Last term, Jaemin had been extremely hesitant about exploring the outside of Hogwarts. It was for good reason, he had told himself... the Hag lady had run into the forest, and who knew whereabouts she had ended up. Nobody had ever announced an all-clear, which meant that nothing was in the all-clear, which meant that it was not safe to wander alone. So he just... hadn't. He'd stayed to the places he knew were the best and safest, and got there as quick as he could.

However. With the passage of the summer, he was pretty sure that it had to be safe now. Who would hang out in the woods for that long, you know? Plus, he was twelve. Totally competent at protecting himself. And he really wanted to see what kind of plants and stuff grew along the paths, because... well. Science. Magic Science, as it were. So the small boy took advantage of a warm, sunny day and made his way out of the castle, immediately heading for a place that looked like it had a good amount of varying stuff in it.

...grass, moss, and a bunch of other things. The small Slytherin squatted down along the edge of the path and hummed to himself as he poked around a bit.

Hope had unpacked her things but between sitting on the train and then at the feast, she needed to stretch her legs. She wasn't use to sitting down anymore. Over the summer she worked so much on the farm and then when she had free time, she was over at her cousin's or hanging out outside. She had gotten a good tan and a little toned. She liked it.

As she walked down the pathways she vowed that this year would be different. She would live it to the fullest. She'd make some friends, and her grades would be good. Yep this is gonna be a great year.

Having spent the whole summer cooped up inside, and only getting out of the house whenever Dad needed to run an errand or two...Hadley didn't feel like being inside the castle much. She'd been spending as much time as possible outside. More often than not with Asher, her ferret, on her shoulder, or being allowed to stretch his tiny legs and run around just as long as he didn't stray too far.

Today, Hadley had taken a walk through the pathways, and eventually came to rest on one of the benches along the paths, enjoying the quiet serenity of the place. Asher was there with her, running free and letting off a lot of excess energy as he explored. If he got too far away though, Haddie would simply whistle once and he'd head back to her before exploring more. This ensured he was never too far from her.

Other than Asher, Hadley was alone. It was rare enough not seeing her with Rachel, but even more rare not to see her with anyone, and yet, this year it was increasingly appearing the norm. That didn't make the sight any less strange.

The sound of approaching footsteps caught her attention and Hadley gave the approaching lioness a warm smile that to the observant had a bit of melancholy hidden in it. "Hey, Hope. How's...things?" She hadn't seen the girl much last year, and Haddie did want to catch up with her, but also was weary about inviting those same questions on herself. In truth, her summer hadn't been that bad, no one died, and she wasn't kidnapped and held prisoner somewhere like Noelle had been, and yet, it had shaken so deeply that Hads was sure her foundation was cracked. It opened her eyes to just how truly weak she was...

Azura was getting a little cooped up in the Ravenclaw tower, she had barely left it at all save for classes. And so she headed down to the pathways to get some air.. She wasn't heading anywhere really.. She was just wandering.. trying to make sense of what had happened to her in the past few weeks.

Was her mother really gone? Had they really found her? Part of her wanted to see the pictures the Stevens man had handed her Step-Dad.. but the other part of her didn't. Perhaps that really would convince her that her mother was really.. gone..

The near teen pushed that from her mind as she tried to focus on what was around her.. But the forest was making her slightly jumpy.. There weren't vampires around were there? Azura had a mild panic attack before realizing that Hogwarts was safe and she didn't have to worry..

Even so, the raven haired girl sped up her pace a little.. looking around for a moment before she spotted a familiar face..

"Hey Jaemin.." She said as she stopped next to the squatted down boy. "Whatcha doin?" She asked him.

The Pathways were like Marsha's home away from home. Running down the slopping hills towards the paths, she smiled as she remembered all of her runs with Adi, Rea and Bastien. Great friends who she sadly couldn't run with this year.. However that didn't mean that she couldn't run and do them proud... And run she would.

As had become her routine, she got out onto the grounds just a little after five, running in the early morning dew and slowly rising light. What a way to wake up! Pounding over the paving, the still tiny fourth year wondered if she would meet anyone else out running at this early time of the day or if it was still going to be her perfect time of solitute.

SPOILER!!: Marshaaa! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormdancer

The Pathways were like Marsha's home away from home. Running down the slopping hills towards the paths, she smiled as she remembered all of her runs with Adi, Rea and Bastien. Great friends who she sadly couldn't run with this year.. However that didn't mean that she couldn't run and do them proud... And run she would.

As had become her routine, she got out onto the grounds just a little after five, running in the early morning dew and slowly rising light. What a way to wake up! Pounding over the paving, the still tiny fourth year wondered if she would meet anyone else out running at this early time of the day or if it was still going to be her perfect time of solitute.

Kay didn't keep in shape by just doing stretches. She did so by going for early morning runs too and cycling as well. Now that she moved to Hogwarts, it would be no different. She had already made up her mind to try plotting a few courses so that she could run at least one a few days a week. That's why she was out here this early, a day which seemed would be bright and sunny due to the light already peering out.

It seemed she wasn't the only one.

Kay spotted a student ahead of her. Picking up her pace, she called out, ''Good morning! Would you mind some company?'' he herself could do with some. Maybe this girl didn't mind showing her some excellent courses to run.

There was still some level of paranoia about being outside, and it was because of that that Jaemin knew Azura was nearby. He could sorta hear her, and for a second he had been really worried, but... she walked distinctly differently from a shuffly old hag. He didn't look at her until she squatted down next to him, and he grinned and poked at a moss-covered rock.

"Lookin' for plants that I haven't seen yet. We're far away from home so all of the stuff is different from what I've got in my neighbourhood." If his knowledge was limited to just his own area though, he might have actually found something interesting. As it was... he hadn't yet. The small boy hummed to himself and stood, moving a few more steps off the path and squatting down again to examine some things. "Ever think it's weird that we have magical plants that Muggles don't even proper know about?"

Plants grew everywhere. So the fact that there were so many right under the Muggles' noses - practically inside of their noses, were they being honest - that they hadn't even noticed still amazed him. He cast a look back at Azura before picking up a small rock and flipping it over.

"What are you doing?"

Azura managed a small smile as Jaemin looked over at her and grinned. She looked down at the area he pointed at and nodded.. "Have you seen anything new? She asked him curiously as she looked down at the ground with him.. She knew a little about plants.. her mother was a healer after all.. and loved potions.. She was in fact looking for potions ingredients in the Black Forest when she...

Azura pushed that thought from her mind.. And tried to make her face a happier mask..

"Of course I think it's weird.. We have magical animals as well, but they don't see those either." It's like the muggles were just missing most of the world. "I guess sometimes, people just see what they want to see." Azura mused softly before watching as he moved a rock around..

She looked at him at his question and she shrugged.. "I've been in the Ravenclaw Tower since we got here and I wanted to get some air.. so really I'm just wandering." She replied honestly..

Marsha was in such a daze, and probably not running fast for that very reason, that it took her a minute to even realise that someone was talking to her. As much as she would like to run with someone, she knew that most of the teenagers her age didn’t realise that there was a 5am as well as a 5pm on a clock.

Slowing her running down a little more, the tiny redhead looked over her shoulder to see the new Muggle Studies professor running behind her. Smiling, she shook her head. ”Of course not.” she told her with a smile as she picked her pace back up to a decent speed. Though, she forgot that her ‘decent’ speed, probably didn’t match the speed of most runners.

”I’m Marsha.” She told her. Partly to be polite, partly because she hadn’t met her yet anyway. She ran up an incline, loving the cross-country feel she always got when running the grounds.

He had not found anything new, no. Jaemin shook his head and poked at some of the small not-grass plants growing off the pathway. "Different from back home, but not stuff I haven't seen before..."

Which was disappointing. He'd have to master the bubble head charm thing soon so he could go in the lake and explore for more plants. It was either that, or the forest... and Jaemin was sooooooo not going into the forest without a very big, strong professor there to protect him. Someone like... Hirsch. Or even Draper. He was sorta surly all the time but Jaemin was pretty sure the man was beyond capable of protecting little kids, otherwise they wouldn't have him on, right?

He turned the rock back over, covering the small patch of dirt that had been underneath it, and lifted his head to look around. There wasn't anything here that really... stood out. It almost made him sad. He was totally gonna have to go to the greenhouses or something and visit the different plants, and his own...

"Oh they know all about the animals," Jaemin murmured, standing up again and rubbing his hands on his pants. The knees of his jeans were already streaked with dirt and a bit of mud, and he knew better than to even bother about them. "They just think a lot of them are fantasies, or extinct. And animals can hide and stuff... or we hide them, like the dragons. Plants don't really do that."

Venomous Tentaculas did not hide from people. They just got grabby. Jaemin turned his attention back toward the castle, eyes going up toward where Ravenclaw Tower should be, or so he'd imagined.

"Do your ears pop when you go up to your common room? It seems awful high."

Hope was deep in thought. She was remembering her summer. She had a pretty good summer. Of course there were bad parts. Really bad parts... she didn't want to think about that.. she shook her head as she came to a clearing by a beach.

She was so deep in thought that she hadn't seen Haddie. She almost tripped over her, but luckily Haddie had seen her first. Startled, Hope gasped. It was a very small gasp. But when she noticed Haddie a smile broke out on her face.

Hey haddie! I almost didn't see you there. Things are.. they are good. How are you?" She sat down beside Haddie. Spreading her legs. She could tell that something was bugging her but she didn't know Haddie that we'll so she didn't know if she should aask..

Flying erratically around the grounds, Herjenmie searched for the hooman. He was particularly pleased that this one seemed to be outside, so he could stretch his wings and fly any which way he wanted without silly things like walls and windows and portraits getting in his way.

And THERE. HOOMAN ALERT.

He swooped down, landing next to the hooman boy just long enough to set his letter on the ground, then flapped his way back up, up, and away for home.

Whoa! "Don't step on Asher!" She whistled for the ferret and he immediately made his way to her. Just to be safe. It turned out not to be needed, as Hope sat down Oh well, the ferret was already content in Hadley's lap. She gave him a few head scratches. "Good, I'm glad things are good for you."

As for her...The danger of being stepped on passed, Hadley let Asher go back to running off some of his boundless energy. Which the ferret was all to eager to do.

Hadley shrugged. "It's good to be back here." Wasn't that the truth. And good to be out of the house. And good to be away from her Dad. And good to be back casting magic. "So what are you up to?"

"Oh I'm sorry!" reaches out to pet Asher. Im so sorry I'm just lost in my own little world. So how was your summer?" She watched the ferret scurry away. He seemed content.

Im so glad I'm back too. This summer was good, but it really had its bad parts. And plus I missed it here. It's an experience all itself."

She fiddled with the sand. Pulling it in between her fingers. She noticed Rachel wasn't around. Maybe she was just unpacking still. Or busy. But it was unusual for Hadley to be without her.

"It's fine. He's safe, and he seems to like you so, no harm done." There was the summer question again. It was becoming increasingly clear to Hadley she wasn't going to avoid the topic. It just kept coming and frankly it was getting tiring trying to deflect it every time. It was amazing how much having such a small secret because you didn't feel up to talking about something weighed on a person.

Sighing, Hads shrugged again. "My summer...was..." Too late to deflect now, and she really hadn't thought through whether or not she wanted to tell anyone. So moment of truth, should she lie, or be honest? "It sucked, honestly. My Dad really isn't okay with me being a witch I guess, and, yeah. It was pretty bad." There. She said it out loud to someone other than Kitridge. "So yeah, let's talk about your summer. All the good stuff."

Azura nodded as Jaemin spoke about the plants.. That made sense she supposed. Since he had been here last year. So wouldn't have seen all of this stuff already? "Anything in particular that you were looking for? Or just something new?" She asked him as she looked around..

It seemed the lake or the Forest might be the place to look for more interesting things.. But.. The Forest was terrifying and off limits and the lake.. well.. she supposed with a charm you could go looking, but running to a merperson in their territory would be awful. Otherwise she would suggest going to look with him.. But really, what could two small second years do against a bunch of scary aquatic people?

Not much.

She stood up as he covered up the patch of dirt he had been looking at and rose as well. "I guess you are right, we do hide some of the more scary ones.. and true.. Plants don't really hide." She admitted as she wondered how they didn't know about the magical plants.. "Perhaps they are only cultivated by witches and wizards, or only grow in magical spots?" She suggested.. Really that would make a whole lot of sense.. and be easier to hide them from muggles.. But who really knew..

Azura didn't.

She shook her head at his words. "No, they don't.. and it IS really high.. the only thing I hate about being a Ravenclaw is the stairs.. so many stairs." She said with a shake of her head before looking at the owl that swooped down in front of them, dropped a letter and then took off.. Azura peered over Jaemin for a moment before straightening.. "It's for you."

SPOILER!!: Sha! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stormdancer

Marsha was in such a daze, and probably not running fast for that very reason, that it took her a minute to even realise that someone was talking to her. As much as she would like to run with someone, she knew that most of the teenagers her age didn’t realise that there was a 5am as well as a 5pm on a clock.

Slowing her running down a little more, the tiny redhead looked over her shoulder to see the new Muggle Studies professor running behind her. Smiling, she shook her head. ”Of course not.” she told her with a smile as she picked her pace back up to a decent speed. Though, she forgot that her ‘decent’ speed, probably didn’t match the speed of most runners.

”I’m Marsha.” She told her. Partly to be polite, partly because she hadn’t met her yet anyway. She ran up an incline, loving the cross-country feel she always got when running the grounds.

Now that she was closer to the redhead, Kay's first impression was that she belonged only to either first or second year since she was so small. The girl didn't even seem to register that Kay was addressing her. At least not until a little later when she turned her head to look over her shoulder. Then she picked up her pace. Kay did the same to catch up with her.

"Hi, Marsha!'' The Professor was now jogging along her, up the incline. "I'm Professor Stewart as you have known from the Headmaster's speech.'' She paused to breathe as she readjusted the purple bandana tied around her head. She wasn't out of breath, actually. ''Do you usually run every morning?''

When Hope had asked Hadley about her summer she didn't know that she'd stir up unwanted memories or emotions. She looked over at Hadley. She could see she was in turmoil. Why did she ask? She thought it was a simple question...

If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to. I'm sorry your summer was so bad. I hope your dad comes around. He needs to accept it. It's not really something you can change." She patted Her on the shoulder. She would've hugged her but she felt like that was too much.

As for my summer it was decent. I spent most of it under my dad's thumb being grounded because he found out I kissed a boy, but I spent alot of time with Noelle and Sabbie. Also with Sabbie's cousin. We had good times." She smiled. They really did have good timea. Like having a campfire night under the stars. Or going to see the queen. She was hoping to distract Hadley from her thoughts. She hoped talking about her summer maybe would work?

Haddie scratched the back of her head and then rest her chin in her palm. "It was what it was." She shrugged. "It's not really that he can't accept it, he just doesn't want me to have anything to do with the Wizarding World." She shrugged again. Hadley Denaker's go-to gesture: a shrug. "I'm just...It really wasn't that bad, probably. I'm just weak or something. It's nothing compared to what Noelle and Sabbath went through." Which she still didn't really know the specifics of, but she knew it had been bad.

Hads was happy to change the subject to Hope's summer. "You kissed a boy?" She probably had the complete opposite of the expression her Dad had when he heard. "Uh, Congrats." She wasn't entirely sure but she had a feeling that Hope might be the closest thing to an expert on that stuff in their grade. Hundreds of questions were flowing into Hadley's mind and she wasn't sure if she wanted to ask any of them or discover the answers for herself in her own time. "Who was it?" The comment about being grounded sparked something. "I guess, that was my summer too. Extreme grounding or something? I was basically on house arrest so Dad could keep me away from anything and everything to do with Magic, Hogwarts or the Wizarding World." Except their neighbors, since they pretty much shared a wall. So she at least got to babysit Octopus, as long as it was in the Denaker home, and not the Loftbottoms'. "Including my friends."

Hope looked down, Chewing her lip a little. She knew how parents could be. A little too overprotective at times. But being a wizard wasn't too bad. Or harmful unless you go up against some bad people. She thought of Noelle and Sabbie's situation that happened last year... well on the other hand... maybe it could be. But you can't shield your kids from everything. They need to learn to fight and fend for themselves.

he kept you from your friends? Wow that's not cool at all. I'm so sorry. I couldn't handle not being able to not talk to my friends. Noelle is my best friend and also my cousin so my dad wouldn't be able to keep me from her. And you were on house lock down? Me too but only for like a few weeks. Not the whole summer. I feel so bad for you. I hope it gets better. She felt so bad for her. How could he do that. That was crossing a huge line.

She shook her head. I kissed Sabbie's cousin, José. Dad didn't take that too well. He banned me from seeing him ever again, but after a few weeks of being basically chained to my dad's side he let me go see Noelle. And hang out with Noelle. And of course Noelle dates sabbie so I occasionally got to see him. Have you ever kissed anyone?"

A subject was just what they needed. Hope could tell Hadley was barely holding on. She slide a little closer and gave her an awkward half hug before sliding back over.

Was he looking for anything in particular? Jaemin shook his head lightly, shrugging a shoulder. He never went out looking for things in particular, because there was so much to see. It was much easier to just take things all in as they came. If he was looking for something specific, it was usually because he already knew where it was, or knew for sure that it would be where he was looking. Nope, he was just looking for things in general. Exploration!

"That might be... I'll have to ask dad or Professor Myers about it. Cause any time we have magical plants in the yard, it's because we put them there rather than because they were supposed to be there, but most of the plants in the yard are there cause we put them there..." Maybe magical plants only sprung up around magical people, or magical places. Was that big-headed though, to think that nature might mold itself around witches and wizards? He wasn't really sure. Why hadn't he ever bothered to ask about stuff like this before?! He should already know the answers to questions like these.

Not high enough to make your ears pop? That was another thing he would have to look up. How high did one have to go to make that happen? He made another mental note, nodding more to himself than Azura.

"Stairs are a nightmare if you're really tired... but I suppose it's good that in the early morning you can only go down for classes, right?" Going down was easier than going up, after all. The small boy was about to say something else when the large fluffy feather missile appeared.

The small boy took a step back in surprise when the owl dropped down to the ground next to him, eyes wide and one arm going up just in case. Who knew, after all, which owls were post and which owls just were owls when you were outside? But it turned out to be safe, and the fluffy guy dropped his letter and took off again without even waiting for Jaemin to have a chance to find some sort of treat.

Odd. They usually were really insistent about that.

"Mom and dad just wrote me two days ago," he mumbled, again more to himself than to Azura as he squatted down and picked up the envelope. He opened it carefully right then, making no effort to hide any of its contents from Azura because really... why would he need to? However, the colour in his face went from Regular Jaemin to Very Pink-Cheeked Jaemin in the space of a few seconds once he had it open and had unfolded the first page out. The handwriting wasn't recognisable because... well... she'd not had occasion to write him until now, thank Merlin. But the name was familiar enough, and the boy's ears went bright red at the single line of text.

There was something else in the envelope, and Jaemin very cautiously pulled it out and unfolded it.

"...................what the heck?!" his face went even more pink, nose wrinkling as he recoiled almost physically from the cut and pasted picture. For a good long moment, he actually totally forgot that Azura was standing there, because how had she gotten a picture of him?! The boy shook his head emphatically, as if Sachiko would somehow see and understand the reaction and, with clumsy movements, made to fold the thing back up again. Nobody else needed to see this. EVER.

Azura nodded at Jaemin as he spoke. She didn't know too much about how Magical plants grew or flourished.. "That's the same with us, most of the magical plants in our yard were because we put them there.. My mom.. " She paused for a moment, the word making her semi-choke for a moment before she continued. "Was.." ugh.. it hurt to speak.. but Azura took a breath and got through it. "A healer, so we had tons of plants that were potion ingredients growing in our yard."

Phew. she had made it though that explanation. Something that used to be so easy and normal to talk about, was now something that made her heart ache and made a cold feeling move over her body. She swallowed back tears that were threatening to cloud her purple eyes as she looked upwards for a moment, before looking back at Jaemin.

"Mmmm, that is good.. though going all the way back up after dinner.. when you are full and tired from the day. That's the most awful part of them all. Not to mention, you are hungry, by the time you reach the top cause you used up all your dinner trying to reach the common room." Mmmmhmmm.. Azura was not fond of stairs.. Really, she should have been a Hufflepuff or something.. She didn't think she would cut it as a Slytherin.. but who knew really?

Jaemin was cool and he was a Slyterin..

Her musings were cut short though as the owl landed at Jaemin's feet.. dropped a letter and then flew off.

"Really? I hope nothing is wrong then." Yes, now it was Azura's first insticnt to just assume something was wrong when a surprise owl dropped something at one's feet.

Azura wasn't one to snoop really, but now she was curious if something was wrong, so she ever so causally peered over his shoulder.. only to see.. only one line of text.. and it didn't look like it was from his parents! Was it from a girl???

Azura bit her lip a little as she tried not to giggle as what came out next..

Wowwwwwww..

And here Azura thought SHE was bad when it came to liking boys! But.. she had never done anything like that.. Worst thing she had done was write a song for Jace.. that wasn't weird right?

She looked over at Jaemin and noticed him blushing and he angrily folded up the note.. Ahhh.. so he didn't return the senders feelings.. She wasn't fully sure what to say.

"I'm so sorry.. I saw.. I.. was just making sure no one was hurt." Yes.. apology right away was the best course of action along with.. "I won't tell anyone.. I promise."

What was he supposed to do with this thing? Jaemin stuffed the picture back into the envelope and stared at it for a good long minute, ears and cheeks still flaming. He couldn't just... throw it away. What if someone found it? What if Sachiko had jinxed it or something, and it got mad if he threw it out?! She seemed the type to do that kind of thing... he looked up as Azura spoke, and his face went even redder when he realised what she was saying. SHE HAD SEEN IT.

"I... it... she's..." what was he even trying to say? He floundered a bit for words and shoved the envelope hastily into his pocket, his other hand moving to thoughtlessly scratch at his neck. "I don't know how to explain it. I really don't."

Oh Merlin, she had better keep to that promise. He wasn't a mean person and Azura was a sweet girl but he would totally jinx her toes off or something if she went about telling people that Jaemin Song got weird pasted together pictures of himself from a small, delusional girl who went to school at Beauxbatons. He would. While he cared very little about that whole 'protect your image' thing, he did have a distinct need to not get picked on for being the target of a crazy girl who insisted they were going to get married.

Ooops.. Perhaps the truth wasn't the way to go? Azura looked at Jaemin as he turned redder than she knew a face could go and looked at her. She put her hands up as he started to explain.

"You don't need to explain if you don't want to." She said as she looked up at him. Really, he didn't need to. She had accidentally seen something she wasn't supposed to and it wasn't any of her business really. So..

"Honestly.. It's okay.. and you don't have to worry.. I promise I won't tell anyone.. I wasn't supposed to see that in the first place.. so I'll just erase that from my mind." She had a secret much bigger than that occupying her mind.. and so.. that's what she dwelt on lately..

She would be lucky even to remember what she saw in a few hours.