And they had one rolling eagle...tumbling along the ground. One tumble...two tumble...three tumble.

Ooops...

Benny hadn't meant it that hard...in truth having wanted to assist Adi in the direction the bird had been trying to go with his takeoff. The reindeer tried his best to look apologetic as he lifted his head up, Eagle!Adi once more faced him after recovering from the roll. So much for trying to be helpful. His added bulk and strength had been a disadvantage that he hadn't been wary of. The stag tilted his head half-playfully, half wishing he knew what the whistles meant. Maybe he'd hear it when they were both back to normal.

His friend certainly didn't seem too bothered.

Benny snorted at the cheeky display of feathers his way. Yeah...yeah...ever the amuser. At the point he nodded his head and antlers. He clearly wanted to be up in the air. Come on Adi....you can do it. Deer-like sounds continued to be emitted from his animalistic lips as he tried to encourage his friend with the endeavor, watching as the smaller creature first practiced and then finally took off.

YAY!!!!

The reindeer lifted his antlered head further, doing his best to observe his friend flying. At least it seemed like the tree was behaving and they didn't have to worry about it. However Adi was getting away. As the eagle grew higher, he half-walked half pranced along the ground parallel to try and keep up. They needed to stay together, especially to keep the new flier grounded where he was going.

Benny seemed to get what he was trying to tell him. Adi literally tried to grin but a beak doesn't permit that. How lame. Grins were one of the best things in this awesome thing called life. Hmph. Anyway, taking the weird sounds coming from the reindeer as encouragement, he began flapping.
...................

EEEEEP!

HE WAS ACTUALLY DOING THIS!

Higher, higher, higher the Hufflepuff in Golden Eagle's feathers rose. It was still incredibly difficult to get to the altitude he wanted to but he was getting there slowly but surely. Suddenly, he felt a rush of wind under his wings. Huh? What was that? What Adi didn't know was that it was actually a thermal or a pillar of air that could allow him to just float or drift without working his wings into more exhaustion.

It took him a few minutes to figure this out and when he finally did, he just left his wings outstretched as he soared around and around and around the Whomping Willow. It seemed the higher he got, the more easier it became to fly as there were more breeze up there.

"THIS IS AWESOMEEEEEE!" Adi yelled. Of course no human sounds came out. Not that he didn't have to pay so much attention to flapping, he could actually focus on his surroundings. There were so many students around on the grounds! Even so high up he could see their faces super clearly. No, wait! Not just their faces but the individual hairs on their head! WAAAAAAH? Now he really wanted to swap his eyes for an eagle's THIS INSTANT!

Adi looked down at his reindeer friend. He could see each strand of fur or whatever it was that a reindeer was covered in. Without thinking twice, the eagle banked a turn around the Willow by simply tilting to the side then soared straight for the reindeer. Well, its antlers to be precise. Without a sound he landed atop the right antler.

Hiya, Mr Reindeer!

SPOILER!!: Free Rider

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

Benny seemed to get what he was trying to tell him. Adi literally tried to grin but a beak doesn't permit that. How lame. Grins were one of the best things in this awesome thing called life. Hmph. Anyway, taking the weird sounds coming from the reindeer as encouragement, he began flapping.
...................

EEEEEP!

HE WAS ACTUALLY DOING THIS!

Higher, higher, higher the Hufflepuff in Golden Eagle's feathers rose. It was still incredibly difficult to get to the altitude he wanted to but he was getting there slowly but surely. Suddenly, he felt a rush of wind under his wings. Huh? What was that? What Adi didn't know was that it was actually a thermal or a pillar of air that could allow him to just float or drift without working his wings into more exhaustion.

It took him a few minutes to figure this out and when he finally did, he just left his wings outstretched as he soared around and around and around the Whomping Willow. It seemed the higher he got, the more easier it became to fly as there were more breeze up there.

"THIS IS AWESOMEEEEEE!" Adi yelled. Of course no human sounds came out. Not that he didn't have to pay so much attention to flapping, he could actually focus on his surroundings. There were so many students around on the grounds! Even so high up he could see their faces super clearly. No, wait! Not just their faces but the individual hairs on their head! WAAAAAAH? Now he really wanted to swap his eyes for an eagle's THIS INSTANT!

Adi looked down at his reindeer friend. He could see each strand of fur or whatever it was that a reindeer was covered in. Without thinking twice, the eagle banked a turn around the Willow by simply tilting to the side then soared straight for the reindeer. Well, its antlers to be precise. Without a sound he landed atop the right antler.

Hiya, Mr Reindeer!

More snorting and sniffling and other reindeer sounds were emitted as Benny was excited at the flight of his friend. He continued to follow from his place on the ground, the prancing occasionally turning into a cantor as he got better used to his feet and his balance. There you go....there you go. Now his bestie saw how he was as a dragon...how he enjoyed it all and had grown not to mind the change because of it.

He had paused in his steps and looked away for a few moments thinking he was seeing movement from the tree and wanting to be cautious. Adi did have the advantage of being roughly out of range of the branches and quicker to move away. However the reindeer wasn't attacked by the whomping willow when something came at him. No...the sudden extra weight on his head was a bird. A certain eagle...he was sure of it, despite he couldn't see the full view of his friend from the angle he was in on his right antler.

"WOAH!!!" he let out loudly, the sounds released purely animal, his head tilted to the one side as he tried to get a better look. But even as he turned his head the bird moved with the corresponding move of his antler.

Sneaky bugger.

Reindeer!Benny tentatively shook his head a little bit, trying get Eagle!Adi to release. No riding on the stag! The other boy already did enough in the dragon rides and then he was on his back, not his head.

HEWASNAKEDHEWASNAKED...the potion lasted for approximately 25 minutes? ANDMERLINHEWASNAKED. Help, anyone? He so needed to work on his potion-making skills, huh? Next time he was going to make sure that he would be able to transform his clothes with him. This was SO embarrassing! Was there anyone else who could see them?

Hopefully not.

"Holy hersheys..." Owen mumbled. What kind of situation has he gotten himself into now? His clothes were all over the place and so slowly, awkwardly, the oversized first year badger got to his feet making sure his robes were covering all things that needed to be covered, and as Donkey!Ethan continued braying next to him, Owen went ahead and put on his underwear, his pants, his undershirt, and finally his shirt uniform. Phew.

Assuming the same position as his companion (he still had to put on his socks and shoes), Owen pouted at the donkey. "You look silly, Ethan." Then he grinned.

He had a feeling that watching his new friend struggle with his donkeyness while he wasn't in animal form himself was going to be F.U.N.

Y'know, they could've probably done this whole transformation thing inside of the castle if he really thought about it. It would've meant less walking around for sure, seeing as they were both up in the towers. But Zander didn't mind the walking. Especially since it meant he'd get to hold Sophie's hand the entire way over. He liked holding her hand. And he liked other people seeing him holding her hand. As if he were shouting 'YEAH, SOPHIE BROWN IS MY GIRLFRIEND, HOW GREAT IS THAT!??!?'. Ahem.

So chill.

He was also grinning all goofy the entire way to the grounds. But alas, here they were. Still, he didn't let go of her hand right away. "So, you ready to do this?" Because actually, Zander wasn't sure if he fancied turning into an animal. Sure it'd be nice getting to run around the grounds carefree for a little bit and call it his homework, but also...

Did he really want to turn into an animal? Nah. Not really. He liked running around the grounds goofing off in human form too. He also just had one too many bad potions homework experiences. So. Uh. Once Sophie took a sip of her potion, then he'd take a sip of his too. Fair? Fair.

Angel, had decided that she wanted to play the game of catch with Marsha near the Whomping Willow... she thought it would be fun to see if they could play it around here and she knew it was important that they didn't get too close to the Whomping Willow because it might get a bit angry with them for practicing around here but this was a place with plenty of room for them to play the game.

Angel made sure that she had everything ready for when Marsha arrived, she was glad she was playing this game with such a good friend, though she hadn't seen her friend for awhile and she was wondering why. She stood there looking at the whomping willow whilst waiting.

Marsha was running. Again.

Having finished her astronomy homework, she had decided to slip on her trainers so that she could run around the castle safely to get to the willow tree where she was meeting Angel for their Charms homework. Silently, she hoped she did better today; she had done okay in class but really she knew that she could do so much better. She didn’t want to let herself or Professor Maddox down, so hopefully Angel would be okay with playing the game for a while so that she could improve.

”Hey Angel!” She called out as she slowed down from her sprinting pace to job up to the tree happily. ”How are you? Ready to do this?” Big smile for you, Angel.

He had made it out of the castle without seriously injure himself woohoo~!

Sheep!Yoongi had walked through the doors of the entrance hall, passed the courtyard and wooden bridge before arriving at an area near but not to close by the whomping willow. He walked around , getting better and better at standing on four legs. It had been weird but he had realized that he had strangely been very stable while climbing down the stairs earlier. Perhaps sheep were really good climbers? who knew? muggles probably knew.

Sheep!Yoongi continued his walk, enjoying the view around him. Even behind him. Merlin's Beard he never even realized he could see behind him! There were two things he wanted to do as a sheep before time ran out and he transformed back to normal. To be honest, he was quite surprised that the potion had lasted this long so far. Maybe that was because it wasn't his potion...heh, his would have stopped working back at the portrait hole and that Ravenclaw kid would have seen who he had been.

The embarrassment he just escaped from....lucky kid he was.

Anyways, he was thinking too much when he should be enjoying being a sheep! Could sheep even run? The Sheepindor looked around to see if the coast was clear of any students and he began to fast walk. This was easy! but he wasn't running yet... He tried again, and eventually he ran through the open field, his back legs hitting his front legs a few times because he couldn't time their movements right. If he got bruises later he would cry T__T

But he wasn't giving up! It wasn't every day one could be a sheep running on the grounds right? Unless you knew how to make the potion of course.... but it probably had same side effects if it was used frequently. Coming to a halt even further away from the Whomping Willow, Sheep!Yoongi turned around and tried to run back. His running was still like Bambi on ice. He slipped a few times, letting out a "BAAA!" When he did, got back up and tried again.

After a few minutes, he was getting tired. He wanted to check his watch to see how long it had been but when he looked down he only saw his big wool on the side of his body. He was sure the potion would stop doing its work soon so there was one last thing to do before he changed back. He bend down his head to the ground, feeling his sheep chin hitting the wool on the front of his chest and tucked out a chunk of grass from the ground and chewed on it.

What? he had always wanted to try grass! Besides, who wouldn't try it when they were a sheep right?! he was completely normal!

As he chewed, he realized that grass wasn't that a big of a deal and he suddenly felt bad for all the sheep in the world. Wouldn't they rather have a pizza or something?

And as he chewed, a few pieces of grass sticking out of his sheep mouth, he felt his body change. His front legs vanished slowly causing him to fall down face first. Then his back legs started to become thicker, more human, he quickly looked down and thanked Merlin that his pants were still intact. The wool on his body shrank , he got up from the ground , feeling odd now that he walked on two legs again as he had been getting used to walking around on four. Then he felt his face change as well. The long snout grew back and his own blonde hair was growing on top of his sheep ears. The ears shrank and were replaced with his own a second later and then Yoongi was back to normal.

Grass still in his mouth.... He spewed it out quickly in case anyone saw it and shivered. It was cold, sheep wool was much warmer.

Angel smiled as she saw Marsha arriving. "Hi Marsha, I'm good." Angel was really feeling much better now and she felt a lot happier about certain things. "How about you?" Angel then listened to what Hady said next and sighed.

"Actually, I was hoping that we could do this for awhile because I think I might have gone a bit wrong in class and I want to make sure that I get it right." Angel had a feeling that Hady was worried about something and she didn't know what. "That's if it's alright with you?"

Inside Maggie giggled at his licking her paw. On the outside she simply bounced on the spot.

When he first started getting up and moving, Maggie figured this was going to be an awesome ride. Like. This was easy. After getting on his back she had been worried for a moment that the wolf was going to throw her off, whether intentionally or unintentionally she hadn't been sure yet. As it were though, it was fine. She could do this. She even sat up straight and lifted her head.

Like a Queen sitting on her majestic horse on her way to-

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG O. M. G.

She was going to die. For real this time. She was going to be tossed off, then sent flying through the air and would crash into a wall and die. And it would all be the wolf's fault. UGH! Instinctively she held on to the wolf the only way she could think of as a dog. She bit his neck and tried her best not to die.

THIS WAS NOT THE WAY SHE WANTED TO GO!

At some point she'd even closed her eyes, whining softly without even realizing it. Could they please stop? Could they please slow down? Could she get off? This was literally the worst mistake she'd ever made. THE WORST. She should've thought of a way to hold on to the wolf before getting on. Maybe they should've used a rope. As a seatbelt or something. Why did she not have her wand?

WHY WAS SHE A DOG???

Licking was a strange sensation, when licking something else... and actually, licking someone else. He wasn't at all fazed by the texture or flavour or any of that... it felt, comforting? So comforting in fact that he wanted to keep licking things?

All of that could wait though, because with the dog settled on his back, it was time to have an adventure. This is what he'd been waiting for. An opportunity to spread his legs, be fast, and feeeeeeeel the power of a WOLF! The dog could come along for the ride, as part of his non-wolf pack. They were a pack.

AAAARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

He howled as he continued forward, with each successful step he gained more confidence, and stretched his limbs further, picking up the pace. The stairs had been bumpy, but he thought he was graceful enough to offer his rider some stability. He did wonder though how the small thing was staying on so well.

He DID feel the bite on the back of his neck, but it was more like a friendly warm hug. His coat was thick there, and canines were known to carry their young from the scruff of their neck, there was plenty of skin to old onto without nerve endings.

It was only once they were outside, when the fresh air hit his face, that he realised there was a distinctive noise coming from on top of him. A whining. At first he thought it was just something in the castle, background noise, a breeze blowing through a suit of armour or something, but NOW, he was sure it was the dog.

Was it a happy whine?

A 'let's do it again' whine?

Slowing to a gentle trot before slowing further still to a walk, Zeke hung his head low, sniffing the grass curiously as he realised how far out they had come. There was a trail, of mixed scents on the ground around them, not that he knew what they were... all he knew was that they were distinctive.

Stopping completely, tongue out as he panted gently, Zeke turned his head to try and see if the dog was as thrilled with their destination as he was. This. Was. Brilliant.

Dead.

Maggie was dead. She was pretty sure she was dead.

When the wolf FINALLY slowed down, she blinked her eyes open. Ugh. Outside. Okay. That much she could tell. They were outside. And there was grass. And the sky. And clouds. And air. Fresh air. Maggie took a deep breath through her nose, not really daring to let go of the wolf's neck just yet. What if he decided to start running again after all? Nope, no way.

NOW WAS HER CHANCE!!!

Feeling the wolf come to a halt, Maggie quickly let go of the fur and just.....let herself roll off the wolf's back and onto the grass. It was soft. And being a dog it didn't even really hurt as her side hit the ground. Ah. Yes. Nice grass. Good grass. It wasn't moving. The ground wasn't moving. Although if she closed her eyes it kind of still felt like it WAS in fact moving.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. Help.

What made matters worse was that she suddenly felt her body transforming again. Ugh no why. She'd been meaning to be far far away from everyone when THAT happened. For a brief second Maggie tried to get up but was quickly lying on her back again, just staring up at the sky. Nope. Getting up was not happening. She was just going to lie here and wait. Wait for something to happen. Wait for the world to stop spinning.

The figure slid from his back, flopping to the floor.

...

Was it okay? HAD HE SCARED IT? It wasn't... hurt, was it? Was that what the whining was about? Because now he felt bad, REALLY bad.

Lowing his body to the ground so he was laying on his stomach facing the dog, he licked at the top of its head before sniffing it intently. It was something he couldn't help at this point, the scent was alluring in its own way.

But then things happened.

0______________o

Zeke, watched as the form began changing, returning to its human state. The fur disappeared, replaced by a shower of blonde hair, and before he knew it, he was staring at Maggie.

...

...

Finding his four feet, he thought it best to... go, before HE changed back and she pushed him away again. He'd had enough of being told to go away, didn't much fancy hearing it again. There was no doubt in his mind that it wouldn't be that way, and reflecting on how the detention ended... he'd deserve it. With a few quick licks to her hand, because he didn't feel right just LEAVING again, he turned and made to start slinking away, tail between his legs, when it happened.

He was changing back.

A part of him wondered if this was what it felt like to be a werewolf. To have lived as something other than himself, to burden a secret, and then to have it revealed. Or something like that. Whatever it was... he didn't like it. It wasn't a nice feeling to change, but knowing that he was changing in front of her left a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, in addition to the other aches and discomfort.

The clouds were nice. They were something to focus on. They weren't moving....or wait, they WERE moving. But like...clouds moved right? They always moved? It wasn't because she was-

Maggie turned her head to look at the wolf next to her when it licked her hand. Was it someone she knew? Because now they knew who she was. So whatever a lick to her hand translated to exactly, she was pretty sure it was supposed to be a friendly gesture. Weird.

And then it left.

Or started to leave anyway. Maggie watched, a little confused until she realized that it was changing back, too. A part of her wanted to close her eyes. Like, maybe she didn't want to know. It could be a mystery. Only the wolf knew who she was too. And she didn't want them to have something on her. Plus, the transformation was quite fascinating to watch. It wasn't every day that you got to see a wolf change back into a human.

A human she knew. And quite well, too.

....

With a small groan, she turned her head back so that she was looking up at the sky again. "It's always you, isn't it?" She said, her tone clearly suggesting that it was NOT a welcome surprise. "Do me a favor....can you slap yourself? I can't move right now." It wasn't a joke but she obviously didn't really expect him to do that. It wasn't like he owned her a favor after all.

Favors. Right. That.

He was still on all fours when he came-to, and it took him a moment to adjust to everything. The light, the temperature, the fact that he'd run out here like a loose cannon and could feel the tension in his legs... and the fact that Maggie was behind him. He didn't move, he just stayed there, on all fours trying to pretend that this hadn't happened and that he wasn't here. Was there time to disillusion himself? No.

It was always him, wasn't it?

Was it? Whatever she meant by that, he didn't know. All he knew was that she didn't seem happy about it. If that wasn't demoralising enough, what she said next felt like the slap in the face she was asking for. "No need, you accomplished that well enough on your own." And now he was exhausted. Not physically, but emotionally. He was annoyed, angry, hurt, disappointed... all at once? As much as Zeke wanted to move from his spot, and head back to the castle, or to the lake to throw stones, he remained where he was, collapsing to the grass. It felt nice and cool against his cheek.

Maggie was pretty sure by now she could have gotten up if she'd wanted to. Her surroundings had stopped spinning at least. Only she stayed right where she was, head on the grass. She didn't even care that her hair was in direct contact with the dirty ground.

Honestly, it had survived worse.

Zeke's reply was confusing. So confusing in fact that she tilted her head again to look at him. "I didn't do anything." Was he for real? "YOU just left me behind." She'd sworn herself not to get upset over it again but somehow she couldn't help it. How DARE he put this on her?? "And I trusted you not to." Trust clearly misplaced, she knew that now.

UGH!

Eyes closed, Zeke breathed steadily. His comfort and recovery was short-lived however, because what came next had him sitting a little more upright , leaning on his elbows. His head was spinning in more ways than one now.

She was right about one thing. He did leave her down there. Was he pleased about it? No. Did he regret it? He wanted to say no, but he did. "You think it was easy for me?!" he questioned, watching her carefully. "You think I wanted to leave?!"

Zeke went to continue, but words weren't coming, so he sat with his mouth opening and closing for a moment, contemplating how best to give voice to what had been bugging him since, well since the beginning of term. Was there even any point to this? What did he want to achieve? It wasn't as if they'd really been friends or anything before hand.

"You're the one that keeps pushing me away! And swearing me to secrecy... though funny how that doesn't seem to apply to you." Was he supposed to be thankful for that? Because he wasn't. "Maggie.. I---" and this is where his words stopped. Why? He couldn't really explain why, but for whatever reason he wasn't able to finish that sentence.

Easy. For. Him.

Maggie gave him an incredulous look. Like. DUH! "Well, you left." She pointed out, not quite believing her ears right now. Like. No one had FORCED him to go. He hadn't even gone right away. No. He'd actually betrayed her trust even further by first telling her that he WOULDN'T leave. And then leaving a few seconds later. Like. Who did that????

Watching him struggle for words for a few seconds, Maggie eventually turned her head back again so she wasn't looking at him. Honestly, there was nothing he could say that would make things better between them. Although, an apology WOULD have been nice. At least then she could just go back to ignoring him. Or, like, be indifferent to him or whatever.

She'd heard that before and she didn't really know what to say. They'd talked about this. She had apologized for making him leave. She had even explained it. Which had NOT been easy for her. So now he just kept throwing that at her. Maggie rolled her eyes. Not that he could see it with the way her head was facing right now. The clouds could see it.

The silence that followed him saying her name shouldn't have bothered her so much. Only it did. Maggie tried to ignore it but in the end she pushed herself up into a seating position. "What?" She looked at him, expectantly, waiting for him to finish the sentence. What did he want to say?

And did it matter really?

YES! HE'D LEFT! HE KNEW THAAAAAAT! He didn't need reminding of it, not once, but twice now. "I didn't want to... I'm sorry! Okay? I am sorry, really truly deeply sorry. I'm a moron." Was she happy now? Did that make her feel better? It didn't change anything for him. He was telling the truth, for the most part, though admittedly a strong part of him did want to leave which is why that was the resulting outcome... but ultimately, he would have stayed. Should have stayed.

The quiet that followed was both settling and unnerving, and without knowing how to take Maggie's silence, he lay back down, rolling over so that he too was on his back facing the sky. The clouds were peaceful, but even their shapes couldn't interest him at the minute.

The sentence he started left his mouth feeling dry and stale. Zeke was content to let the words die before they could be born, let Maggie walk away - because he doubted she'd give him the satisfaction of doing it again. When he heard her 'what', he couldn't help but look in her direction.

"I like you?"

The words fell from his mouth, as if he was testing them for the first time. Questioning them.

Happy? No.

But she did feel a little better. "Okay." At least that was settled then. It didn't mean that Maggie forgave him or was willing to trust him again but he'd apologized. Which was something. Now they could go back to leading their own separate lives just like they had been before the end of last term. When had they even started to interact properly? Maggie wasn't sure but all of a sudden he'd been there. And he'd owed her a favor. It had been...convenient.

And now it wasn't convenient anymore. Simple as that.

'I like you?'

Only it wasn't as simple as that. Maggie blinked. Why had Kaycee been right? Why was Kaycee always right?? She didn't know what to say. Or how to feel. Her brain just shut down and all she could do was stare at him for a long moment. And then her mouth just did its own thing without asking her brain for permission first. "Is that a question?" It had certainly sounded like one.

Okay? Okay.

He was okay with that...because frankly, it was better than the alternative. Really, almost ANYTHING was better than the alternative. Almost.

...

The second the three words came from his mouth, he wished he could take them back. Not because he regretted it, but because he could have said it better... with more finesse. Admittedly, it had been a question, because he had never really thought about what he wanted before now, but this was fairly clear. The one thing that had put a spanner in the works for him this term so far, was her. And now, when it seemed like that wouldn't be a concern for him any longer, he wasn't ready to let go of it. He liked her. How much? It was hard to tell, or too soon to tell, but there was time... maybe.

He still wasn't able to look away, so his eyes locked on hers as she appeared to wait for his response.

"I like you," he repeated more confidently now that the words didn't sound so foreign. Did she hear it that time? No question implied!

Her reaction to his words had probably not been the best one. But it had been a legit question. There was no need for her to start thinking about this when all he'd done was test out how some words sounded when said out loud. That really wasn't worth her time. So she did wait. Wait for him to reply. Or do something at least.

And there they were again.

Without the questioning tone.

Maggie's nose twitched slightly but she simply remained sitting there, looking right back at him. Trying to search his eyes for something that would make more sense. Or would tell her what all of this meant. Was this his excuse for acting the way he'd acted? How was that....why was that.....she blinked again. It didn't make any sense that that would be the reason why he'd left her.

Only somehow it DID make sense.

Which was even more confusing.

She still wasn't sure what to say, however, so eventually she broke eye contact and looked down at the grass, running her fingers over it softly. "So....why are you telling me this?" Maggie glanced back up for a second, then down again. "Like, to what end?" What was it that he wanted to achieve here?

She wasn't saying it back, let alone saying anything back. Should he just go and hug the whomping willow now? Because that's how hard he felt like hitting his palm against his face. Maybe he should have changed things up. The wording. He should have added the finesse stuff in there. Though what that would have sounded like he had no idea. He was so out of his element, and not only that, but out of his league.

He couldn't bear to watch Maggie much longer, but he found he couldn't look away. Instead he watched her in stages. Her eyes, her lips, her nose... which twitched. What did that mean? Or was she smelling something? He couldn't be sure about any of it, and it was slowly driving him crazy.

...

So.

The 'so' sounded promising, until there was another question attached to it. Another TWO questions in fact.

Shuffling closer to her along the grass, Zeke considered this for a moment. Those were BIG questions.

The first was easiest, he thought. "Because I want you to know." Simple as that. He WANTED to tell her, though he didn't know that until moments ago. He didn't really know much of anything until today it seemed. As for to what end? "I... well," BIG question. "We could...." snog? hang out? spend time together? that stuff? that stuff could be cool.

What were the words he was looking for?

The look on his face said that he needed help, but he wasn't sure she'd rescue him from this one, if anything she might draw out his discomfort some more. Doing the only thing he could think of to get his point across, he took her hand that was running over the grass before saying the only words that would form into a sentence properly, "Be my girlfriend?"

No, she wasn't saying it back because frankly Maggie didn't know how she felt.

So first he had to answer those two questions. Because right now she was just really confused. By everything. But especially by how he had just managed to MAKE her feel confused. That was the most confusing part. And she didn't know what it meant or what she was supposed to think about all this. So she waited for him to clarify some things. Most importantly, there was the whole liking and LIKING thing. Maybe he could explain which one he meant.

Him moving closer was a start, she supposed.

The first answer earned him a look but that was all. He wanted her to know. Yes. That was why he'd told her. Okay, touché. It HAD answered her question technically but it was obvious that that wasn't what she wanted to know. The reason people told other people things was always because they wanted them to know. That went without saying. So her eyes were back on the grass in front of her. He was going to have to do better than that.

They could...? Maggie waited, almost expecting another unfinished sentence. Really? Did she have to help him use his mouth to form words too? He must have had a reason to say that right now so why couldn't he just come right out and say that? It really wasn't that hard, was it? Did he mean it as an apology? Was he trying to be friends? What? What?

...wait, WHAT?

So, not friends, apparently. At this Maggie looked back up and gave him a surprised look. "What?" That had not.....been.........was not......WHAT????? Her gaze flicked down to his hand on hers for a second before it locked on his eyes again. What? Saying it again wouldn't really make this any more clear, was it? So she only said it in her head. What?

....

The first reaction that came to her mind was to laugh, say no, laugh some more then go and hide in her dorm for a few days and hope it would all be back to normal after. Somehow she simply remained seated where she was though, no laughing either. As for the saying no, however... "You really hurt me, you know." Maggie finally replied, eyes on their hands again. Yes, she knew he knew but it was relevant to her reply. He'd betrayed her trust. Big time.

"So, how about you can take me to Hogsmeade next time?" Pause. "We can, like, talk and stuff." She looked back up, a small smirk on her lips. "Deal?" They were good at negotiating, right?

What.

'What', was not what he was hoping to hear. In fact, he was sure 'what' was worse than a 'thanks but no thanks' because it meant she thought the notion was ludicrous beyond belief. So ludicrous that she was lost for words? Was it? He didn't think so.

Now he really did have to look away.

Unsure of WHERE to look, Zeke scanned their surroundings, his gaze landing on the whomping willow until she spoke again. But what she said had him turning his head back to face her before following her gaze and staring at their hands. That pit in his stomach was back, possibly bigger than before. A part of him had hoped she wouldn't be hurt by it, that she didn't care, that it wouldn't matter... but it did, and though it had its own drawbacks, it meant that she DID care. Right? "I know," he managed. It was inexcusable, and he wanted to assure her it would NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN, but would she believe him? He wouldn't.

"I wasn't thinking, but I'll.... make it up to you." Somehow. Somehow.

Was this it? Would she send him away again now? Without a proper answer?

Zeke maintained his hold on her hand, his thumb moving in circles around her palm. He was content to stay this way until given his marching orders, but that didn't come, the words that followed had his head sharply turning up to meet her gaze. Hogsmeade. HOGSMEADE! He was already nodding along. YES, Hogsmeade, YES talking and stuff, YES it was a deal. "I look forward to it," he beamed. Yes, beaming was happening, because... it was a good day, life was good. He gave her hand a small squeeze, somehow managing to resist the urge to catch her face and kiss it all over.