "Heeeya, Cinna! Just checking out to see if anything's changed. I haven't been up here in a while.'' Indeed this was true. He had visited the Patch maybe once during the last school year.

He looked closely at the Lion. "How are you?'' Adi didn't think he needed to be anymore specific about anything given what had happened at the end of the term. To him, Cinna seemed to be holding up well but that was on the outside, yeah? Hopefully it was the same on the inside. "Looking forward to having a great final year?"

Cinna walked over closer to Adi to talk to him. She smiled and nodded. "Still the same." looking around, except for the last time she was her it was covered in snow. That was the only difference. And she was with Lux then. She really missed her.

"I'm alright." She could only take a guess at why he was asking how she was. It seems like everyone was asking her that. Honestly she still didn't know how she was or anything so she always just said that she was okay or alright. Seventh year? She also liked this question too. "Yes, I am. How about you?" Giving the Hufflepuff prefect a smile. She was so glad it was there seventh year, finally.

"Looks like it,'' was Adi's cheerful reply. He thought that the Patch was really well maintained given the amount of plants and stuff that were around. He now decided not to stress so much on how Cinna was feeling. Maybe she was one of those who despised being questioned on that? So instead, he smiled at her. "I'm here if you ever want to talk, you know.'' Bounce, bounce on his feet. Sure, he and Cinna were not close but he could be a good friend still, right?

"I am! It's been a good one so far being back and all but I miss my friends that have graduated.'' Zhenya, Jasmine, Beverly... and then there was Lux, of course. Adi had tried to get her to come back to Hogwarts but nope. It was of no use.

This place was quiet lovely. It always was. Could she pick a flower? She thought that the purple flower would look great in her hair. She looked back it Adi. "Thank you." Smiling at her yearmate, she really appreciated that. But really she had been doing okay with things. Adi was bouncing, she laughed dude had seem energy or he was just a happy guy. Maybe both. Who knew.

Boy, did he nail it or what? She definitely understood the missing friends. She was feeling that hard right now. "It's been great so far, yes. I know what you mean. I'm missing so many people this term." BIG SIGH. The ones that were still here they should hang out and bond more or something. Last year and everything.

Looked like she was a little early.

Paulina didn't mind because it was nice outside. She could spend a bit of time tossing and catching the ball she had grabbed from outside the Charms Professor's office as she waited for Benny to join her. She had been practicing the spell a little in the common room earlier and had definitely improved. The only thing she needed to make sure of was to keep calm about NEWTs. That was easier said than done, but stressing really didn't help her out. Sometimes all it took was some deep breathing and she would be okay again.

It was pretty up here, and Paulina found herself drawn to the fountain. She approached it while tossing the ball up into the air and catching it. Huh. She hadn't known that two Astronomy Professors had died. Hopefully the same wouldn't happen to Professor Flamsteed. Now that was a rather morbid thought.

SPOILER!!: Paulina

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Looked like she was a little early.

Paulina didn't mind because it was nice outside. She could spend a bit of time tossing and catching the ball she had grabbed from outside the Charms Professor's office as she waited for Benny to join her. She had been practicing the spell a little in the common room earlier and had definitely improved. The only thing she needed to make sure of was to keep calm about NEWTs. That was easier said than done, but stressing really didn't help her out. Sometimes all it took was some deep breathing and she would be okay again.

It was pretty up here, and Paulina found herself drawn to the fountain. She approached it while tossing the ball up into the air and catching it. Huh. She hadn't known that two Astronomy Professors had died. Hopefully the same wouldn't happen to Professor Flamsteed. Now that was a rather morbid thought.

You would think after over 6 years of living in the castle, he would be better in knowing how long it took him to travel down from one tower and up to another. And yet, Benny was sure he was running late in meeting Paulina up in the astronomy homework to do the charms homework together. What a great impression to make with a friend. The ball he had borrowed was safe and secure in his robe pocket but he still needed to get up the final steps.

When he finally reached the meeting place, Ben stepped out into the tower patch and looked around for sight of his would be partner. It was a handful of steps in amongst the bushes and flowers when he spotted her blonde head and walked closer. He was about to call out to her when he noticed she seemed concentrated on the fountain so he waited until he had come up beside her to say something.

"Hey..." he quietly greeted not wanting to startle her or distract her.

Adi smiled brightly. ''It's not a problem, Cinna. Do you like cinnamon?'' he asked randomly. Seriously, Adi? LOL. "I like cinnamon rolls.'' He bounced some more, thinking of a plate of warm, freshly baked very cinnamonly rolls. Mmmm...nom nom! Pay no attention to his obsession with food, Cinna.

He tilted his head. Sad. She looked sad at the mention of graduated friends. Did she need a hug? Adi gave great hugs, you know. "You need a squishy hug?'' What? He said whatever came to his mind most of the times and Cinna looked as though she could use some cheering up. "Besides, you've got me. I'll make sure to owl you loads after this term.'' Gosh, that was quite a long list of persons Adi would have to keep in contact with. Hehe. It should be fun keeping up with them all.

Hearing Benny's voice, Paulina turned away from the fountain and smiled. "Hey!" She was glad to see him. He was just on time, or a little late - really it didn't matter to her. The important thing was that he was here and they could get started on the homework. Maybe afterwards they could hang out somewhere. Adi could join them if he wanted to, and that was probable since they were practically inseparable.

"You ready to get started?" She was pretty sure that she had practiced all she could in preparation. If she kept this up she would be pretty good at non-verbals by the time NEWTs came around, but she wasn't going to beat herself up about it. So long as she could perform a few spells that way she was happy.

SPOILER!!: Partner

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Hearing Benny's voice, Paulina turned away from the fountain and smiled. "Hey!" She was glad to see him. He was just on time, or a little late - really it didn't matter to her. The important thing was that he was here and they could get started on the homework. Maybe afterwards they could hang out somewhere. Adi could join them if he wanted to, and that was probable since they were practically inseparable.

"You ready to get started?" She was pretty sure that she had practiced all she could in preparation. If she kept this up she would be pretty good at non-verbals by the time NEWTs came around, but she wasn't going to beat herself up about it. So long as she could perform a few spells that way she was happy.

She turned towards him as he spoke, the reaction smooth,...happy almost...by the smile directed his way. Benny relaxed, even though he didn't know he had been tense about it. Unless one considered concerned that he had been making her wait too long for her liking. However it hadn't seemed to bother her and a quick glance at his watch absently had shown he had been worried for next to nothing, he hadn't been too far off.

"Uh huh," he answered, ready to work, the seventh year taking note of the ball in her hands already. "You can go first," the Gryffindor offered as he took a step or two back to give some room between them to work, preparing himself to catch whatever came his way. Seemed only fair since she was ready with what they had to work with, his own borrowed ball still in his pocket.

Besides...ladies first.

Good, they were going to get started now. Paulina wanted to do other things besides homework - as much as she liked Charms - so the sooner they got through the activity, she sooner they could get to other things.

Benny was going to let her go first, and Paulina had to think to herself that it was such a Gryffindor thing to do; chivalry and all that jazz. "Alright," she said with a nod. She was more than willing to start them off. Fingers crossed she would do this correctly. "Here goes nothing..."

Non-verbally she cast Depulso, while sweeping with her wand. She watched as the ball soared away from her and towards Benny.

SPOILER!!: Paulina

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Good, they were going to get started now. Paulina wanted to do other things besides homework - as much as she liked Charms - so the sooner they got through the activity, she sooner they could get to other things.

Benny was going to let her go first, and Paulina had to think to herself that it was such a Gryffindor thing to do; chivalry and all that jazz. "Alright," she said with a nod. She was more than willing to start them off. Fingers crossed she would do this correctly. "Here goes nothing..."

Non-verbally she cast Depulso, while sweeping with her wand. She watched as the ball soared away from her and towards Benny.

One of the toughest parts of working non-verbally with someone was not having any sort of warning. At least from the incantation. You had to be focused and ready and watchful for any wand movement and then the actual action of the spell to take place...if it happened. And that was precisely what Benny was doing as he waited for Paulina to work on their homework spell first. Oh look...there was the sweeping wand motion...followed seconds latter by the ball coming in his direction.

Success!

"Nice..." he offered Paulina as he caught it. Now it was his turn and that unnerved him. The Gryffindor had managed it at class and a time or two after, but he still didn't totally trust his nonverbals. Well here goes...Benny mused to himself as he took a deep breath to gather himself. With ball resting on his left open hand, and his wand in his right he was as ready as he was going to be.

Depulso he cast non-verbally, swishing his wand in the direction towards his partner. The ball moved from his hand...even headed away from him...but was short of Paulina, falling to the ground of the gardens.

Benny managed to catch the ball, and Paulina gave him a thumbs up. It was harder to know when a spell was coming if it was non-verbal - though the wand movement was a bit of a tip off. Nonetheless their little game of catch was off to a good start.

Patiently she waited for Benny to send the ball back to her. Watching him curiously, she waited to see him perform the sweeping motion with his wand before bracing herself to catch the ball. As was expected, it came soaring towards her...and landed in the gardens. "Nice try!" She ran off to retrieve it before going back to her former position.

Her turn again, Paulina got the ball ready before making a sweeping motion with her wand. Depulso. Once again the ball went soaring towards Benny.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Benny managed to catch the ball, and Paulina gave him a thumbs up. It was harder to know when a spell was coming if it was non-verbal - though the wand movement was a bit of a tip off. Nonetheless their little game of catch was off to a good start.

Patiently she waited for Benny to send the ball back to her. Watching him curiously, she waited to see him perform the sweeping motion with his wand before bracing herself to catch the ball. As was expected, it came soaring towards her...and landed in the gardens. "Nice try!" She ran off to retrieve it before going back to her former position.

Her turn again, Paulina got the ball ready before making a sweeping motion with her wand. Depulso. Once again the ball went soaring towards Benny.

He simply nodded in response to her thumbs up at his catch. The catching was actually the easier activity, at least in the Gryffindor's eye. Nice to see he wasn't being all thumbs in this little activity. "Thanks..." Benny said at her encouragement, even as he felt meh about the miss himself. Come on Atreyu...you can do this, he mumbled to himself as Paulina went to retrieve their ball from where it had gone.

As he awaited the Hufflepuff's next shot, Benny debated moving a little further away, make it interesting. But that meant more he'd have to try for as well so he stayed put for now. He nearly missed the ball this time, but managed to grab a latter hold of it. "That's two..." the seventh year lion absently mused as he prepared himself for another try of his own. Please let him get one.

Depulso.

The spell was wordlessly cast...the wand sweeped in the direction of his partner.

Uncertainty existed at first, but as he watched, Benny noticed it was straighter than before. Truer...and closer to Paulina. Closer still as it headed right towards her this time around. Well roughly straight towards her.

For a moment Paulina thought that Benny would miss the ball this time, but she was pleased to see him catch it in the end. She gave him another thumbs up. Even though it was the easier of the two tasks, it was still nice to give encouragement.

Now it would be her turn to catch the ball, so Paulina readied herself. Once again she was waiting for the sweeping motion of Benny's wand because otherwise there was no way that she could know when to expect the ball to come towards her. Hopefully this time he would have better success with the spell, because she was sure that he was more than capable after the class activity. That had been an amazing way for everyone to get practice in; she had definitely enjoyed it despite the competition aspect.

This time the ball was straighter, moving in her general direction. It was a bit of a stumble, but Paulina managed to catch the ball at the last moment. Awkward or not, it was definitely an improvement on last time. "Awesome." She prepared herself to send the ball back to him.

Depulso, she thought as she made the sweeping motion with her wand. The ball made its way towards Benny.

Benny couldn't help smiling as she gave him another thumbs up on his catching. It was nice to see that he hadn't totally lost whatever skills he had learned for the couple of years in quidditch. Not to mention it helped him feel better about his abilities, even as he was using extra effort on the actual magic. Adi could make it look oh so easy when the older boy was doing non-verbal magic. And quite a few times his friend had taken him completely by surprise because of it.

He watched and waited as the ball went towards Paulina, the Hufflepuff catching it despite his unsteady start and finish. "Good one..." he complimented as he took notice of her prep for another round. She had been the one doing better at this, not that he begrudged her that fact. The Gryffindor in turn preparing for his own actions. Her own non-verbal spellwork made it easy to catch, even with the fact he had his wand already in one hand.

Depulso...he cast, trying for the third time to get the ball banished correctly to his partner. Well any one of the positions of 'correctly' you might think of. However he appeared to have gotten the hang of the spell as as he waved and swiped the wand in the direction of the Hufflepuff, the ball followed suit. Benny visibly showing relief at the matter.

Catching the ball Benny sent back her way, Paulina gave him another thumbs up. "Awesome job." They had both done amazingly one lost ball aside. Now all they had to do was the write up which would be fairly easy. Her homework would probably be submitted before tonight's curfew.

"You want to find Adi and see if he wants to hang out somewhere?" Paulina wasn't ready to go back to her dorm yet and it wasn't yet dinner time. She began tossing her ball into the air and catching it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squishy

Catching the ball Benny sent back her way, Paulina gave him another thumbs up. "Awesome job." They had both done amazingly one lost ball aside. Now all they had to do was the write up which would be fairly easy. Her homework would probably be submitted before tonight's curfew.

"You want to find Adi and see if he wants to hang out somewhere?" Paulina wasn't ready to go back to her dorm yet and it wasn't yet dinner time. She began tossing her ball into the air and catching it.

And with her catch they were pretty much done. The paperwork was all that was left and he could manage that on his own back at his dorm. "Thanks...you did great too." Non-verbal casting of the banishing charm complete and relatively mastered for both of them. Though Benny figured he might keep practicing it at some point just to be safe in case it managed to make it onto his NEWTs. Inward shiver.

Hmm...

Oh, they were onto other plans...after homework plans now that they were free from charms. "Yeah...sure," Benny agreed. It was as good a plan as any and they had some time to hang out. "Come...I think I might have some idea where to head..." the Gryffindor mused with a soft smile as he offered to lead the way out of the tower patch.

Everyone had been back in the castle a day or so now and it felt much better. As much as she had loved her Christmas at Hogwarts, it hadn’t had quite the same sense of home withouth the loud chatter and hubub in the common room and dorms. Though, now that everyone was back, she was sitting back the fountain on the roof terrace in her winter cloak simply breathing and listening to the sounds of nature for a little bit of quiet.

It was amazing and she felt so calm and peaceful.

That was until classes started back tomorrow. Oh well, she’d kind of missed learning. She had figured out that learning took on a whole different meaning when it involved magic rather than math. Though, honestly she didn’t see how anyone didn’t like learning magic… Really, it was amazing. Where else could you learn to turn owl poop into matchboxes like Roo and she had managed to do before they split for Christmas.

After talking to Airey...Paul decided to take a detour and see this...Tower Patch. It was lush and green and....very nice. Paul enjoyed it...not that he ventured up here too much. He really SHOULD because he needed the EXERCISE..but alas, he did not.

There was only one other person up here on this windy, chilly day. Paul wrapped his cloak more tightly around him...as he approached the girl. "Why hello there, Miss Hanover...fancy seeing you here--" he smiled and decided to take a seat next to her. Marsha was a sweet, sweet girl. Paul appreciated her...and she was a brilliant writer, yes.

"I decided to take a walk up here..I don't do it nearly as often as I should. Did you enjoy the holiday?" he asked curiously.

Oliver had a small box in his hands. It did serve a purpose, in fact he was going to give it to someone. But he had taken a slight detour when he reached the seventh floor and realized he had never been in the Astronomy tower except when required to for classes. Why would he have, though? It was all the way at the very top of the school, up too many flights of stairs for him to want to ever go up there of his own free will. He did sometimes, but then it was only because he was waiting for Ellery or something.

To be honest, he also wanted to sit down. Climbing up so many flights of stairs was exhausting. He was not in shape enough for Hogwarts. But was anyone? By the end of his seventh year he expected to have amazing muscles. But none of the current seventh years seemed to, so he was already prepared to be disappointed.

The point was that he needed a break. He couldn't even walk to the Gryffindor portrait. So Olly found himself in a little garden, inside. Well that was cool. And there were benches. Olly plopped himself down on a bench and set his box on the table next to it. He would move again when he was good and ready.

*pant pant*

Perhaps it wasn't such a good idea for Syah to come up here, she mused to herself as she stood on top of the tower and tried to catch her breath, all those stairs! Ugh! She was going to have to be careful going back down, lest one of her ankles decided that it didn't want to hold her up anymore!

She hated when they did that, she should probably have a talk with them again about behaving!

But she had just been so curious about what was up here! And so here she was, burning lungs and all!

"Wowww." She finally straightened and looked around, her golden eyes wide. It was so beautiful! She wandered towards the fountain, just in awe of everything around her!

There was this place, on one of the towers. Noelle thought it was a memorial site, but she had only been there once or twice, but it was a nice spot to get away too.

Noelle had been bored with the common room and library, and needed to venture out. That's when she remembered the spot she had found while exploring one day.

Heading out there, she had her books tucked in her arms and her hood over her head because chilly. Noelle looked around the venue when she reached it, expecting it to be empty or near empty like it usually was. Her hazel eyes came to rest on a familiar face and she grinned.

Noelle wasn't tiptoeing over, but she wasn't being loud either. She noted the box on one side of Olly as she approached him, so she sat on his other side. "I see you found my spot." She said with a grin and a wave hello.