The blonde continued to beam at Professor Stewart. Did she mention that Professor Stewart was one of her favorite professors? Probably not but Kat didn't like to brag. "My mom has a Slytherin and dad was Gryffindor." She smiled, she still enjoyed telling everyone that. And since Alex was there and in the Gryffindor house it gave her a reason to tell her story.The Hufflepuff was a child of a Slytherin and Gryffindor's love story. Okay Kat was getting to be a bit of romantic sap.

Katerina had to really think about this question. "Muggle board games. They are so much fun to play. What is yourabd favorite muggle board game?" She asked the professor and Alex trying to get the shy boy into the conversation as well. "Candyland, and hungry hungry hippos are my favorites." She added with a grin.

Miranda made her way down to the treehouse. Navigating her way through the snow drifts. Having a blast kicking her way through the deepest spots. Glad for the new boots her mum had sent her just before the snow started to fall. not to mention the warmest coat on the planet..

But anyway she finally got to the treehouse and looked up .. With any luck her sweetest ever botfriend would look down form above. alas, He was n't looking down at her.. Maybe he was hiding. She didn't know. But he was always doing cute things like that.

So, She started to climb the ladder on the side of the tree in hopes of finding him there already and waiting to Snuggle with her.

Genny continued to give him the same grin. "You're welcome." She wasn't complimenting him but also he seemed to be flattered by that as if she was the first one to point that out to him. "I wish I saw things like you, or thought about it like you. I can't help it, I guess." She paused, looked at Henry sideways contemplating whether she should say the next thing or not.

"I get angry at things too quickly." She did.

Friends obviously meant a lot to him. Same for her, this made her feel even more comfortable talking to him. Although right now she felt embarrassed she shared that piece of trivia with him. "Uhm, I know them. I know Brooklyn. But we're not friends. I mean, I'm not an annoying stalker or anything but--" Her cheeks were definitely a light shade of red, which got her even more embarrassed so she focused her eyes on the grass down below. "--I think she's a nice girl. She looks pretty, she seems very together all the time, she doesn't show such random, explosive emotion." With a bite of her lower lip, the Gryffindor continued, "Did you meet anyone who made you get attract to them like that?"

SPOILER!!: Kat & Alex! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

The blonde continued to beam at Professor Stewart. Did she mention that Professor Stewart was one of her favorite professors? Probably not but Kat didn't like to brag. "My mom has a Slytherin and dad was Gryffindor." She smiled, she still enjoyed telling everyone that. And since Alex was there and in the Gryffindor house it gave her a reason to tell her story.The Hufflepuff was a child of a Slytherin and Gryffindor's love story. Okay Kat was getting to be a bit of romantic sap.

Katerina had to really think about this question. "Muggle board games. They are so much fun to play. What is yourabd favorite muggle board game?" She asked the professor and Alex trying to get the shy boy into the conversation as well. "Candyland, and hungry hungry hippos are my favorites." She added with a grin.

Whereas most of Kay's father's family were Ravenclaws, Kat's family was different. The Professor like it very much especially since Mr and Mrs Delgado happened to be Gryffindor and Slytherin respectively given the Houses' competitiveness with each other. "I see. Did they like each other right away or did they dislike each other at first?'' Excuse Kay, Kat, but she liked love stories.

"Those are quite fun! What about you, Alex? Do you like Muggle things?" Here was a chance to get the seemingly shy boy to open up. "As for my favourite board game, it would be the Game of Life. I used to play that a lot with my dad.''

"Ms. Delgado, what do you think of me having some board games in the Fun Room?'' The idea had simply just occured to her.

Yes I do Alex said. It is very interesting the things muggles can come up with.

Bradson made his way down to the school grounds. He looked around as made his way towards the treehouse. He was a little early but he had a feeling that was alright. He didn't mind waiting for Miranda.

The third year climbed the ladder to the treehouse. He looked around, maybe he should just wait right here for her? Was the too creepy? Maybe it was. He really didn't know how to be boyfriend but he could tell that he was doing pretty good at it. At least that's what he was guessing at. He walked inside and found a place to sit as he waited for her.

He crossed his arms and waited Miranda. He should have brought his guitar. He would always bring it with him when he would hang out here but he still wasn't all that confident with the current song he was working on. He wanted the very first song he had written to be perfect but that was hard to do when he didn't know how to write lyrics.

Brady looked up and smiled brightly when he saw his girlfriend. "Randa!" The Scottish boy said cheerfully as he stood up and hugged her.

Miranda heard the footsteps in the snow a few seconds before he came into view. she saw the top of his head first.... A smile beaming acrossed her face...

" Brady!" , she exclaimed as she hugged him back... Oh how she loved his hugs.. they were the best she'd ever gotten... Not that she was one to go around hugging everyone... quite the opposite in fact.. Which meant that she liked him quite alot and was more than comfortable being with him.

Pulls him to the bench and sits down with him...

" I was thinking we could practice some of the transfiguration stuff we've learned so far.."

Katerina chuckled, 'Well no. Dad annoyed the dickens out of my mother." He still did sometimes. Hehehe. Really though, he parents love story was pretty much one of her favorites. Not just because it was her parents. It was just a cute story. And she knew the main characters. In true Slyherdor couple form. Kat may prefer Slytherpuff couples better. Or Hufflepuff and Hufflepuff. Who knew.

Oh, the game of Life? That was a fun game too. She beamed then looked to Alex to see what his favorite muggle board game was. "Do you have a favorite board game, Alex?" Then back to the professor when she asked her the question about games in the fun room. "Oh, That's a wonderful idea. I bet a lot of students would love that."

My favorite board game is snakes and ladders Alex said feeling a little embarrassed. snakes and ladders was a game for 3 year olds life was a much more respectable game.

SPOILER!!: Kat and Alex! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by SarcasticStrawberry

Katerina chuckled, 'Well no. Dad annoyed the dickens out of my mother." He still did sometimes. Hehehe. Really though, he parents love story was pretty much one of her favorites. Not just because it was her parents. It was just a cute story. And she knew the main characters. In true Slyherdor couple form. Kat may prefer Slytherpuff couples better. Or Hufflepuff and Hufflepuff. Who knew.

Oh, the game of Life? That was a fun game too. She beamed then looked to Alex to see what his favorite muggle board game was. "Do you have a favorite board game, Alex?" Then back to the professor when she asked her the question about games in the fun room. "Oh, That's a wonderful idea. I bet a lot of students would love that."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pix

My favorite board game is snakes and ladders Alex said feeling a little embarrassed. snakes and ladders was a game for 3 year olds life was a much more respectable game.

Kay laughed softly. "I still call it love either way, Ms Delgado.'' Indeed she did and at least Kat's parents were still together. Kay had never known her own mother but she treasured her father. He would always tell her tales of himself and his mother which made Kay like love stories so much.

"Great, Ms Delgado! I'll get working on that today. We'll be sure to have Snakes and Ladders.'' That last bit was directed to Alex whom she winked at. Most board games were fun! Just not... chess. She didn't really like that (because she always lost at it). "Ms Delgado, Mr Sunfire. I must go now. I have to prepare for my upcoming lesson.'' There were still a few things she needed to fine tune and some extra research to be done. Kay stood up. "I'll see you two around. Thank you once more for the cake, Ms Delgado.'' She smiled warmly then left.

Once Henry finished his own apple, he drew his arm back and threw the core across the grounds just as Genny did. "I guess that's what makes us all different," he said as he watched the core sail away, then turned to look at the girl sitting next to him. "The way we see things or react. Not necessarily good or bad, just different." He liked that people were different, it made them interesting.

"Sometimes when I'm angry or have a lot of pent-up energy, I do things to relieve the stress, like running or working out in the training room." He really liked doing MMA stuff for that reason. "I bet hitting bludgers is great for relieving stress too," he added with a grin. Maybe the satisfaction of feeling the bat against the iron balls was one reason that Genny chose that position to play.

Henry looked at the girl next to him a bit curiously as she explained more about Brooklyn. He wasn't sure why she was blushing though. Had he embarrassed her somehow? Oh... the more she continued, the more Henry thought she might have a crush on the older girl. Or maybe she thought she shouldn't have shared a piece of gossip. Maybe he shouldn't assume.

"Yeah, sure, there's a few people I've been attracted to, in a way like that I guess." He wasn't sure if she meant if he liked any girls or in a way like some people just drew you to them because of their personalities, and you just had to get to know them better. But he could say so on both accounts for sure.

Genny watched Henry's apple soar in the air, a little higher than hers, before it started sinking down down almost reaching the lake's edge. It was an impressive throw, one that was obviously from a Quidditch player. "Maybe. But there's no in between, it's either good or bad." She disagreed lightly. It wasn't quite clear to her yet what he meant by people being just different without being labeled good or bad. People were either good or bad.

Those were good suggestions, so she nodded at him. "Yeah.. it still takes a lot to not act during the angry moment and save it for the training room." She chuckled. Her problem was probably timing. She couldn't keep anything in unless it was a TINY bit of anger, otherwise it all came flowing out of her mouth until she was clean. It was good for her health because she was rarely found worrying or overthinking or being miserable, but she was quite often guilty about it. "I want to try out for the U-17 team this summer." She grinned back at Henry.

That was an unhelpful answer but Genny figured wasn't interested in sharing WHO those people were, so she didn't push it. Plus, once Quidditch was being discussed everything else was shoved to the side and lost its value.

By said Alex, oh It was just to bad kay had to leave. Fore now Alex would just listen to what everyone else had to say and jump into the conversation latter.

It was April. The start of spring, blossoming of flowers and trees, the birth of baby animals and lovely weather. Sadly it also meant NEWTs would be coming up quickly and Hady knew this was where a lot of her time would be turning to. She had studied nonstop of her OWLs so it was only obvious that these tests would be getting the same attention if not more. The results she received on these could make or break her.

Before that could happen and all her attention and time was set to studying she was taking today as one of the few to herself. A couple of hours spent doing whatever she choose to do.

Which was how she ended up here in the treehouse. She was sat on the small balcony area, her back pressed up against it's railing, knees pulled up on which she had her sketch book resting. In her hand was a pencil that was delicately moving over the page adding more lines and constant shading. Hazel eyes constantly shifting between what she was working on and a few updated moving photos of her siblings that were pinned to a small board near her. It had been a little bit since she had worked on some sketching or painting and that wasn't good.

He had no real reason for being at the treehouse, it wasn't a place he frequented on his own... but today was the exception. It was true that now was a time of change, not only regarding the weather and up-coming exams with graduation pending soon after that. No, it was more. It was... intrinsic. He was growing frustrated, perhaps with himself.

Even with all the talks of change, his routines remained the same, eat, sleep, workout, duel, Maggie, classes, repeat. It was a pleasant life, though he wouldn't lie, he could do without Transfiguration on Thursday mornings, or EVER. What bothered him was that even though he had all his ducks lined up in a neat row, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was missing something. Missing OUT on something.

After climbing the rungs to the main platform, Zeke meandered about until he stumbled across Hady, sitting on the balcony doing what Hady does - which in his opinion was everything and anything.

"Hey," he greeted her with a slight grin, choosing to stand beside her, looking out over the grounds.

This seventh years attention might have been on the sketch she was working on but that didn't mean she didn't hear the footfalls of someone else making their way up to the treehouse. Not hearing them say anything right from the start she supposed they either didn't know her or were checking things out. So it was okay that she hadn't looked up right away from what she was doing, pencil still moving lightly across the parchment on her lap.

In fact it wasn't until the person was nearly beside her did she look up. An instant smile forming on her face when she say just who it was standing there. "Hey, what brings you up here?" she asked setting her pencil down for the moment. Zeke didn't seem much of a 'let me sit around in the treehouse' type of guy to her. What did she know though, people changed including her friends. And if changes were going to happen then seventh year was one of the times that it usually did.

The world looked so peaceful and well put-together from here. The grass was green, dotted with flowering weeds, the lake glittering and reflecting the skies blue and puffs of white. Zeke couldn't help but feel odd as he looked out at the grounds. Dissecting and analysing the scene made it seem too good to be true, fake even.

Resting his side against the railing, he peered down at Hady, glancing over the sketch in her lap. Such an artsy one she was, creative in everything she did. Her question was straight forward, but all he could do was shrug as he exhaled a breath.

... "Not sure really, just killing time." Slowly. Painfully. By himself. Or not... he sat himself down on the floor beside her, both legs bent at the knee. "How 'bout you?"

Her bestie may have been checking out the view but while he was doing that Hady was studying him. From his stance to his quite demeanor. Even to the way he was looking at her sketch. "Oh, yeah? Anything good happening later on then?" What else would he be killing time for?

A small smile graced her lips when he sat down beside her. "Just enjoying the fresh air and working on this sketch," she shrugged leaning against her friends side a moment. Trying to get herself motivated once again with something she enjoyed between all lessons and studying for NEWTS. "I haven't seen you much lately, spending all your free time with Maggie?" Hady glanced at him giving him a teasing look.

Anything good happening later? .... Uhhhhhh....

"Just the same old?" Which translated to a NO, clearly. Not that he didn't have anything to look forward to, his life was great, just, nothing particularly planned or eventful was happening. Yeah. That. Dinner though, he was certain dinner would be great tonight - because it usually was.

Fresh air and working on the sketch were obvious things he supposed, so all he could do in response to Hady was nod. He was comfortable here, beside her, it helped slow the cogs that were turning in his head. Those cogs stalled briefly as he let out a short chuckle. Hady was too funny. "Maggie gets more than my free time, but yeah." He didn't want to go a day without seeing her face if he could help it. And that was the thing, right now it was easy, but soon things would be, different.

"Can you believe we'll be graduating soon?"

Just the same old. That wasn't a Zeke line. What was going on with this boy?

Hady shifted sideways just enough to really look at him. Something was off. Way to serious for her liking and not enough laughing, joking and playful nudges. Whatever was happening she was going to fix it. No one was allowed to be so down or serious when around here, he had always cheered her up and she was going to do the same for him.

Fresh air was always a given with her whenever she was able. Being outside in the open did things for her that being inside couldn't. The sketch well that went about with painting and she really needed to keep up with that. However right now her time was going to Zeke and she smiled at hearing his laugh even if it was just a short laugh. "This much I know," she teased gently nudging him. "I share a dorm with her." Which meant she heard her fair share of stories, just as she had told some herself.

"I know...I didn't think this year would come so fast but here we are and it's already nearly over." If this was what was on his mind Hady could very easily relate. Growing up and moving on was tough. Worrying about getting things done, being good enough, where you and everyone else was going to end up. It was huge. Scary. Most of the time she didn't feel ready. Turning back around so her back was to the railing again her leaned lightly against her friend like she always did. "Things will turn out alright, you know."

And gosh... he didn't need reminding.

What was it that girls talked about anyway? Like, cause, they were... gossipy in general, which could have positive and negative repercussions. At the end of the day, he didn't think we wanted to know what words and stories were exchanged. He trusted Maggie anyway. And if she wanted to sing all his praises, he was hardly going to stop her. Let's face it, he was rather amazing.

It was what it was.

Nevertheless, the expression on his face - evident by an arched eyebrow - was one of mild curiosity. "Uh huh," was the only sound he was able to muster, but the nudge he received was promptly returned with a grin.

There was so much truth to Hady's words, but he was ready to move on... to bigger and better things - whatever form success would take for him. "I know," Zeke returned, resting his head against hers as he contemplated LIFE.

Life.

Out in the world.

"Worked out what you're going to do?"

Girls. Girls talk about everything. Everything and anything. All the time. It's what they did. Sharing stories, experiences, heartaches, ideas, tears and lots of laughs. And when you have girls that have shared a dorm now for seven terms LOTS was said. The best thing though was knowing that what was said in a dorm stayed in the dorm.

So as it was Hady had heard many a stories about Zeke, a few she could've done without but that was alright. He was her best friend and Maggie had grown closer to her for that reason and several other reasons over the years. So anything she was told was kept quiet. His response was meant with the typical Slytherin grin and nothing more. Of course he knew, there was noway that he couldn't know she would know things.

The feeling of his head against hers made her smile in some small way bringing her back to when they were younger and nothing really mattered but having fun. It was nice. To bad it didn't last long, Zeke's question snapping her back to reality. "For the most part I think I have. I'll be going home for a little bit to see my family before doing some traveling with Frankie. Maybe you and Maggie can meet us somewhere for a few days..." she cast a quick glance at him. The four of them spending some time together would be amazing. "I'm thinking about getting my own apartment before starting Uni in the fall." Cue a shrug of the shoulders now. This was still up in the air. Her own place was a huge step but one that made complete sense to her.

It was only natural for Hady to have things worked out - or at least MOSTLY worked out. She was SUCH a perfectionist... not that he minded, it meant he had someone to keep up with in classes. Call it motivation.

Home was a given, a welcome one that he too would enjoy, and travelling was another. "Oh cool, yeah, sounds good... where're you guys headed?" he questioned. "We haven't made plans yet, but we want to do something before settling in Cairo." And it seemed Hady was settling too. He could vouch for apartment living, cause as nice as a proper house could be, apartments had their perks. "By yourself or with Frankie?"

Usually she had things worked out. Or at the very least, most things. Leaving Hogwarts and moving forward in her life and working towards her larger goals was much more difficult to plan for. A lot of other things were coming into play now. So as it was Hady was doing her best to stick to a plan but also working hard at taking it just one day at a time.

There was noway she wouldn't be going home at least for a little while. Her little brother and sister was there and she still hadn't gotten the chance to set eyes on her baby cousin yet. "Many places over the course of a month or so. I'll write you down the places and dates so that Maggie and you can decide?" It was all written down up in her dorm. The planning had taken Frankie and her quite sometime to get just right. "Make sure to let me know where you're at in Cairo once you're settled." Hady knew that he would because what bestie wouldn't tell where they were moving to? And there was the question everyone kept asking. "That is still unconfirmed. Hopefully he'll be smart and stay with me since he'll be with me all the time anyhow."

Why was he doing this again? It didn't really make sense after he'd been so adamant two days ago.

He was being a good friend, he reminded himself. Yes.

And Sam just needed to stop thinking about it, that's what. Unfortunately, Sam wasn't spectacular about not thinking about things, though.

So, after leaving Genny a note this time, the Gryffindor waited up in the back of the treehouse and did a very poor job of not thinking.