This entire castle was... fancy. Incredibly fancy. Dress up in your nicest clothes and still look shabby, fancy. And Iclyn wasn’t sure she liked that. She had gotten up two hours early and had done her make up and made sure there wasn’t a hair out of place..

And yet she still felt like she was barely worthy of the floor she was walking on!

The blonde was waiting near the entrance of the Rose garden for Bastian, they had agreed to take a walk just after they had gotten to school, but since it was late the previous day, this was the only time they could do it!

She smoothed down her robes and patted her hair back into place, making sure the high bun had no strands coming down from it. This place was perfect and she needed to look perfect as well.

If only she had some silken robes too!

At least all of this had taken her mind off her family and Bastian.. couldn’t blame a boy for not liking her, if she wasn’t even worthy of the Beauxbatons floors.

Meh.. she gently kicked at some grass as she waited.

Sebastian, feeling helplessly under-dressed, made his way to the rose garden. He and Iclyn had made plans to meet up and walk around the castle grounds, and after last nights...eventful feast, he really needed it.

He noticed Iclyn pretty quickly upon entering the rose garden. She was facing the opposite direction of his approach, and hadn't seen him yet. "Merlin," he whispered with a sigh. Could she be more pretty? His stomach flipped and heat rose to his cheeks. He could tell she had put extra time into her hair and make up today. She seriously didn't need it...plus it was making him even more nervous to hang out with her.

But he would play it cool...He had to.

With a sneaky grin, he snuck up behind her quietly, and yelled, "BOO," while simultaneously squeezing her sides with his hands, before quickly letting go and getting out of the way of any possible flailing.

“AAAHHHHHHHHHHH.”

Came the shriek as someone snuck up behind her and yelled while squeezing her sides! She instantly flailed and shrieked and then groaned as she saw who it was!

“Bastian!” She said as she put a hand on her heart! Merlin! She felt like she was going to pass out from fright and from seeing him suddenly! Despite the fact that he had just scared the living heck out of her.. sparkles still sprang up around him.. and she had to stop herself from getting heart eyes!

“Merlin.. I think I need to sit down after that.” She groaned out as she shook her head as she looked up at him.

Why was he so cute? Why did she constantly want to hug him? It wasn’t fair!

Sebastian laughed so hard he couldn't breath. Her reaction was the cutest thing he had ever seen. He was laughing so hard he was bent over double, about to fall over.

"Oh," he said wiping the tears from his eyes, "that was amazing." He said breathing heavily and chuckling. He was definitely going to have to find more fun ways to scare her if it was that adorable.

Panting he went over and stood next to her, "I'm sorry...you were looking so cute and just standing there waiting and you hadn't seen me...I just had to." He said with a huge please-forgive-me grin. He hoped she wasn't mad...it was just the perfect opportunity.

Merlin, she was beautiful.

Asdfhjkl!!

She watched as Bastian nearly doubled over laughing at her and she kept one hand on her heart, while the other was on her hip. Merlin! He had nearly given her a heart attack and he was laughing!!

“Well I’m glad you liked it, you are lucky you didn’t get hit when I flailed! ” She exclaimed as she finally cracked a smile! She couldn’t help it, she loved seeing him smile, after last year it was time to see it again!

She looked up at him as he wiped his eyes and came to stand next to her, she bumped him gently with her hip, as he spoke and gave her a heart stopping smile that made her insides melt and her eyes lit up for a moment.

He was so cute! He looked sometimes like an overgrown puppy she just wanted to snuggle or snog! And she couldn’t stay mad at him.

Besides it was hard to stay mad at a boy that was full on sparkly!

“You are forgiven! But only.. cause it’s you.” Anyone else and she would have pushed them into the roses and ran for it.. but not him.

Sebastian's smile grew even wider after that comment. "Probably would have deserved it anyway." He said with a chuckle. Heavens she was adorable, with that hip popped out all sassy....it was just cute. He couldn't help but stare longer than any normal human would...she was just too pretty.

He chuckled when she bumped his hip with hers as he stood next to her. He was glad to see she wasn't upset with him. He just couldn't resist. Plus, seeing her not trying to be perfect in this fancy school for a moment made him happy. She was perfect without trying...she didn't need to change herself for this school.

"Well, thank you. I'm glad you have forgiven me. I would have gotten down on my knees and begged you if you hadn't." He said with a grin, giving her a wink, before giving her the best puppy dog eyes. "Oh, please forgive me, Icy, please." He batted his eyelashes and gave her the best sad face ever.

Of course, he was trying not to laugh the whole time.

He really needed to not do that.. be all adorable and goofy and so.. cute all the dang time. It did weird things to her head and her heart! She couldn’t help the small lip bite as he mentioned getting down on his knees!

Well maybe if he got down on one knee...

O_O

Chill Iclyn she reminded herself as she smiled as he gave her puppy dog eyes.

“Maybe I should have held out a bit to have gotten the begging. ” She said with a bit of a smirk up at him, but at that face.. she shook her head and took her hand and pushed his face gently away.

“Stoppppp, I forgive you! I can’t take the look!” She said as she started giggling.

The smile on her face made Sebastian's heart do flips. Merlin she was too pretty for her own good! But he didn't let it show. He had to be strong and slow down. They were friends. Besides...he wasn't really sure if she felt the same anyway.

Then her hand was in his face and he had a huge urge to lick her hand...but he refrained, and raised an eyebrow and gave her a smirk instead. "So the puppy look works.......goood to know." He said, as a mischievous grin replaced the cheeky smirk.

Man...he loved flirting. It was just so much fun!

"But I am glad you forgive me." He said, giving her the biggest smile in his arsenal. Her giggle was the best sound in the whole world...and he was a musician. "Okay...so...shall we go for our stroll? Or do you want to continue to be scared out of your wits and forgiving me?" He said with a cheeky grin while waggling his eyebrows.

That smirk wasn’t fair, this boy wasn’t fair! Nothing around her was fair!

She felt weak in the knees when he smirked at her like and she wanted to run a hand through her hair, but since it was up in a bun, she fiddled with the sleeves of her shirt instead.

“Yes, but don’t use it against me, I’m weak.” She said as she smiled and nudged him again with her hip as she looked up at him, she really was a bit weak around him. The boy sparkled when he smiled, how was she supposed to defend about that?

“Of course I do, you are one of my only friends in this place, what would I do without you?” She asked with a soft smile. Besides Zach and Cain, she didn’t have many people left, and there was only him who knew what happened to her parents.

Gahhh the eyebrow wiggle, the wide smile, the human version of a puppy next to her was lucky she was still on her feet! Everything was hazy and sparkly and did she have heart eyes?

“Hmmmm? ” She said with a dazed voice before she blinked.

“Oh! Yes! Lets go for our walk now. ” She said with a warm smile up at him.

Merlin she needed to keep it together.

Early and with an ornate box housing some additional purple yoga mats floating along side him, Mathys arrived at the rose garden and surveyed the roses while musing to himself as to which of the students would disregard the warnings and attempt to pick rose. Hopefully no one from his house, but there were a few unruly ones who he wouldn't put it past.

Lowering his hand, the box that had accompanied him gliding downwards until it touched the grass, the Care of Magical Creatures professor took another moment to examine the perimeter and rubbed his neck. While mostly healed by this point, he was still sporting a light bandage as a bit of superfluous precaution. Though a warranted one considering who he had received it from. His strong, coarse, hand massaged the back of his neck a moment before rubbing his shaved head and rolling his shoulders. Yoga had already been a part of his morning rituals, though not in this setting and most certainly in the privacy of his chalet, so this was a welcomed addition to his afternoon. Once he looked beyond all the marking he had to do between both student bodies.

Stretching and flexing his arms a bit, he waited for the others to arrive. Keenly aware of the passage of time and quite eager to begin.

The little redhead eagerly made her way out of the castle with determination in her eyes. She had heard there was going to be Yoga held in the Rose Garden and she was very excited to partake in this activity, because her mother was a fan of yoga and she'd always wanted to try it. According to her mother, yoga was something she liked to used to center herself and helped her to concentrate on her breathing to keep her thoughts focused if she was rather cross about something.

She eventually made her way into the Rose Garden where the class would be taking place and her eyes were widened at the beauty around her. Faye had heard rumors of how beautiful the Rose Garden was, but those rumors did not do it any justice! She took in a deep breath of the beautiful aroma protruding her nostrils with a smile.

After enjoying the sweet smell for a few moments, she took notice that she was one of the first to arrive apparently for yoga, but from the looks of it, Professor Nostredame would be leading it! The little badger smiled brightly as she approached him before speaking with a polite bow, "Hello Professor Nostredame.." She couldn't help adding, "I look forward to trying to do yoga with you!" Would she be good at it....not a clue, but there was only one way to find out!

And that when she caught another glimpse of his neck again, eyes immediately settling on the light bandage covering his wound. "I hope you're healing well Professor.." She was still very curious to know what happened, but did not feel it was appropriate to ask him this...

You know who wasn't graceful enough for yoga? Finneas Schmoe. He was the exact opposite of graceful enough for yoga. But alas, he was bound by the moral obligation of being a Professor. He did, however, dress like an athlete with the thought that if he looked like he knew what he was getting himself into, then maybe it'd actually look like he knew things. Yoga things. This is how yogis dressed right? With yellow sweatbands across their foreheads. Totally.

AnYwAy.

He pulled up his socks as he drew near, giving the first few to arrive a nervous wave. "Mathys," he blinked a few times too many before settling near him and the small student with the red hair. Should've brought his fidget spinner to pass the time. Alas, lost opportunity.

Had Kaiser seen the noticeboard? Yes. Had he paid much attention to what he was looking at? Uh... no. Not really. Mostly he scanned it for anything that applied to him, and then promptly forgot the rest, because there was no point retaining useless information.

Maybe the fact that he'd seen something about the Rose Garden and this day and this time had stuck somewhere in the subconscious part of his brain, though, because one of Kaiser's aimless wanderings had brought him... here.

... Oh.

Kaiser stopped dead in his tracks, hands in his pockets. He looked between de Nostredame and Schmoe, specifically looking at... what they were wearing. He, by the way, simply had on his regular ratty old jeans-and-long-sleeved-t-shirt get-up, which generally made him feel further out of place here at Beauxbatons, but it wasn't like he had a whole lot of choice.

Anyway anyway anyway.

"Uh..." He looked between the professors. Kaiser wasn't one to judge someone's clothing but they did look like they were prepared for something in particular. "I hope I am not... interrupting anything."

Oh, there was a first year here too. Well. That made Kaiser feel slightly less awkward. Very slightly. Hello, first year.

Ask anyone who even remotely knew him and they would confirm that the chances of Mitchell Barlow EVER partaking in yoga was as likely as the existence of a four-sided triangle. And yet…… here he was. He had considered feigning sick but apparently this was compulsory and quite frankly, Desmarais frightened him slightly.

Dressed in his usual drab, brown robes, he made his way to the designated yoga-ing zone in the rose garden. And that's when he noticed his colleagues.

Cue furrowed brows.

Despite his very bizarre, very baggy trousers, de Nostredame looked every bit like he’d just stepped out of a poster of a teen witch magazine and Schmoe…… well, Schmoe was wearing what he could only assume was a professional yoga kit.

“Didn’t realise there was a dress code,” he expressed defeatedly, adjusting his bogey green bowtie. Maybe this meant he could sit out.

The only thing that Jillian saw in the noticeboard is the word yoga and she's absolutely sold already. Naturally she is excited doing this, changing into a much more comfortable ensemble she made her way to the Rose Garden. She has passed by this place a couple of times before, thankfully.

Entering the garden the first person that caught her eye is Professor Schmoe, quirky as ever. Next to him is the gorgeous man, the last time she has seen him was during the opening feast and he was injured. Although from the looks of it, he's all patched up and ready to do some yoga. Professor Barlow is looking rather academic with his bow tie and brown robes. Will he be participating as well because he might not be comfortable in it. "hello professors" she said smiling at the three of them.

Uhmm............

Cue in her awkwardness.

She tried looking around and spotting some of her school mates. Well for now there was only 2 of them. She walked towards where they were standing and joins them.

Yoga = Yoyo if you squinted hard enough.

This was the joke Yoyo had had slinging around her brain all morning long. She'd attend to a conversation, or a lecture, or a something and then, suddenly and without meaning to the phrase would float right into the middle of her head and the first year would end up grinning all silly-like without meaning to.

so, to say she was pleased as she walked into the rose garden that morning was an understatement. Dressed in some powder pink harem pants and a matching pink tank top, Yoyo felt more like Jasmine than a yoga-star. She waved at the Professors, beaming in turn at Mathys, Schmoe, and Barlow.

"Bonne après-midi! Good afternoon!" Yoyo said, hailing the teachers in both languages. Any chance she got to practice her French- even a tiny bit of it- was a chance Yolanda Uma Luna was happy to take. Where to sit? Now that was the question! Yoyo liked Professor Schmoe a lot so far but he looked really nervous, like really, really nervous and it was making her feel nervous so he was out, Mathys looked about as inviting as an acromantula... Which left (plenty of spaces everywhere) the seat by the one Professor Yoyo thought the most interesting.

"Hello, Professor Barlow!" The Hufflepuff grinned, taking up the mat beside him and settling into Easy Pose. "Have you ever done Yoga before?" He was going to have a hard time of it in his robes.

There was Faye, her roomie- Yoyo waved at her from her seat- and then there was that tall German boy who'd sat with her and Phoebe, and Cece, and Teddy in Herbology, He didn't get a wave, but Yoyo did smile at him.

She hoped her friends would be here soon.

Ah yes. There they were.

The arrival of the Hogwarts professors was preceded by the stench of bad taste. So much so that Mathys' nose twitched and he covered it immediately with one of his hands as the young Poufsouffle Hufflepuff [SweetPeea]and forced his lips to curl into a pleasant sort of smile. It was not her fault that her professors were fashion illiterate. "Zere is a reasahn why zey call it yoga practice. It is not perfection and zere is nothing in yoga zat is ultimate. Zere's beauty and grace in every body in any pose. You will do just fine."

Fashion, however, was another story.

Schmoe. His name was as sloppy as his exterior, leaving Mathys to hope that at least the man's personality had some redeeming qualities. "Professor Schmoe," he greeted with a slight bow from the waist, one arm tucked along the small of his back. Did these Hogwarts professors truly greet one another by first name in front of their students? How unprofessional. He was feeling far too tongue in cheek to be able to take Professor Barlow's greeting with anything but disdain. "....are you comfortable and able to move in zose..." Rags? "....robes?" Mathys had been able to remove his fingers from plugging his nose by now, at least.

"Bon après-midi, mademoiselle," he greeted the another young girl [nicole black] who approached the small group, Mathys' offering each [hjhm] as they arrived the same courtesy he had their professors in a slight bow at the waist. Though the disheveled appearance of the young man [Felixir] was not what concerned the Care of Magical Creatures professor (tattered jeans were a superior fashion statement to his professor's take on acceptable fashion). No, it was the clueless nature of the boy that had him perplexed. "You are interrupting nothing. We have not yet started," Mathys assured him, though ignorance and unobservance would not excuse him from participation. Not that he was already here.

But no. He was not here to lead this afternoon exercise. Not unless his headmistress was about to surprise him with this information.

So. Yoga.

Yoga wasn't really his thing but if he had to do any kind of exercise, this seemed like the one for him. It was quiet and peaceful and only including stretching. They weren't expected to fly or run or do any of the intense things that he would've tried to keep away from. So this wasn't going to be toooooo bad, right?

Wrong.

Dressed in a loose t-shirt and a pair of tracksuit bottoms, Lucas wandered into the Rose Garden. It was nice, really. Pretty, even. His green eyes moved over the garden as he walked through it, taking in as much of its beauty as he could. But it wasn't long before his eyes found another form of beauty and he...... stopped. Still. Right there.

Uh? No one told him Professor Nostredame was taking this class??

Oh merlin oh merlin, how was he supposed to concentrate now?!

That familiar heart-thumping feeling was back, which, once again, had very little to do with nerves. His cheeks started to burn and his breathing was..... well. It oddly felt like the air had been sucked out of the area around him. But he was outside?? Yeaaaaah, he was confused.

Breathe, Dakest, breathe.

He didn't know how long had gone by but he eventually found himself walking forward again. "Hello, Professors," he said, smiling at the three of them. The tinge of pink was still on his cheeks as he tore his eyes away from Nostredame the three of them and smiled at the others who were gathered there before walking over to the only person he recognised here. And probably the only person here he felt even slightly comfortable around in his embarrassed state.

"Hey, Jillian!" Smile for her too-

........

Wait. What was Schmoe wearing?!

If Carsyn was being totally honest, yoga was much too TAME of an exercise for the fourth year and yet also NOT because she was well aware of the benefits. If there was to be a quidditch this year, this would certainly help ensure she was limber enough. Also, it was taking place in the Rose Garden, which even though she knew it wasn't named after her, how could Carsyn Rose not show up at a place with her surname?

But see unlike her professors, the fourth year athlete knew appropriate yoga dress code. Which included walking from the Papillonlisse Common Room barefoot cause shoes were not needed for yoga, unlike quidditch. She was carrying some trainers with her, just in case the off-chance this turned into a quidditch match someone complained.

"Hiya!" she said enthusiastically, approaching the garden. Also no, she didn't have a yoga mat; that was beyond her scope. Carsyn moved to standing beside Jillian, cause she didn't see her sister yer and she knew Jillian to be only a year older, although she hadn't interacted with her much.

Oh, there was one of the first years. The floating one. Kaiser remembered. He did smile back, mostly out of politeness, privately glad that she hadn't used their not-even-an-introduction in Herbology as an excuse to start talking to him. Not that he had anything against her, or Hufflepuffs in general, or first years in general, but he really didn't know how to talk to kids without essentially treating them like very short adults.

Aaaaaanyway. The Beauxbatons professor then. Kaiser nodded slowly when he spoke, as if he suddenly understood.

He didn't. He didn't understand at all.

"I see." He did not see. Well, he saw some things, like the increasing number of people who were arriving, some dressed in everyday clothes, others looking more like they were dressed specifically for something. But what? Kaiser frowned slightly, trying very hard to remember if he'd seen or heard any announcements recently concerning the Rose Gar-...

Oh.

Oh wait.

Oh no.

The yoga thing. That's what this was. Now that he thought about it, Kaiser distinctly remembered the notice, and thinking about how Nova would probably be all over something like this.

Kaiser was not Nova. He started backing away like he'd just stumbled upon a particularly angry snake. "You all... have fun." Without him, yes.

Upon seeing the notice on the board, Carys had been of two minds about yoga. Not so much about the idea of intermingling with the Beaux students, as she’d been trying to occasionally do that in their borrowed common room with mixed results. Namely, she wasn’t entirely sure if she’d managed to convince them of her completely genuine intents. Plus, there was still the temptation to just speak Welsh the next time one of them pretended they didn’t understand her. Her main reason for being torn about it was the matter of Quidditch. She didn’t mind yoga. She occasionally had tried doing it on her own before, as it weirdly did help her with her chaser skills. But she was worried that the professors thought it would take the place of her preferred exercise.

Either way, it was a relatively optimistic Hufflepuff who made her way down from the third floor and out into the gardens, ready for any form of exercise in her loose top and shorts, completed with a pair of black Converse on her feet just to protect them on her walk to the garden.

Arriving shortly after her sister, she tried to hide a smile at seeing exactly what Professor Schmoe thought was appropriate yoga attire. At least she had managed to stop the giggle, and it was easy to turnthe smile in Lucas’ direction as she’d passed the Gryffindor boy on her way to claim a spot on the opposite side of her sister, settling in on her yoga mat after nudging her twin to hand over a replicated on she’d brought with her. It paid to be prepared, after all.

Which apparently that older Slytherin boy wasn’t, as she watched him backing away.

Mingling with the Hogwarts students? Aesha could think of thirteen better ways to spend her time. She did, however, enjoy yoga and there were other incentives for attending today's session. With that in mind, the sixth year made her way to the Rose Garden, looking around for any sign of Lars and the others. Unfortunately it appeared that she was the first to show and though it did bother her, she still made her way towards the group that had formed.

They were late. Typical.

Aesha didn't bother with silly greetings, but she did offer a smile to her Professor [Mathys de Nostredame].

Every time.

Every.

Time.

Giselle approached the others in the garden, well dressed as always and more recently scowling as always. About 75% of the time, it was because she happened to see what some of the Hogwarts Professors were wearing. Was there no occasion in which they made an effort? What was that Schmoe man? Who had dropped him on his head? Was it his mother? Was this who Giselle owled her therapy bills to?

Barlow, while not Schmoe, was hardly better.

It took a great deal of effort to force a smile onto her face as she continued her approach, her mind filled with the horrifying idea of any of these children PLUCKING her dear roses.

And then there was this one.

That smile she'd forced on somehow tightened until her very cheeks hurt. "You 'ave to look where you are going, mon cher. You'll bump into ozers if you keep zhis up." Tight voice too? .....No......hardly........definitely. Did no one from this school know how to do anything right?

Giselle eased the boy away from her before going to stand by her fellow staffer. "Mathys. Aesha." Her tone was not nearly as....ahem....pointed....when she greeted her own but her attention quickly returned to the Hogwartians.

"Remember!" She urged, doing her best to hide the minor panic. Where this lot was, trouble surely followed. "I know my roziz look très magnifique BUT you are not to pick zhem! Non! No picking! Zhere are charmz in place and if you try anyway," Because they were unruly, afterall, "You will 'ave dezerved everysing zhat happens after." It was more than fair warning. Any subsequent electrocutions would be on them. Her students knew better.

Yoga was one of many things Malachi Neil Trent did not care for. Exercise and wellness were great but he'd always believed he could achieve those things without contorting his body and falling asleep trying to "clear" his mind.

Did he say any of this to Desmarais? Definitely not.

This was her idea of bonding and if this was how she wanted to go about suing for peace, then he would be supportive and take his side of the castle's current residence to this little....friendly....event.....thing.... What was this again? Just food and yoga and getting along? Did he need to remind his students about good behaviour?

Probably not. Not with Giselle around to constantly be a reminder. That woman could have really benefited from one of Noble's calming draughts. She needed to Re-L A X.

Malachi kept his gaze fixed on the roses while he got closer to the group. Why? So he could pretend not to see what his staff were wearing. If he could just pull off telling the Headmistress that he had no idea what she was talking about when she confronted him about it later before excusing himself, there would be some peace. Sure, he'd caught a glimpse but never fear, he'd looked away soon enough to be able to plead plausible deniability.

"We about ready to get this thing started?"