After stopping by the kitchens to get a cup of tea and a blueberry muffin from the elves Laurel made her way out onto the Stone Bridge, wearing a light blue coat against the slight wind to get some needed fresh air to clear her head. She had spent most of her time after lunch down in the dungeons preparing the Slytherin commons for the new term and arrival of the students in a handful of hours. The spells on the girls and boys dorms always needed replenishing and she had wanted to make sure the common room was set for the after the feast welcome party/meeting that she hoped would be attended by both students and the Bloody Baron.

Going out on the bridge to stand next to the railing Laurel sipped on her tea and nibbled on her muffin as she looked out over the viaduct and part of the black lake below in it’s end of summer and start of fall afternoon glow as she thought about the year to come.

SPOILER!!: Laurel! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

After stopping by the kitchens to get a cup of tea and a blueberry muffin from the elves Laurel made her way out onto the Stone Bridge, wearing a light blue coat against the slight wind to get some needed fresh air to clear her head. She had spent most of her time after lunch down in the dungeons preparing the Slytherin commons for the new term and arrival of the students in a handful of hours. The spells on the girls and boys dorms always needed replenishing and she had wanted to make sure the common room was set for the after the feast welcome party/meeting that she hoped would be attended by both the.

Going out on the bridge to stand next to the railing Laurel sipped on her tea and nibbled on her muffin as she looked out over the viaduct and part of the black lake below in it’s end of summer and start of fall afternoon glow as she thought about the year to come.

Oh no.

It was Laurel.

Kay recognised her last remaining bestie at Hogwarts even from a distance. She stood there, still, for a moment as she debated on whether to head back to her office or not. Everyone at Hogwarts had been so understanding and had welcomed her back without the slightest grudge.

Or at least no one had showed anything different though they must have thought it.

Kay decided that she would no avoid Laurel. "Hello, Laurel,'' she greeted softly as she approached. "Fancy place to have your tea.''

Laurel stood still, just breathing in the fresh air and watching the landscape from the bridge as she chewed on her muffin and drank her tea. It was relaxing to be alone with her thoughts for a few moments because by that night her mind would be focused on her arriving Slytherin students.

She didn’t hear Kay’s footsteps at first or see how her bestie had been debating with herself about what to do behind her back. When she heard her bestie’s voice though it brought her out of her thoughts. Turning Laurel greeted warmly "Hello Kay," as her bestie got closer she nodded "Yes, the view's something quite extra, perfect for tea sipping."

"Have you settled back into your office?" Laurel asked softly.

SPOILER!!: Laurel! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Laurel stood still, just breathing in the fresh air and watching the landscape from the bridge as she chewed on her muffin and drank her tea. It was relaxing to be alone with her thoughts for a few moments because by that night her mind would be focused on her arriving Slytherin students.

She didn’t hear Kay’s footsteps at first or see how her bestie had been debating with herself about what to do behind her back. When she heard her bestie’s voice though it brought her out of her thoughts. Turning Laurel greeted warmly "Hello Kay," as her bestie got closer she nodded "Yes, the view's something quite extra, perfect for tea sipping."

"Have you settled back into your office?" Laurel asked softly.

Kay stopped to stand right beside Laurel. She cast her eyes over the perfect view. Once upon a time, she would have enjoyed it as well as the scent of the fresh air. Also, she would have shared Laurel's tea and muffin because that was the way they were; they were that close. "I would have missed this if I hadn't come back,'' she said. "You know, I almost didn't. I'm surprised Regina let me come back.

"I haven't finished unpacking everything.'' There was a pause before she hesitantly admitted more. "I'm having second thoughts. If I back out now, I'm not sure Regina will have time to find a replacement for me.'' There was a tiny sigh from her. "I know you're glad I decided to stay but what about the others? And the returning students? They all probably hate me.'' Kay smiled wryly. "The price to pay of being friendly and trusting. The Williams twins took advantage of that.''

Laurel stood still by the railing, looking out at the view as Kay stopped to stand beside her. She waited and waited for her bestie to ask to share her tea and muffin like they usually did but alas no such question or motion came. It was the after effect of what Kay had been through. Laurel had to remember to be patient. Glancing sideway's to looks into Kay’s as she uttered that comment she murmured back. "I'm super immensely glad that you didn't miss all this from the view to the whole year." She forced herself not to reach out and give Kay’s hand a comforting squeeze upon hearing the next words. "Regina knows none of the stuff at Dufftown was your fault. She trusts and believes in you and your a good tutor to the students too. The students adore you." So Laurel was going to keep insisting that.

Eyes going up in surprise at the next revelation that came out of Kay’s mouth which made Laurel do what she had refrained from doing some minutes earlier, she reached out and pulled Kay into a tight hug as mumbled softly "Our other colleagues knows like me and Regina what really happened to you and will come around. If they don't just ignore them, until they are pleasant to you again and the students they usually can't even remember what happened last week so I wouldn’t worry too much. Nobody hates you and if they'll do they’ll have me to answer to just like when we were kiddos." The last Laurel said with assurance and a big smile, that Kay even thought that was saaaaaaaaaad.

SPOILER!!: Laurel! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Laurel stood still by the railing, looking out at the view as Kay stopped to stand beside her. She waited and waited for her bestie to ask to share her tea and muffin like they usually did but alas no such question or motion came. It was the after effect of what Kay had been through. Laurel had to remember to be patient. Glancing sideway's to looks into Kay’s as she uttered that comment she murmured back. "I'm super immensely glad that you didn't miss all this from the view to the whole year." She forced herself not to reach out and give Kay’s hand a comforting squeeze upon hearing the next words. "Regina knows none of the stuff at Dufftown was your fault. She trusts and believes in you and your a good tutor to the students too. The students adore you." So Laurel was going to keep insisting that.

Eyes going up in surprise at the next revelation that came out of Kay’s mouth which made Laurel do what she had refrained from doing some minutes earlier, she reached out and pulled Kay into a tight hug as mumbled softly "Our other colleagues knows like me and Regina what really happened to you and will come around. If they don't just ignore them, until they are pleasant to you again and the students they usually can't even remember what happened last week so I wouldn’t worry too much. Nobody hates you and if they'll do they’ll have me to answer to just like when we were kiddos." The last Laurel said with assurance and a big smile, that Kay even thought that was saaaaaaaaaad.

This was one of the reasons Kay was always grateful for Laurel being around. She always had a word of comfort to say and the Muggle Studies Professor knew they were sincere. "I wish others thought like you and Regina.'' Others meant some like Ignatius and a few students. "I'll continue to give my best but it's quite discouraging to see the way some would avoid my eyes or just point blank ignore me.'' Yet again, she silently cursed her trusting nature.

She listened and nodded slowly. "I'm trying to and I'll just go about doing things as usual.'' That would be the best option, would it not? Now Kay genuinely smiled, something that hadn't happened since the day Cami adopted Emmalyn officially. "Thanks, Laurel. At least you believe in me so that's all I need.'' Laurel and a few others, this is- Ansley, Cami, Rose, Gaston, River, Regina and Jordan. "I think I'd better get going. I need to finish unpacking. Are you heading back in now?''

Laurel hated seeing her best friend go through such a hard time right now with the aftermath of what the Williams twins had done to her. Sadly not all of the Hogwartians staff and students included could forgive and forget and see that Kay was a victim in all that had happened. Repeating her earlier statement Laurel murmured. "They'll come around. Just give them time and try not let the stares and everything get to you. You're strong." It was as clear as day to her that Kay had strength since she was there at Hogwarts and hadn't resigned.

Encouragingly she said "That's the spirit! Go about things as usual and plan for your lessons with the students that I know you enjoy." The other stuff would work itself out. She knew it even if she had tried not to scry too much for Kay's future.

"You're most welcome Kay!" Laurel said with a slight smile. Shaking her head she continued. "No I think i'll stay out here for a bit longer. It's nice and quiet out here. Soon enough the whole castle will be full of chattering student voices."

SPOILER!!: Laurel! <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nordic Witch

Laurel hated seeing her best friend go through such a hard time right now with the aftermath of what the Williams twins had done to her. Sadly not all of the Hogwartians staff and students included could forgive and forget and see that Kay was a victim in all that had happened. Repeating her earlier statement Laurel murmured. "They'll come around. Just give them time and try not let the stares and everything get to you. You're strong." It was as clear as day to her that Kay had strength since she was there at Hogwarts and hadn't resigned.

Encouragingly she said "That's the spirit! Go about things as usual and plan for your lessons with the students that I know you enjoy." The other stuff would work itself out. She knew it even if she had tried not to scry too much for Kay's future.

"You're most welcome Kay!" Laurel said with a slight smile. Shaking her head she continued. "No I think i'll stay out here for a bit longer. It's nice and quiet out here. Soon enough the whole castle will be full of chattering student voices."

Kay smiled. The words of encouragement did help as they always did especially when they came from Laurel. "Time always helps, doesn't it?'' Maybe not completely but it certainly does wonders. "I plan to continue. It's just that I'm afraid of their staring in class would make me forget what I'm supposed to be teach or I'll be flustered.'' Thank goodness there were some kiddos who were still there for her!

She smiled and reached to hug Laurel before leaving. "Thank you for all your help. I'll leave you to enjoy your peace and quiet before I stop by at your office later.'' Just so they could have a girls' night before the hectic life of a Hogwarts professor began again. For now, it was back to settling in for her.

Anna was done with homework for now. Her brother had made her finish all of her Transfiguration assignment that Saturday morning - WHO did that!?!?!?! Well, Ollie did.

Deep down, the Gryffindor was thankful to her brother for making her do it, to be honest. The thing was that it was winter time, and so the sun was already going down by now and that had been a day wasted!! ...Unless the fact she had finished her assignment counted as being productive - okay, okay, it did. Fiiine, not a completely wasted day then.

But it felt like it had been. She got no running or flying done, no training whatsoever. And to be fair, all of that thinking and writing and studying had killed her mood a bit. Meh.

The third year found herself standing in the middle of the stone bridge, thoughtfully looking at the lovely landscape in front of her as her hair was gently blown by the cool wind. Being the crazy active kid most of the time usually meant she didn't stop to appreciate the view as often as she probably should.

It was actually nice. Calming, even.

Patrick had his nose in a book, trying to take some quiet time to himself to enjoy a book instead of trying to always go go go like he had been doing. He didn’t have quidditch practice, he didn’t have homework to do because he had gotten it done the night before. Reading a book his friend had suggested when he was home for Summer he continued walking further and further, not really sure where exactly he was at.

Suddenly he felt a body bump into his. How rude he thought until he realized it was his fault. Quickly taking shutting the book on his finger and trying to grab the person in front of him to make sure they didn’t fall he noticed it was Anna, “Anna, I’m so sorry. Silly me got my nose stuck in a book for some fun reading.” he smiled sheepishly hoping he hadn’t hurt her.

The good thing about being as cold as it was that day was that the sky was clear and the sunset was actually very beautiful to look at.

Anna was admiring all of the different colours as one merged into the other and into the horizon when all of a sudden she was pretty much being pushed towards the floor.

"Wha-!" The girl exclaimed on her way down, only to be grabbed half-way there and... not hitting the floor. She was pulled up before even having fully noticed what in the world had just happened. The Gryffindor looked at the person who had just bumped into her and gave him an amused smile when she realised it was Patrick. "Good catch!" She chuckled, standing up properly again. Did that sound weird or awkward? Oh well. Anna didn't really care. When he said he was doing a bit of 'fun reading', her amused smile was back with a suspicious eyebrow furrowing. "Fun reading? I don't know her." She gave him another funny look before snorting.

After making sure that Anna was okay he stashed the book in his back pack, chuckling at her use of good catch. It really was he was pretty sure that she was going to go down and he was going to feel absolutely terrible about it. "It really was a good catch wasn't it?" This whole growth spurt thing was really hitting him hard. One minute he felt like he was finally getting control over the way his body moved about and how long his strides were, the next he'd trip or bump into someone... although he supposed he couldn't blame it on his growth spurt entirely.

Noticing Anna's smile, he smiled back. It was so much easier to smile when everyone else was than when it was just you. He had said fun reading, oh boy, she thought it was an author. But what if she knew what he meant and is just giving him a good jab? Patrick was so unsure of how to handle the situation. He glanced around and finally decided he should just be honest. "Its Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief. A friend from back home suggested it to me. How has the term been for you?" That was a safe question and answer. He still wanted people to like him, which his brothers said was over rated, but he cared.

Although there was some observation in her notes, Felicity was starting to doubt that the replica Aurora in the Igloo counted, and so it was a dark evening that took her to the Stone Bridge in order to continue her Astronomy assignment. Earlier that day, she'd gotten another book on the phenomena out of the library, thinking that even if she didn't see anything work observing, she could at least add some more facts to her notes.

Pulling a cushion from her bag (Undetectable Extension Charms were ridiculously handy), the seventh year placed it on the floor of the bridge, sitting down and curling her feet up underneath her. She pulled her notes and book from her bag, and set to work, casting her eyes skyward after every sentence to determine if an aurora was visible.



After an hour or so, and a few more notes added, Felicity drew her cloak around her and decided to put her things away - cloud had started to cross the sky, and was beginning to block out the stars. Deciding that she didn't want to be caught in rain, and that even if it didn't rain viewing an Aurora would be unlikely with the clouds, she decided to head inside.

Once again, feeling slightly defeated.

Anna smiled and nodded at Patrick's remark on her comment. "Maybe you should've been a seeker instead of chaser." She joked, chuckling and fixing her cloak sleeve he had grabbed when making sure she didn't fall.

The Gryffindor couldn't help but laugh at how awkward the boy looked when she said she didn't know 'fun reading'. She just nodded when he told her the actual title of the book. "Is that any good? I'd never heard of it." Then again, she wasn't much of a reader at all, so that shouldn't be a shock.

How had the term been for her? "So far so good!" Anna said with a smile, turning back to hold onto the bridge and look at the horizon again. Her head was turned his way as she was still talking to him. "Been doing a lot of training, actually. Y'know, Quidditch, flying and running." She nodded as she listed the things she was interested in. Homework who? "Good busy, y'know? How about you?" She asked looking at him, interested to see if he'd mention his own Quidditch practice.

And there it was, she had no idea what the fun reading was. He was such a book nerd when he was back home with his friends, but he supposed he could blame part of that on his mama since she was a professor. "Yeah it's about greek mythology." he shrugged his shoulder figuring that Anna didn't care that much.

Ah, quidditch. He was on the team sure, but right now he was afraid he looked like he was an absolute bumbling idiot since he shot up another two inches since his last spurt. By the rate he was going he'd be six foot tall by the end of the term. "Running is an interesting thing for me right now." he threw out off hand as he looked down at his long legs. "Brooms though, still got that for the most part." he was not about to give up any Quidditch secrets, well if he could help it he seemed to be a bumbling idiot today.

"Aren't we all busy and freaking out, or is that just the seriously unknown about being a third year?" he chuckled rubbing his neck.

When Patrick when he said the book he was reading was about Greek Mythology Anna gave him an amused look before letting out a chuckle. "Okay..! Whatever floats your boat, I guess." She added, chuckling some more.

The girl tilted her head as she tried to understand what he meant by running being an interesting thing for him right now. And he gestured to his legs? "What do you mean?" She asked, looking slightly puzzled. Anna did smile again when he mentioned brooms. "They are awesome anyway. What broom have you got again?" She asked, still looking at him. She tried to remember if she had paid attention to his broom the last time they played each other, but she couldn't remember. Did he use a school one still or?Hmmm... yeah, she didn't remember.

At his comment about third years, Anna threw her head back as she laughed out loud. "It's not like we're taking OWLs yet or anything, though. No need to freak out!"

"True no OWLs yet." he laughed surprised that it felt like they were getting way too close to OWLs but he was the only one who was as worried. He couldn't help but feel as if Anna was fishing for quidditch information, like she wanted to know secrets to win against them.

He was trying to decide how much to tell her when she didn't understand why he was having trouble running. "I'm getting used to this whole height thing. Last year I was maybe 5 foot 2. Now i'm easily closer to six feet tall. Makes running awkward when you keep tripping over your own feet." he smiled sheepishly. It was kind of awkward to talk about being gangly. But he supposed he would soon be out growing such a phase.

"oh I'm using a school broom right now. Mine is being weird right now, can't figure it out. What are you flying these days?" Divert attention away. He still felt like a lack luster quidditch player even if he was on the team scoring points.

Anna laughed. "My brother's taking OWLs this year and that's literally ALL he talks about." She said, rolling her eyes but still holding an amused smile. "I hope I'm not like him, boring everyone out of their brains with silly study talk ALL year round before our exams." She added shaking her head and chuckling afterwards.

Her eyes widened when he said how tall he thought he was now. "Wha!!?" She gawked up at him. Truth be told, she knew he was REALLY tall - that was pretty obvious -, but now that he gave her a number, she KNEW he was REEEEEEEEEALLY tall. Like, WHOA tall! "I don't even know how tall I am now!" She guessed she was probably the 5'2" he mentioned earlier, but that hadn't changed at all since the previous year. Not that she noticed anyway.

That topic made her completely forget about running, and THAT was saying something!

She was SHOCKED!

Right, but brooms. She could talk about those aaaaaaall day long, every day. He still used a school broom, though. "Oh, right." Was he response. That was probably why she hadn't really noticed what broom he had. School brooms were rubbish, but she wasn't going to tell him that because she didn't want to be mean. She would've gladly pointed that out if she was talking to Beau, though. But that was Patrick, not Beau, so she would be nice.

Heehee!

"I have a Thunderbolt 6000!" Anna said, proudly puffing out her chest and standing taller because that was one of the BEST BROOMS OF THAT YEAR, in case he didn't know. He probably did know, though, because he was into Quidditch. That was why she chose not to point that o- "It's one of the BEST of the year!" Welp, there it was anyway, JUST IN CASE he didn't know. Heeheeheehee! "I do broom races over the summer too, that's why I needed a proper one." The Gryffindor decided to inform him JUST SO he didn't think she was just bragging for the sake of bragging. Y'know, she had her REASONS, mmmmhm!

Patrick eyes got big, all he ever talked about. Boy did he hope that he wouldn’t be that way in two years. He had a lot of things he wanted to do before he started worrying about his potential grades on a standaraized test the ministry made them take. He smiled, “yeah, hopefully by then I’ll have way more knowledge. I really hope that I don’t talk about the exams as much as your brother did.”

Her reaction to his height was kind of funny. She looked like she couldn’t believe that he was actually that tall. It was weird for him too. He had longer legs his perception of life changed the taller he got. He chuckled a bit, “well, you’re not six foot tall.” It was kind of funny but she looked a bit baffled by his comment and like she lost her train of thought. He had never seen her do that before.

Oh boy, here came her broom discussion. He hated that his had taken it for the worst. He had still scored some points in the last match of the season, but man did he wish that he could go faster. He was going to have to convince his parents to let him get a new broom this year since his crash landed with him on it. “I’ve heard those are pretty nice. You win a lot of your races?” he hadn’t heard of many broom races but that was also because he spent his summers in the states living the most muggle life possible. An escape he was reluctant to start this year, but so ready for a break from all the crazy things that happened at Hogwarts his parents hadn’t prepared him for.