A lot of students wouldn’t get up super early on a weekday, given their heavy load of coursework from the last five days, but one Jacen Reed was already up and about, and just finished his morning Kendo training in the Practise Room.

Still garbed in his Kendo uniform, Jace kept a straight face as he bent down, palms pressed against a wet rag cloth on the floor, and pushed forward with his feet mopping the entire length of the room. As he reached the end, he swiveled around, and did the same thing.

Performing the Soji is a great way to clear his head of buzzing thoughts, while making the room spotless after using it. Kendo is discipline, after all.

[ Azura didn't think many people would be up this early and she had found that the practice room was a great place to come and do homework and be alone and get her thoughts ready for the day.

Especially now that it was December.

Thoughts of last December were still fresh in her brain.. thoughts of her mother, spending Christmas and her birthday alone, Chris getting back with Mia, finding out her family wanted to put her up for adoption.. all of that happened last December.

And though things were different this year.. the memories were still thick and clouded in her head and threatened to fall down her face as she entered the practice room and smiled as she saw who was in there,.

She leaned against the door as she watched her fiend garbed in his Kendo uniform clean the floor.

"Hey, you. " She said softy.

Having not been at Hogwarts for a year made Jasper feel like a first year all over again. Even though he'd been back for a while now, he still seemed to not know where anything was. The castle was a maze, and this early in the morning, unsurprisingly, there was no one around that he could really ask for help.

When he'd wandered into a room, hoping it would give him an indicator of roughly where he was, he wasn't expecting to find both Azura and Jace already there. Clearly he was in luck today, though he tilted his head to the side, also watching as Jace cleaned the floor for a moment before shrugging it off. Probably a cultural thing.

"Mornin'" he greeted both of them with a smile, though he was cautious about stepping inside in case Jace was sensitive now that he'd cleaned the floor...

Should he take his shoes off?

Jace was in a trance. His usual of course whenever he throws himself at a task that requires a still mind. But even if he was focused on his task, his mind was open to other things such as voices coming from the other side of the room. He wasn't sure though if they had been standing and watching him for a long time?

Doing the final sweep, he pushed his way towards them, picked up the rag and greeted his friends. "Ohayo." he said giving each of them a grin as he placed the damp cloth on the lip of a bucket nearby.

"Are you here to practise? Good timing because I just had it cleaned." It was an honor to clean it for them because that showed respect for his friends. "Oh, come on in. Shoes are fine." he added as he saw the hesitation in Jasper's face. They were in Scotland after all. It'd be different if they were to enter their house in Japan, obviously.

Az's purple eyes swung to her side when she heard a voice beside her and she grinned as shs saw who it was. "Hey Jazzy. " Best friend number one got a smile as she turned to best friend number two.. (the numbers were purely because she had been best friends with Jasper longer! She liked them both equally. )

She felt her heart lighten up a bit as she saw them both.. they weren't here last year.. so already this year was looking up.. and she quickly swallowed back her tears and took a breath, a small smile moving into place on her face.

"Actually I was just here cause it's a quiet place to think.. how about you Jazz? " She asked her friend as she stepped into the practice room. "How did you practice go? " She asked Jace curiously.

At Jace's approval, Jasper had moved inside, smiling at both of the other Ravenclaws.

"I went for a walk, got lost a few times and then just came back here..." he commented with a shrug. Their common room seemed bigger than what he remembered it to be, though. Did they have a practice area here during their first year?

Azura's question was a good one, though, so he waited for Jace's response, knowing the boy would probably be more than happy to talk about Kendo.

Jace momentarily busied himself by vanishing the used water from the bucket, and tucked the other cleaning materials away for the house elves to collect. He had a hard time convincing those elves that it was okay for him to clean...and that it was required of him to do such thing when practising.

The Ravenclaw then went to stow away his bokken in its bag and gave Azura a grin at her question. "It was good. Balance is getting better and my strikes are on point. Just a bit more of training and I'll be set for next year's promotion." he said as he settled on the floor, as his usual.

"You're here to think? I thought you were here to practise some spells..." he said gesturing to the dummies nearby.

Azura smiled as Jasper spoke.. " We need to get you a map hmm? " She said with a smile at her newly returned best friend before she turned and listened to Jace as he explained how he was doing with Kendo.

"I'm glad to hear that, I know how hard you've been predicting for that promotion. I hope you get it. " She really did. She knew her friend had been trying so hard to get promoted but so far hadn't managed it.. here's hoping this year was his year

She settled down onto the floor and looked at the dummies. "Ahhh.. well I mean that works for practicing spells too.. but no.. it's a good place to think.. " She said softly as she looked around.. she needed to do a lot of that lately..

Jasper grinned sheepishly at Azura's comment about him requiring a map... it was probably true though... Despite the slight blush rising up on his cheeks, he tried to shrug while pretending he wasn't slightly embarrassed. "Getting lost is a good way to find things..."

Cause clearly he got lost on purpose.

But anyways focussing on the other friend.

"You've got a grading coming up?" he asked tilting his head to the side towards Jace. Had Jace told him about this already? He didn't think so. He could vaguely remember him explaining Kendo to him... "Good luck, not that I think you'll need it!"

Because if Jace was anywhere near as intense with Kendo as he was with academics which Jasper was sure he was based on how tired he sometimes was that was not going to be an issue. He was definitely fully prepared, even if he would stress out about it.

Jasper's attention then turned back to Azura, and he nodded at her as she spoke. "I see where you're coming from... if it had more of a view I'd probably set up to paint here..."

Jace assumed the lotus position on the floor and gave his friends a good, appreciative look. The Ravenclaw felt warm and fuzzy inside as they both cheered him on. Surely, he's got friends back home in Japan who did the same, but to hear it from the people he practically lived and grew up with, it was more heart-warming. "Arigatou, gozaimasu." he said bowing his head to them. "I will do my very best." he said his eyes twinkling in gratitude.

The practise room did have that air of emptiness that could help someone clear out their thoughts. For Jace, however, it was a perfect venue for him to release stress from homework...and to practise for his promotion. The dummies were great opponents really. At least his aim is more than satisfactory this time.

Looking at Azura then at Jasper, Jace sat up straighter, his face plastered with a grin. "Since the two of you are here..." he said, purposefully giving both of them a very pregnant pause, Jace's grin turned into a smile.

Well, should he ask the things that make him curious about the two? Like...should he bring up his conversation with Azura back in their first year? Or should he discuss Jasper's beautiful sketch? The Ravenclaw was very tempted to ask them both, but didn't want to upset either of the two. He still needed evidence to be able to ask those questions so, he'd stay in the safe zone for now.

"I'd like to officially invite you to Japan. I already talked to my papa about it, and he's as excited as I am. Maybe...you should ask your parents soon about it? My papa can arrange international side-apparitions for you if you want, but...planes are okay too." They would be shouldering that expense though. The Reeds aren't exactly gazillionaires.

Azura smiled warmly at her friends as they sat on the floor of the practice room together. Having them all together like this made her heart happy and she was very grateful for that, especially since the month of December was hard for her..

Trust her friends to come along side her and cheer her up just by their presence.. sometimes Az wished that Jace could actually be her brother.. she knew there was no one else in the world that she would rather have for family then him.

"I'm sure you will do your very best. You always do. " She said fondly. She had no doubt that he would make it this time. He could do it. She knew he could.

Az turned to Jasper as he spoke. "See? It's so calm and peaceful. "

The Ravenclaw turned her attention back to Jace as he spoke.. "Yesss? " She asked him curiously.. now that he had them both here.. what? She raised an eyebrow as her purple eyes settled on him..

The tension in the room grew a bit until Jace smiled and then spoke!

"Japan!!! Really??? I would love to go! I have to ask my mom of course! But I'll do it over break! Fwoopers!!! This is so exciting! "