As soon as class had finished for the day, Tommy had headed for the music room. He'd practically run, and still it had been occupied. If looks could kill, the kid sat at the piano wouldn't be standing, but lucky for them Tommy wasn't a basilisk. Instead, he'd made a lot of noise as he'd pulled various things from shelves, banging about and leaving the place completely disorganised. He'd even kicked a drum, just because he could.

The drum was seemingly magically reinforced, though, because the only thing broken was one of his toes by the feeling in it.

After being a general awful human, Tommy had grabbed one of the guitars and left, heading up to the Astronomy Tower, where he would hopefully get some peace and quite. The acoustics were better up here, anyway, he tried to convince himself as he spent some time calming himself down and chilling himself out before resting the instrument across his knees. and began to tune it.

The corridors had been swarmed with both over excited and homesick younger years so Lisa didn’t even try to venture to the Music or Art rooms. She anticipated both of those being filled with chatty younger years. Normally she’d be happy to participate in conversation because she, like most chatterboxes, could chat someone’s ear off. Today was different. She didn’t feel like making small talk. Instead, she wanted a quiet place to read her book.

The first thing she noticed upon entering was the sound of a guitar being tuned. Huh… Maybe some chill guitar music wouldn’t prove to be distracting. As she entered the tower further, she noticed that it was a fellow year and housemate of hers who had the guitar. Huh. Lisa was about to greet him verbally but decided for a nonverbal wave sent in his direction so that she didn’t disturb him. “Hi,” she whispered finally because not having a verbal greeting made her feel weird.

Slipping her bag off of her shoulder, it made a quiet thud. Then she pulled out her novel and thermos of tea and began to read. Maybe this would take her mind of the frustration of several spells not working the way she wanted?

Where did the time actually go? The Slytherin took a seat on the ground, placing her bag next to her. As she let out a deep sigh, she noticed her breath in the colder air. It felt like only yesterday she was a first year with her brothers in school with her. Not that her first year was one she was keen to look back on… but now she was the eldest Nam here. Maya rubbed her hands together to warm them up, wishing she had decided to wear a scarf. To distract her from the cold, she reached into her bag to pull out a book to read while she waited.

While normally, Maya would be in full stress mode about NEWTs, she had a very welcome distraction this year. She had been furiously scribbling away in the library when a certain someone had popped into her mind and refused to vacate it. So the Slytherin had quickly written a note to ask him to meet her on a spare piece of paper and carefully folded it to resemble a golden snitch. With a quick spell, the snitch was floating away, looking for its intended recipient.

And that was why the one and only Maya Nam was sitting here in the Astronomy Tower - unsure if the note even found who it was supposed to. If he wasn’t here in half an hour, she’d leave. She was sure he’d understand how she didn’t want to be a popsicle.

It wasn't as if Apollo was waiting around for notes from a certain someone. But also you couldn't say he wasn't waiting either. When an origami snitch note showed up in midst of a library study session which he wasn't sure how he missed her in the library? he did smile and without missing a beat, summoned his broom and made a quick stop at the kitchens first before heading out to the grounds and then flying off to the astronomy tower.

He flew up to the tower, which was something that he had immense gratitude in regards to his geographic knowledge of Hogwarts Castle. It was something that five years ago he would have been at a loss if someone asked for directions but now he could practically find the correct towers with his eyes closed. Time was a gift in that regards.

Landing in front of her, he plopped a picnic basket before her. "Food for thought." Literally, of course. Hopefully Professor Gert didn't object to eating in the astronomy tower?

When someone entered the tower room, Tommy knew. The prickling sense of awareness crept across his back, but he didn't turn around to acknowledge the person, instead focusing on the instrument in his hands. When they spoke, though, he did glance over - assuming it was to him, given that he was the only person who'd been in here and he would have felt someone else arrive.

He nodded back to Lisa, wondering why she was whispering, and grimaced a little when she dropped her bag. Maybe, if it had been someone younger, or a group of people, the sixth year would have been more loudly annoyed about it, but seeing as it was just her and his anger was seemingly spent, he found it easy to tell himself to relax.

Sort of - when he turned back to the guitar to tune it, he took more time that was strictly necessary. He'd played in front of people before, of course, but right now he was feeling self conscious about it, especially because she had a book about and likely didn't want to be disturbed. Forcing his fingers to move across the strings, he played a soft melody. He was here first, he kept repeating in his head.

It was mostly quiet up here in the Astronomy tower which made her wonder why she didn’t frequent it more often to study. Though once she felt the winter breeze, she was easily reminded why - no temperature control. Maya would just stick with the library or the domes.

The Slytherin was easily distracted by a picnic basket before her - the most welcome of distractions was food. But better yet when the food was accompanied by none other than this particular Gryffindor.

”Unless there are books in this basket, it’s not really food for thought,” she joked, a big smile crossing her face. Merlin, how sweet was it that Apollo had brought a picnic basket? Maya could’ve sworn her heart skipped a beat while looking at him. This scenario was just like something she’d read out of a romance novel and as cliched as it was, she adored it.

Maya scooched over and pat the seat next to her. ”Flying in this cold will get you sick before the holidays,” Maya said, glancing over at the broom. ”Luckily for you, I know a great way to ensure you stay warm.”

But if studying in the Astronomy tower meant surprise visits and food and cuddles, surely it would be a worthy contender to the library. Although the domes were quite private and didn't have the draft so maybe not.

He smiled at her remark. "It's food. And in exchange, you tell me your thoughts." But surely he didn't need to spell that out to the Slytherin. "I was told from older cousins that forgetting to eat during study sessions was quite common."

Apollo took the seat beside. "I've flown in worse conditions. It's good training and at least it's not raining." Rain or snow was probably the worst. "But tell me more about these warming methods of yours?" He eyed her hopefully.

Maya closed her book and set it to the side. ”Ah, well I think my thoughts are worth more than a picnic,” she teased, pulling the basket closer and opening it up. ”But you know I’d tell you my thoughts without the food.” Her stomach may have let out a little grumble though when the smell of food hit her. She may have accidentally missed breakfast from an early morning study session.

”Thank you for the food.” Maya may have forgotten to eat, but she would not forget her manners. ”You must’ve worked up an appetite studying and flying too.”

Darn those eyes. Forget the cold, she was felt warm tingles. ”Well…. We could keep each other warm and just… cuddle.” Maya tried to say it casually, a bit embarrassed for even saying it out loud. The good part was she was always able to pass the pink cheeks off as a side effect of the cold.

Apollo smiled in agreement at that. "This is true. Your thoughts are probably worth a full out all-you-can eat buffet." While he generally managed decent enough marks, there was no denying that she definitely possessed the higher IQ between the two of them. "Well that's appreciated that you don't require food for me to know what you're thinking. But I believe you do require sustenance to keep up with your studies." Judging from the small grumble, he believed he was correct.

"Obviously." But then again his stomach was like a bottomless pit, even without the added stressors of exercise and studying.

Apollo moved closer to her. "I do have some soup in here. Will need to warm it up, but nothing a charm can't fix." He pulled the basket closer to them and opened it for her to take out what she wanted first. Sandwiches and soups and chocolates.