Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

Quinn sighed, and made her way over. So much for avoiding the whole social...thing today. "Yes, she's mine." She wasn't even attempting to hide the annoyance from her voice. "Sorry if she was be a bother. She should know better." Quinn held up her arm and clicked her tongue. Winter lifted off the ground in a flutter of wings, air, and feathers and landed on Quinn's outstretched arm. She watched the owl for a moment with a look of pure love, and gave her a few treats.

"I was just enjoying some time with her before sending her to deliver a letter." Quinn studied Juni for a long stretch of a moment. "Do you have an owl?"

Juni leaned back and propped up on her elbows. Now that was comfortable. She moved her sunglasses up and rested them on the top of her head. With a small shrug ”It’s fine. She didn’t bother me.” Ah just a little but it was very slow on her annoyance level. So it was just fine. The fifth year watched as the younger girl called her owl and her owl obeyed her.

”I was just out here enjoying the sun, before it got too cold to enjoy the outdoors.” That time of year always came to soon. But she did love the snow and like going ice skating on the lake when it froze over enough for it to be safe enough to do that. ”Nope. But I do have a cat named Boo.” Maybe she could talk her dad and Sundae getting her her own owl. That would be pretty cool actually that way she could write to Slate over the holidays and summer. Speaking of him she should probably go look for him later.

Quinn tilted her head, quietly looking at Juni for a second. Then she nodded and turned back to her owl. "Alright you. Go. Fly. Limber up, you a long flight ahead of you tonight." With a thrust of her arm, Winter took to the sky again, soaring over head and circling back around with a screech.

"Black cat, is it?" It was a guess, but judging on the name, it might be a good one. Boo. Halloween. Black cat. Etc. She watched Winter circle back around overhead for a bit. "Mind if I sit down?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

The fifth year waved around the little stack of passes she had made, grinning all the while. Someone was bound to come around eventually, her arm was getting all tired. It was her beater's arm too so you KNOW she had really been holding it up for a while.

And here came her first victim customer! It was about time.

"Well sure it does, ya think they'd forget to install one of those in a castle THIS huge?" The Gryffindor shook her head, silly kiddo. "It'd be an absolute travesty." Mhm. She was really gonna try to sell this thing, okay? Didn't know exactly how gullible this girl was, but Zoryn was gonna commit to her role here. It was the only way.

Trinetta wrinkled her eyebrows again, trying to decide if she could REALLY trust this older girl. She glanced at her robes - Gryffindor, which were the...honest guys? No, she couldn't remember, but that didn't seem right. Could she really trust this girl? Jimmy HAD warned her against older kids sometimes picking on the younger ones.

"Well, if there IS really a pool, why do you need a pass?" she asked. You didn't need a pass to go swimming in the lake!

Oh boy, this girl was really asking WAY too many questions. Where were all the gullible first years at? How come the universe decided to send her THIS one? She woke Faith up for class this morning and even helped a transfer find his way to the Great Hall. The Gryffindor was deserving of SOME good karma, at least!!!!

"Because if everyone could just use it whenever they pleased, then it would get way too busy," Zoryn had an answer for everything. "Crowd control, y'know?" She nodded her head. Very wise, she was.

"That's why you've gotta take advantage of the passes before I sell out, won't be much left if you wait too long." Just saying. She did, by the way, see Dorian look at her as he was walking around the courtyard. Whatever he was thinking he better not be telling those other kids. Business was business, Dorian!!!

What the dungeons clearly lacked was nice fresh air. It was why Vivian rather enjoyed staying outside in between classes, during her breaks and when she didn't have patrol duties to attend to. The autumn-ish weather was also something the blond liked about being outside, until it started to be freezing cold to welcome the winter season. But while the weather was a good mix of both extremes, she might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Seated cross-legged on one of the stone benches, Vivian had a wizarding university pamphlet open on her lap as she read through each description of the courses offered. She was still very much stuck between her childhood dream to pursue wandlore and her love for mystery and thrill with curse-breaking. She was so torn, and that was probably an understatement for someone as indecisive as she was.

Vivian rubbed her forehead in half-frustration and, apparently, got slapped on the face by a flying piece of paper. Silently cursing, she eyed her inanimate face smacker and took a moment to read its contents as it flew and sprawled on the ground. "Huh." What do you mean lottery? Taken aback, the Head Girl took off her seat and went for the paper.

Enjoying some free time outside between classes, Emmalyn happily dribbled her soccer ball around the courtyard. Even though her love of quidditch was great, her almost equal love of soccer could not be ignored. She had spent most of her early childhood playing on teams back in Seattle and playing reminded her of their first home.

As she dribbled in, out, and around the various benches,, her eye caught sight of a small piece of paper floating about. “What’s that?” she wondered aloud. As usual, her curiosity got the better of her and she set out to catch the floating paper.

She giggled when it bounced off the Head Girl’s face and increased her speed towards the paper when she saw Vivian get up from the bench to grab it. Her eyes darted back and forth between the paper and Vivian, hoping to beat her to grabbing it. Her fingers gripped the edge of the little square and she started to lift it when she realized she might not have been fast enough.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

Oh boy, this girl was really asking WAY too many questions. Where were all the gullible first years at? How come the universe decided to send her THIS one? She woke Faith up for class this morning and even helped a transfer find his way to the Great Hall. The Gryffindor was deserving of SOME good karma, at least!!!!

"Because if everyone could just use it whenever they pleased, then it would get way too busy," Zoryn had an answer for everything. "Crowd control, y'know?" She nodded her head. Very wise, she was.

"That's why you've gotta take advantage of the passes before I sell out, won't be much left if you wait too long." Just saying. She did, by the way, see Dorian look at her as he was walking around the courtyard. Whatever he was thinking he better not be telling those other kids. Business was business, Dorian!!!

Nettie continued to stare at the girl apprehensively. She wasn't exactly sure WHY something in her brain was nagging at her not to trust this whole pool pass thing, but it was. Perhaps it was because she hadn't read anything about a POOL in that Hogwarts book, or maybe it was because Kirk and Jessa hadn't mentioned it - they WERE her house leaders, so they would know about that stuff, right?

Most likely, it was because this pool just sounded WAY too good to be true.

She decided to keep poking this older girl, just to see how long it would take for her to admit that there WAS no pool. She grinned and then made like she was taking her money bag out of her pockets. "Ok, how much is it?" she asked.

Sitting down on the grass, back against part of the ancient stone castle,Ewan sat reading. His mind was fully on the book in front of him whilst the sun bore down on him, bringing out the freckles that only dotted his face during at certain times of the year.

Despite his reluctance, he really was enjoying the book. The book had, after all been loaned to him and he had to read it before it was required to be returned. Having only grown up watching the movie, it was nice to read the book and get all of the extra little details that were often left out.

Smiling now, he closed his eyes ever so slightly and turned his head up towards the sun. Letting out a howl of laughter, he sat there. No wonder she liked Peter Pan so much....

Zoryn could go on for YEARS before admitting to the fact that there was no pool... That she was aware of. She still had a suspicion that there was, in fact, a pool hidden in Professor Hirsch's office, though she hadn't actually had the chance to check it out herself yet. That was an adventure for another day.

Current adventure, however, was trying to get this dumb firstie to shut up and buy the pass!!! How did she STILL have questions?? The whole thing was pretty straight forward, Zoryn thought so at least. "Typically I sell for 'em for six galleons a piece... But since you're small and cute... I'll sell one to you for the BARGAIN price of only FOUR galleons!"

Pretty darn convincing. Zoryn was a GENIUS. Obviously.

Vivian rubbed a little bit on the area on her face where the paper had supposedly smacked her. Sure, it was a light paper... but perhaps the Slytherin was taking it a bit too dramatically, and Vivian Fairfield was dramatic herself. Also, flying paper cuts were a thing. But still, the Head Girl went on to follow it.

The wind continued to blow against the paper, which sort of irritated the seventh year because it kept flying away. But once she had caught up, Vivian bent down to nab it when... "Oh." Well, this was weird. "Hi, Emmalyn." And she was holding the paper too.

Her paper rather, but eh. It technically wasn't hers or Emmalyn's in the first place.

Gaston was on the way back to his office after a quick walk around the grounds and decided to take a detour through the courtyard. He paused beside the fountain, gazing into the water. His thoughts wandered back to his first encounter with this fountain, the wish he made, and how it eventually came true. His hand automatically reached into his jacket pocket for a coin, but he paused before tossing it in. What would he wish for? He already had a great job, a loving wife and beautiful baby daughter, and his relationship with his parents was better than it had been in many years.

He was still thinking when a howl of laughter startled him. His dark head whipped around in the direction of the noise, and he saw Ewan sitting nearby. "Hello, Mr. Jones," he greeted the boy with a small smile. "What's so funny?" His eyes landed on the book, and his smile widened. "Oh, Peter Pan. That was one of my favorite books when I was a child. What do you think of it so far?"

Looking up now, his face still contorted in an uncontrollable smile, he saw spotted Professor Marchand, his blue eyes looking down upon him.

“oh...hi professor! How are you today?”. Adapting his respectful tone now, he smiled back at his charms professor.

Looking down at the book now, he answered the Professor honestly.
“I uh... I haven’t finished it yet sir. Someone let me borrow it and today was just too nice a day to pass up the opportunity to read out here”, gesturing at the lush green grass that stretched on around him. “One of the characters in here, it reminded me of someone. The person who let me borrow the book actually. Ironic, huh”, His expression twisting back into his wide, monkey like smile.

“So, what bring you out here professor? If you don’t mind me asking? You’re more than welcome to join me”. Patting the ground next to him now. He honestly didn’t expect the charms professor to join him, having always suspected the older man preferred his own company, but, he thought it best to offer. After all, one must always “have courage and be kind”, whispering that last part under his breath.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Callie

Quinn tilted her head, quietly looking at Juni for a second. Then she nodded and turned back to her owl. "Alright you. Go. Fly. Limber up, you a long flight ahead of you tonight." With a thrust of her arm, Winter took to the sky again, soaring over head and circling back around with a screech.

"Black cat, is it?" It was a guess, but judging on the name, it might be a good one. Boo. Halloween. Black cat. Etc. She watched Winter circle back around overhead for a bit. "Mind if I sit down?"

Juni watched as the owl flew back around and left. Yep she was definitely asking for her own owl. Maybe for Christmas or at least for next term. Maybe… it would be another thing she would have to keep up with though. And she wasn’t all about that. Boo was enough for her right now.

With a small nod. ”Yep. And I got her on Halloween too.” So her name had sort of a double meaning. Again she nodded ”Sure go right ahead.” She even offered her a smile.

Good. Daisy dropped it. Honestly what was up with Hufflepuffs and feeling the need to make good on everything? Although Hattie admittedly wasn't that bad but maybe that was from hanging out with her and her roommates often enough; honorary Slytherin she practically was. "They says chaos is one of the best motivators," Skylar nodded, unsure if that was true or not but it sounded legit enough. And she was confident when she said it so. "Just wait until OWL year. For even more chaos." That was probably insensitive but it wasn't as if Skylar knew what was going on in Daisy's personal life. She didn't ask either because it wasn't really any of her business; they weren't super close friends and the girl wasn't even in her house. But in her experience, OWL year changed everything in terms of turbulence and chaos and more emotions. So many emotions...

Daisy breathed a nervous sigh. "I think my OWLs might be a good distraction for me. However, I think by then I won't be as emotional as I am now. My father passed away this past Summer but I'm doing what I can to do well enough in my studies." She then looked down at her feet.

Her fingers every so slightly gripped the paper tighter. She still wasn't sure what it was, yet, but she was fairly sure she had seen it first. Plus, her grip on the paper in question was just as tight as Vivian's. "Hi, Vivian." She wasn't sure what to say.

Figuring it was as good of time as any, she finally took a good look at what the paper was. It appeared to be some sort of lottery ticket. Did witches and wizards play the lottery like muggles? Or, was it a muggle ticket that had somehow made its way onto Hogwarts grounds? Unfortunately, the ticket was facing Vivian, so she couldn't make out the fine print.

"Um, thanks for helping me grab the ticket?" Sure, that might work. The Head Girl probably had better things to do than figure out what a lone ticket was doing fluttering around the courtyard.

...

Vivian looked from her paper to Emmalyn, whom she felt had gripped tighter onto the paper they both were holding. This was starting to get really... uncomfortable. And... she what? The Head Girl was taken aback by the accusation the younger Hufflepuff's statement. It was... hers?

Heh. "Funny... 'cause... it came from the other direction...?" A little sheepish, Vivian still held part of the lottery ticket. She was curious, okay? And it did say lottery stuff. The Head Girl also had to refrain herself from reaaaally asking if it was the Hufflepuff's, but that seemed rather rude. Honestly, though, one could tell Vivian wasn't the best liar.

Still... awkward.

Still holding on, she patiently waited for Vivian to let go. "It came from just over there," She gestured with her free hand "bounced off your face, then landed here on the grass." Not that this explained what the ticket was doing in the courtyard or who it belonged to, but at least she knew that she hand't seen any student or professor drop it.

Letting out a little huff "So, what do you think? Should we figure out what the ticket is for?" She wasn't giving it up, but she was willing to share it with the Head Girl. "It's probably nothing, so if you don't want to trouble yourself with it, I can take care of the ticket."

The sight of Ewan's smile made Gaston's own grow wider. Did anybody ever tell this kid his smile was contagious? "I'm quite well, thank you for asking," he replied. "How are you?"

With the pleasantries out of the way, the conversation turned to the book.
No, Gaston hadn't expected him to have finished the book yet; he was just interested in his preliminary thoughts. "Well, that was nice of... whoever lent it to you," he said. His blue eyes scanned the area, taking in the scenery around him. "Too right you are... it's far too nice a day to spend stuck inside!" Normally he would be cooped up in his office grading assignments at this time of day, but the sun was too inviting. Ewan's next words received a slight eyebrow raise from the professor. "Oh? And who might that be?" he asked, referring to both the person and character in question.

Gaston was a little surprised to be invited to stay. He should be heading back to his office to get some work done soon if we was going to have any hope of going home for a visit with his wife and daughter tonight, but he supposed he could stay a little longer. Besides, he hadn't the heart to turn down such a kind invitation. "Thank you, Mr. Jones," he said, sitting on the ground beside the boy. "I don't mind you asking at all. I just came from talking a walk, and I decided to take the long way back to my office." His eyes fell to the book once again. "Do you have a favorite character so far?"

Getting... even... more... awkward.

A tiny part of Vivian was starting to get annoyed that this was awkward, and why won't Emmalyn just let it go? But, eh. It wasn't hers, let's be real. And... ugh, forget it. But she wasn't going to hand it to the Hufflepuff just like that. The blond wasn't even sure if it really was hers. Was there a lost-and-found section at Hogwarts?

See? It wasn't Emmalyn's! She didn't even know what it was for... not that Vivian wasn't going to say that out loud, at least. "Y'know, if you're just curious and it's not really yours, you can tell me," the Head Girl said with a wink. They could even just figure it out together, or something. "It's a lottery ticket from the Daily Prophet." So no, it wasn't nothing.

But... "What if this is a winning ticket?" #SHOOKT.

A little embarrassed now, he hesitated. Unsure if he should confide in his Professor. Briefly, he looked the Professor in the eyes, weighing if he was worthy. Finally, deciding that it couldn’t hurt, he chuckled, his cheeks slightly red.

“Aha, I uh... She wouldn’t appreciate the comparison I’m sure but... One of my...friends? She reminds me of Tinker Bell”.

Talking quicker now, he had to fully explain so the Professor wouldn’t get the wrong end of the stick.

“It’s the part about, either being all good or all bad. No middle ground”.

Taking a deep breath now, he looked around trying to hide his blushing face, hoping that the Professor would be kind enough to forget that he didn’t mention the name of the student.

Surprise briefly took over his face as the Professor sat down next to him. This was swiftly replaced by his massive monkey smile. “My favourite character? Hmm....”. Taking a second, he briefly thought back on the various characters in the book.

“I’d have to say... Nana!”. Not the obvious choice, but he couldn’t help it. “I mean, she just defies logic! She’s a nurse and looks after the family but...she’s a dog”. His mind wandered a little now back home to his dog as he mentioned his next point, “And I think most people who have dogs who love them (Love being the key word as he knew some people did not) have this relationship with their dogs where they’re like family. I mean, my dogs helped my family a lot over the last few years so...”. Stopping now, he looked down. He didn’t want to talk the Professors ear off.

“What about you, sir? Who’s your favourite character? Or book? If you prefer”.

She hadn't said specifically that it was hers, but she hand't said it wasn't either. She had to carefully think a moment about how best to proceed. On the one hand, she was fairly certain it wasn't Vivian's. It had bounced off her face and all, coming from across the courtyard. However, it didn't look like she was going to give it up.

She eyed the Head Girl, planning her next words. If the ticket really was from the Daily Prophet, she'd need Vivian's help in claiming any winnings there might be. "I'd be willing to share the ticket with you and split any possible winnings." Her fingers tightened a bit more on the ticket as she was talking. She was well aware that the older girl could snatch the ticket out of her hand if she really wanted to.

"And, no it's not technically mine, but I don't believe it's yours either." She was going to stand her ground until she was sure Vivian wasn't going to try and run off with the ticket. Her shoulders relaxed a little "Do you want to work this out together and share?"

UH ........ Okay, So Skylar hadn't asked for an explanation of what was wrong or why she might need a distraction. Were Hufflepuffs always this open-book? She could be empathetic and had been for Apollo, last summer but with all she had on her mind right now with university applications and quidditch tryouts and strategies, along with her baby pets, she hadn't been expecting to deal with this now.

"I ... Were you close?" Dumb Skylar. Obviously she's upset by this and that was the best you could offer?!?

Daisy mentally admonished herself. Why should the Slytherin care? At Skylar's question, Daisy blinked but that was due to being a bit stunned at the fact that the question was asked. "Yes, we were very close. Despite being a Muggle and marrying a Pureblood witch, he embraced the magical community as best as he could." She tucked a strand behind her ear and continued slowly. "I am sorry if my problems distracted you. I tend to be the listener. When I talk about my issues I am unable to shut up, like now."

Haha, oops. So maybe it was obvious that it really wasn't hers because Vivian's I'm-obviously-a-bad-liar mannerism of twitching her lip always surfaced when she wasn't telling the truth. Her mum had pointed that out a lot of times, and there was no reason to further lie when your own mum had already caught you red-handed, right?

"Yeah, it's not mine either. We're even," the blond sheepishly admitted and loosened her grip on the ticket since it didn't seem that Emmalyn was going to budge. "You can hold it." Unless she ran away with the ticket, of course. Vivian had been working on her defensive charms if anything unfortunate happened, and she really didn't want to jinx a second year though. How very un-Head-Girl-like that would be.

The chances of that being a winning ticket was slim, though, but it wouldn't hurt to find out. "I'm not against that, no," Vivian replied before glancing around. "Know anyone who actually reads the Prophet?" Because Vivian didn't. Not everyday, at least.