The Treehouse
 

For Shan :)
 

Yay!! :D
 

It was gorgeous out here. Olivia couldn't believe how lovely the weather was here at Hogwarts. The sun was shining AND it was warm. This the brunette decided to explore outside of the castle for a change. Following her brother's notebook, she found herself by a huge Treehouse. So this is where her brother hung out in his years. Awesome! Tucking the notebook away, she climbed up the ladder.

It took her only a few minutes to get to the top. Stepping into the woods fort, she took a moment to appreciate the beautiful view of the Lake and the rest of the grounds. "This is absolutely beautiful," she said as she took a step closer to the window. She turned around and began to walk into the room when she tripped over nothing (professional gravity tester) and made a very loud thud.

Owwwww.....

Well that didn't last long. Oliver had begun to nod off when he heard someone climing up the ladder and into the tree house. He was hoping it wasn't a loud and squeaky first year there to make noise...not that he didn't like first years, but he wasn't enjoying the quiet so much.

When he saw the girl, who looked only a few years younger than him, he smiled to himself and went back to minding his own business. If the girl wanted to talk, surely she'd say something to him.

...and then she talk. Huh. He was about to agree with her about the treehouse's beauty when she...tripped. Well then. Ollie quickly got up and went to her side, eyes wide. "Are you okay???" It didn't look like she'd hurt herself much but she could be fragile for all her knew.

For Whitty <3
 

It was actually a very nice day outside, the sun was out and the temperature was rather pleasant. Probably one of the last days of nice weather they would see for the next six months or so. Trixie kinda wished that it was raining, it would suit her mood so much better.

She trudged out of the castle with her hands deep in the pockets of her favourite black jeans and made her way across the grounds. She had no particular destination in mind, she just needed to get out into the fresh air in the hopes it would soothe her irritated mood.

For forty five minutes she walked, but her mood had not improved any and so she stopped her aimless walking and raised her head to see where she was and a small groan left her lips the moment she noticed the treehouse. The one place where most of the students hung out.

Trixie scowled a little and gave the tree a swift kick as if it was its fault that she was in such a bad mood. "Stupid - She didn't get to finish whatever she was going to say because kicking a solid tree was bound to hurt and it did. A lot!

First week of school and have already fallen on your face? Yep. Olivia certainly did meet that bullet point on her checklist. Fortunately, she hadn't first herself. She would have a bruise on her knee but that was about it. Glancing up at the older boy that appeared at her side, she smiled a little bit. "Oh yes, thank you. I must have gotten distracted by how awesome this place is and tripped myself up. I'm a complete klutz. You could say that I'm a professional gravity tester." She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. She didn't think that she had broken or twisted anything.

Rubbing her sore knee gently, she figured that she'd only have a bruise. The only thing that hurt was her ego but that could be saved. "I'll probably will just have a bruise," she chuckled, trying her best to avoid turning as red as her school robes. She continued to rub her knee which was a little sore. "Sorry for disturbing your peace and quiet. It must have been nice to have this place to yourself... for a while." It seemed like a great spot to just come, sit, relax, and not think about everything. "Do you know how long this place has been here for? I'm new here. Just transferred from Beauxbatons. I'm Olivia."

Her big toe was now THROBBING!

She grabbed her foot with her hand and hopped on one leg while she tried to rub the pain out of her toe. This was not helping her mood any and a stream of curse words were about to burst out of her mouth when she heard a voice behind her. And Trixie did not even need to turn around to know that it was a Professor behind her. Who else would call her Miss Jenkins?

Gritting her teeth, Trix put her foot back onto the ground and turned to see that it was the History of Magic teacher. Professor Newton. "Oh hey there Professor." She said with a forced smile on her face.

Was she alright? Not really. It felt as though her toe was going to fall off or something but she wasn't going to tell the Professor that. "Oh yeah I'm fine. Just a small disagreement with the tree." Thankfully she hadn't chosen the Whomping Willow to kick, she'd probably be unconscious right now.

"How was your summer?" The words were out before she could stop them and she mentally kicked herself for her stupidity. Not that she wasn't interested to hear about the woman's summer vacation. Trixie just didn't want to have to talk about hers.

Had she broken her toe? It certainly felt like it. Trixie looked down at her foot and she very carefully began to wiggle her toes. "Nope it's not broken. Just hurts like a bi-" Realising who she was talking to, the Gryffindor quickly cut off her words. "Um sorry. I'm sure it will get better soon and if it doesn't then I promise to I'll go to the healer." It might even get her out of class.

Of course the Professor had a good summer. Everyone seemed to have had a good summer, except her that is. And it must have showed on her face because the Professor seemed a little concerned. Trixie opened her mouth to say that she was fine and that she had an okay summer and there was nothing to worry about, but that would be lying and maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk about it.

She shoved her hands into her pockets and looked down at the ground. "I had a really crappy summer." That was an understatement. "Some people shouldn't have kids, you know?" Namely her parents.

Dora~
 

You know what was funny? He had been at Hogwarts a year now but never once had he climbed the tree house before. So when a free period came, Mason made his way outside wrapping his Ravenclaw robes closer to his body as it was getting a bit more colder each day. Not to the point it was freezing though, autumn still had to go away.

When he arrived at the tree, the sixth year looked up at it. He could see a couple of students in the house but he supposed it was big enough to support more. The problem was, how was he going to get in? He didn't have any tree climbing skills thanks to being a city boy nor did he have a broom.

But just as he thought this, a rope ladder appeared in front of him as if by magic. It probably had... Climbing up, the sixth year soon found himself standing in a much larger room than what he saw on the outside. And a fridge. Who's brilliant idea had it been to put a fridge in a treehouse? He walked towards it, wondering if anything would be inside.

Oliver couldn't help but laugh when the girl said she was a professional gravity tester. It was something he had never heard before and he thought it was really clever. "Well, let me just say that you're exceeding expectations at your job."

He then offered his hand to help her up from the ground. He was happy to see there wasn't any blood because he just could never really deal with blood well, it made him nervous. Hearing what she said next kind of made Ollie feel bad for being a little bothered when he'd first heard her come up. "No no no, don't worry about it! I was enjoying the quiet, but you weren't loud or anything." Honestly, he was surprised she didn't squeal on her way down or something. Not that he had ever heard that girls squealed when they fell...but it was something he could imagine a girl doing. "I mean, we could have this place to ourselves...together?" He felt like that sounded weird...and intimate...but that's not how he meant it at all. The more he thought about it, the more he felt his ears and cheeks turning pink. "What I meant was...I don't mind the company. Sorry if that sounded...weird..." Cue awkward silence...

Before things got too weird, he did his best to remember what he knew about the treehouse. "Ummm....." Think, Oliver. "I think....well...I don't actually know....I've heard it's been here for years, old enough that other students' parents remember hanging out in it....so at least thirty or forty years?" Maybe that was too many? All he knew was it always looked the same and it was amazing. "Are you new to Hogwarts?"

Dora had been perched on a branch near the house itself when she saw Mason climb past. It could have been fun to shout and possibly scare him, but she decided against it. He was the type that'd get agitated with her, she thought. Besides, she was FIFTEEN years old now. Time to chill that out, yeah.

When she was sure he got to the top and inside the house, she moved from her limb and pulled herself up inside. This was one of her favorite places on the grounds, so she knew it was quite large enough to hold BUNCHES of people. Pulling her blonde hair up into a messy bun she walked up beside him and grinned.

"How was your summer, Mason? " AnD if she startled him, all the better. She prided herself on being able to sneak up on people.

Nice alliteration! She held her tongue from saying that. Perhaps that was a little too nerdy of her. Hehe. Whoops! At his comment about her exceeding expectations, she gasped a little. “I only exceed expectations. So an E on my exam! Oh no whatever shall I do?” she replied, tossing her unruly hair behind her shoulder. She smiled momentarily. An "E" on an exam was a pretty good grade or so she thought it was. “I’ll take exceeding expectations any day. It's alright not always to get an outstanding ovation on everything you do.” Look at that fancy alliteration :eyebrows: Oh shush. She scolded herself.

She took his help and his hand and stood up. “Thank you,” she smiled. Olivia raised both eyebrows when he said his next sentence and turned pink. I mean, we could have this place to ourselves…together?. Wait. Was he… Was he… Umm.. She wasn’t sure if that was flirting or what that was. She blinked quickly. Twice. What did he mean by that? She was about to ask when she saw the older boy’s ears and cheeks turn pink. Poor thing! He was probably embarrassed by it. Ohh… He meant like they could share this place just the two of them. There was enough room in this treehouse for the two of them.. or potentially more. She chuckled at his phrasing. “Yeah, it does sound a little weird.” Olivia glanced down at her feet and then back up at him with a smile. “But don’t worry. I understand what you mean. We can totally share this place. Nothing weird about it.” She tried to reassure him as best as she could in her own true Olivia Holden fashion. Don't make it awkward. Don't make it awkward.

Aaaand now to the answer about the treehouse. She nodded, listening to him. Thirty or fourty years and it was in this good of a condition? That was fantastic. “Wow. So much must have happened here. It looks amazing for its age.” The Groundskeepr seemed to keep it in great shape which was fantastic. At his next question, she nodded and blushed at his question. Was it that obvious that she was new? Probably. “Yes, I’m new. I’m transferring into the fourth year from Beauxbatons though I’m not French. I’m Olivia. Are you also new or are you a Hogwarts veteran?”

Kimi :)
 

OWLs grading was way off from his own grading, so Exceeding Expectations was like an A+ or an Outstanding as far as he was concerned...but he probably should have made that clearer... "No no no, E is an O in my world. You're the best at testing gravity." He laughed again, because the whole conversation in itself was silly, but he was enjoying it. And he really appreciated how she mimicked him with the double O thing.

"You're welcome." He smiled at her and willed the pink to disappear from his face, but as he watched the girl's face, he could see her reaction to what he had said and his face only went from pink to red. He was really scolding himself now. Thinking before speaking was never his strongest suit...well, actually, talking in general was never his strong suit. He was really good at staying quiet and observing things. "Sorry if I made it weird...thanks for understanding though." He really appreciated her for not slapping him or walking away or ignoring him. Ollie had been anti social for so long that he was never really sure what to expect from people now. He knew how his friends would react and that was about it. He could already tell this girl was just naturally very nice.

He smiled even more at her reaction to the age of the treehouse because that was exactly how he felt. "Doesn't it? I know magic keeps it up but still, it looks brand new every year." He'd have to go find the groundskeeper and ask him what exactly he does to keep everything looking so perfect. That way his mum could do that to their house. It was hard to keep up with everything when five kids lived in a house.

"Oh that's really cool! My sister and I were around Beauxbatons this summer, just in the general area, we didn't get to go into the school or anything." They had never even gotten to see those Abraxans they'd been looking for. But he had his own bowtruckle (Louth) now and that was good enough for him. "Nice to meet you, Olivia. I'm Oliver, and yeah, I've been at Hogwarts since my first year. I'm in my last now." Saying it out loud was weird and exciting all at once. After this year, he'd be completely done with Hogwarts.

Kimi was excited to see that the treehouse was still here and seeing the Ravenclaw prefect writing in a journal and said "Hey there hope i am not disturbing you"

Opening the small fridge, Mason wasn't surprised to see that it contained several beverages. Had a professor placed those in there? Or maybe the house elves? Did house elves even leave the castle? Or perhaps it had been kind students who filled the fridge each time , must be hufflepuffs...

The drink he wanted however, was near the back but instead of summoning it towards him, which he could have easily done since it was a grade four spell and , well, hello sixth year here. But he wasn't lazy either so he stooped down and reached inside. His fingers grabbed the cold beverage and as he stood upright to close the door, a voice next to him startled him so much that he threw the beverage right at Dora.

Oops?

Olivia raised her eyebrows. She was the best at testing gravity now, was she? Oh ho ho ho. That made her quite chuffed, quite chuffed indeed. She laughed at how silly this all was yet loved every single minute. Here they were two perfect strangers having a fantastic conversation. She liked this school already. With a wink, she grinned, “That’s why I’m a professional.” A professional at 5’1 and a half.

She shook her head, hoping that he wasn’t too, too, too embarrassed. “No, no. It’s totally fine. I’m glad you said it first; otherwise, I probably would have,” she grinned, trying to help the situation a little. Olivia wasn’t the best with words. However, she was very good at putting her foot in her mouth when she spoke to people. Another special talent, huh? Oops. At the mention of the treehouse, she smiled at his comment. He was right. It did look brand new. This was so amazing.

Wait. He spent the summer near Beauxbatons? Awesome. “Perhaps I have seen you around before in passing,” she said with a smile. She didn’t think that she had seen him but Olivia had never been one to pay close attention to details or people when walking. She often wandered, lost in her own thoughts. “Near Beauxbatons? What were you guys up to?” Olivia was curious.

She had always like the name Oliver. All the Oliver's she had met in previous years had been nice. “A pleasure to meet you, Oliver. So you are a Hogwarts veteran through and through? That's amazing. Then you probably get asked this loads so apologies in advance for asking... But what’s your favourite part of the school?” she asked, tilting her head to the side ever so slightly as she posed that question.

For Hattie!
 

"Hmm?" Kitty looked up from her journal as a familiar young Hufflepuff entered and asked if he was disturbing. "Oh no, not at all. How are you Kimi?" She continued writing as she spoke.

Kimi smiled at Kitty and said "Very well thank you Kitty, glad to be back at school, how are you Kitty" Kimi was glad that he was back at school he missed Finland but heck he was enjoying his time at Hogwarts

This girl, Olivia, was just so great. He never thought he'd be having such a nice, funny conversation with someone he just met, it normally took him longer to adjust to people, but they were hitting it off. "Good point. I aspire to be as professional as you one day. I rarely ever get to test gravity." He actually managed to make himself sound disappointed about never tripping.

The more she talked, the better Ollie was feeling about the whole thing, and he was surprised. Very few people could make him feel comfortable but Olivia was succeeding. She actually reminded him of Cordy, which he was loving. Anyone even remotely similar to Cordy was a friend of his. "Okay, okay, if you're sure. Thank you." He appreciated her so much for not making him feel weird about things.

"Oh hey, I guess that is possible! My sister and I went looking around for magical creatures. We're of age now, so we apparated to a few different places to search." He hadn't actually seen other people around, but that didn't mean people hadn't seen them. The two of them hadn't thought to conceal themselves, so it was kind of amazing no one saw them. They had gotten very lucky that day.

Oliver couldn't help but smile right back at Olivia, she was so sweet and she had a nice smile. He always felt like he could trust a person who had a nice smile. "It's very nice to meet you too, Olivia. I sure am, I've battled it out all six years, so I'm hoping I can successfully make it through my last year." He raised his eyebrows when she said she was apologizing but shook his head and laughed at the latter. "I've actually never been asked that. I kept to myself for quite a while, so I don't know too many people...erm, but, I think my favorite part is...the grounds." Maybe he should have said something better like the classes or the professors, but there was no point in lying. Professors were nice and classes were classes, but the grounds were his favorite. "I spend a lot of time out here, I go for runs almost every day, and no matter the season, it's always beautiful out here." If there was one thing he was going to miss after graduation, it would be that.

Ollie moved over to sit on the couch again and patted the seat next to him in the friendliest way possible. He just didn't want to be standing forever and seeing as she had hurt herself, he figured she wouldn't want to be either.

Maura <3