Her thought process for the evening had been if she stalled on going down to the Great Hall, could she stall the fact it had been end of term? She'd truly considered skipping all together if they meant it just... wouldn't happen. All of the things she'd been low key stressing about, and then trying to put off, couldn't be ignored any longer after tonight. So the idea of playing sick in her dorm room just continuously sounded better and better.

Except.. she also logically knew that wouldn't do anything except make her miss out on the last night with her friends until next term. And there was a project she'd been working on for the last few months that would have to now be delivered. So with heavy feet, she made her way from tower to hall and selected a random spot at the table, placing the ribbon wrapped notebook on the table in front of her while she waited for others to arrive.

Another year down, another four more to go! Not that Logan had even considered the fact that he would be returning to the castle as a fourth year, a year away from OWL exams, in a few months. With the start of the summer holiday literally a day away, that was all the boy had been thinking about. The moment he turned in that last year-end exam, his brain had completely abandoned the concept of being studious and began thinking of a million things he wanted to do before September.

Before any of those plans could come to fruition though, he had to make it through the End-of-Term Feast. As much as it was getting in the way of going full vacation mode, he didn't mind it as he would get to socialize with his pals and eat until he couldn't eat anymore. The blond just hoped that old man Winterbottom's speech didn't wait forever to make his speech and made it snappy.

"You know, my birthday was a few days ago. Bit late to be giving me presents now," he addressed Vera as he slid onto the bench on the opposite side of the table. Of course, he knew that the gift wasn't for him. But any opportunity for teasing was going to be taken advantage of. "Any plans for the summer?" he asked nonchalantly. He knew of Vasco's plans, but Vera was ... Vera.

Her eyes turned to observe Logan as he settled into the seat across, her arm moving onto the table and resting her elbow on it so she could prop her face in her hands. "It is, but I'm actually giving you your gift even later." She hadn't been able to find anything suitable at Hogsmeade, so she was waiting to get back to Diagon Alley to find something she liked. Either gag wise or maybe she'd spice it up this year and actually get Logan something he might like. Imagine that. She had caught the tease to it, but she wasn't quite up for responding with the same energy.

Or... was she. Because asking her summer plans prevented too good of an opportunity. "I have a date." It was with Maria and they were going clothes shopping so that her Hufflepuff friend could probably find stuff for her actual dates but... she didn't need to disclose that part. "I also was going to try out for a Jr. Gobstones team this summer, since I'm still too young to work." Only one more summer and then she could start saving for her own invisibility cloak. She had other plans too but... considering any mention to Logan could potentially get to Vasco, she was going to stay quiet on that. "What about you? Is your family going on any trips or anything?" [/color]

So.

This was it?

Feeling mostly like a deflated balloon ever since walking out of his final NEWT, Atlas had found himself feeling...not much of anything. He had barely made a dent in the Hogwarts bucket list he and Aries had carefully crafted prior to the disaster of a first year and he thought he would feel resentment about that. But he didn't. When he had found the heinously unfinished list while packing up his trunk, the blonde had simply shrugged and considered slipping it between the bindings of one of his notebooks to keep. He did not do so, however, and slipped it into his robe pocket instead as a better idea crossed his mind. There were a few half completed assignments and an essay he hadn't finished that had been dumped into the bin as well with an accompanying shrug. There were a lot of things left unfinished, incomplete memories, but he was uncharacteristically unbothered by this. Besides needing to pass on a few tricks of the trade Joel when it came to detentions and allocating your energy wisely...Atlas felt like he had gotten all that he could out of Hogwarts. It was time to go. Overdue, in fact.

It was not apathy that had him not wake Freddie up from the nap the bloke had fallen into, but rather his Flamsteed sense of empathy. Hey, if he had fallen asleep, he wouldn't have wanted woken up either. He had, however, left Freddie with a little gift in the form of purple ink on the cheek facing upwards. Nothing too outrageous, mind you. Just the profile of a chocolate frog whose mouth would open and close while Freddie spoke. And, yes, the frog was wearing a backwards baseball cap.

Slipping in along the bench late, sometime around or in the middle of the Headmaster's speech, and nearby where Vera and Logan sat with a couple of clicks and clangs coming from his pockets - nothing out of the usual here. Getting one last hurrah in at the buzzer with Vera had been pretty dope.

"Jr. Gobstones? I may just be able to see a match if you let me be privy to your schedule." He had, after all, been making time for viewings for a fair bit now. Leaning back a bit so he could more easily slip his hand into his pocket, Atlas rummaged around and fought with Hercules over a very specific piece of parchment he needed to hand over.

That was ... not the response he expected. There was a fleeting expression of surprise on Logan's face after Vera mentioned that she was actually going to get him a gift. An eyebrow rose to hide the original reaction. "Well, if it's going to be late, then the bar is gonna be set quite high." Just so she was aware. But, truth be told, he wouldn't be surprised if he received a Dungbomb or a sweet that would burn a hole in his tongue or make it sweet until it was at least four feet (all of which would be funny after the fact).

His expression quickly went deadpan. She had a date? That was - that was just absurd! The blond couldn't help but chuckle. This was a joke, right? Hahaha. Sooooooo funny. "And who'd you manage to Confund?" he asked, his voice full of doubt and maybe a smidge of jealousy.

The whole Vera-has-a-date thing set aside, he nodded at the Gobstones team mention. Her trying out for a team certainly seemed more likely than her going on a date. "Sounds fun," he commented, now considering the idea of trying out for no reason in particular. It'd maybe keep him preoccupied over the summer, not that he was positive what all it would entail. "Haven't the foggiest about family trips. I'm sure we'll wind up going somewhere though. As long as there's a beach and cool things to see and it's not France again, I can't complain much."

But you know who was bound to have a fun summer? That of the older Gryffindor who just showed up, surely! "Hey, Atlas! How's it feel to be done with all this?" He made a gesture to indicate the school. "Any big plans?" For the summer, life beyond Hogwarts, however the older boy wanted to interpret the question.

In truth, she'd been setting the bar high for herself anyways - either in something monumentally horrible or something fun. She had wanted to err on the side of fun this year, spice things up, and had been hoping to think of some type of event that might have been fun to go to in the summer as a celebration but... the only thing that came to mind was Scamander's zoo. And considering Logan's mum had worked there for years prior to Hogwarts, she assumed he might be sick of the place and not up for another adventure. So... she'd been back to square one. She'd figure something out though. And would certainly have plenty of time hunting around Diagon Alley for maybe a material item instead. "If this bar is relative to the gifts I've given you in the past, I feel pretty confident I could surpass that."

... The issue with having said the word 'date' meant of course he was going to ask who and now it would be way too embarrassing to say it was just Maria and a friend date and try to laugh it off. Besides, what was that she heard in his voice? Was it the fact that she had secured a date before him or Vasco? Because truthfully, that was a big part of her goal. She opened her mouth to throw out some random name - what was generic? - when instead she was saved by Headmaster standing and beginning his speech. "Tell you later." She whispered back, feeling infinitely thankful for Winterbottom in that moment as she pretended to then be engrossed in the farewell speech.

She was also more than happy to then move on to the idea of Gobstones, something that was not straddling the line of being a full on lie and therefore far easier to speak on. "I think it will be. Hopefully I'm not too late and can make a team." It's not like she had any technical skills in the sport on her resume, BUT she did like to play as often and with whomever she could convince. She blinked a bit, turning eyes back towards him as her head tilted a bit. "What was wrong with France?"

Ah, and there was her self proclaimed older brother. One of the biggest reasons she had not wanted to come down to dinner tonight because maaaaybe that meant he wouldn't be gone next term. Outside of her dorm mates, Atlas was one of the people who genuinely made her feel like her presence wasn't a chore. And his having taken her under his wing had probably given her some of the best memories she'd have from Hogwarts, particularly their last hurrah. She was genuinely sad to see him go, but trying to not be emo in the Great Hall and show just how much so.

His interest in potentially watching her compete over summer helped with the ignoring the emotions for a moment, instead just pleased that meant she'd at least see him again. "If I get on a team I'll send you a copy of the schedule!" And... speaking of sending him things, she reached for the notebook she'd brought down with her and carefully slid it down towards him, avoiding all the foods that had now appeared on the table. "Happy Graduation, Atlas!" The book was mainly blank, empty pages - something she thought maybe he could use to create plans and diagrams for his future inventions. But the first two pieces of paper in the cover included two drawings she'd done over the course of the term, one of a Chibi head of him peeking over his invisibility cloak and the second her attempt at something more realistic and a moment of him in the commons working on one of his mechanics. She was not a magnificent artist but... she was happy enough with how they had turned out. "I look forward to one day getting to purchase the really cool things you invent!"

How close was Freddie to sleeping through the feast? Close enough, to where he was the last to enter but luckily before the speech could begin. He took enough time writing in the memory book for his grogginess to disapparate as he plopped himself next to his dormmate. Resting his palm over one of his face cheeks, fully displaying his new mark that resembled a frog.

"Heello, hello, everyone," Freddie greeted. It was too weird to think about him graduating now. He felt like his fun was only just beginning. But not as weird as his frog icon opening and closing at each word his spoke. Did he notice this yet? Or was he fully embracing this new tattoo? "Thanks for not rousing me right away," He told Atlas. He needed that sleep after the late graduation celebration in their dorms.

"Hey, do you guys want to come to our graduation party my parents are letting us have?" He addressed those nearby. "We have a pool and everything," It would be fun for one last hoorah before he moved out.

Food? Food. Perhaps one last mashed potato mountain with a broccoli forest up along one side and topped with some gravy - because this was what mature of-age wizards who had completed their NEWTs and were done with this stage of schooling did, obviously. The blonde was mid flashing a grin to Vera and Logan when Freddie appeared. That grin only grew a little more when he saw that his handiwork was still, mostly, smudge free and very prominent in its purple ink glory on his friend's cheek. He should have administered an anti-smudging charm to it just because. Getting ink stains out of a pillow case was irritating. "...figured you needed your beauty sleep..." he mumbled in response as he plopped another large spoonful of potato on to his plate to continue to sculp his mountain.

Potatoes sufficiently stacked, Atlas summoned the bowl of steamed broccoli to him and cleared his throat before returning his attention to the pair of younger lions just in time for Vera to pass him something. A gift. She had given him something...and he was pretty floored by the gesture and, well, he remembered when he had gifted a graduating someone a gift and what THAT had meant (dear Phoebe James, we sincerely hope you are well and still have the LEGO necklace). His eyes widened and there was a couple of breaths in hesitation before reaching for the journal. Confirmed, Vera had a crush on him. Yikes. Was there really anything to do about that considering circumstances? He would have been beyond embarrassed if Phoebe James had said anything unfavorable in the moment. Is had been the opposite and he had received a kiss on the cheek, in fact, which was certainly NOT something he was going to do in this moment for a plethora of reasons. Accept the gift though? That he could do. Easy. "Only happy thing about it is your gift," he said confidently as he took it in both his hands, brushed his palm over the cover, and flipped through a couple of the pages. "Thanks, Vera. This is great. Absolutely will put it to good use...and see what I can do about sending you early prototypes." And speaking of gifts...sorry, Logan, nothing specifically for you but...you could probably benefit from this as well. "I...actually have something to pass on to you too..." His hand reached back into his pocket and pulled out a very weathered piece of parchment that had both his own and his brother's writing on. The top of the parchment clearly read: HOGWARTS MISCHIEF MANAGED TO-DO LIST. It was quite the lengthy list, some missions simpler and less risky than others...but there were a fair few fantastical ones as well...and not even a third of them crossed off. "...Aries and I started working on this as soon as we got our Hogwarts letters...and there is still plenty of room on that parchment to add more ideas and goals...I want you to have it," he explained while passing it to her. He glanced at Logan here and there as he spoke since, well, he knew they would be ticking things off this list together. "You should finish ones we couldn't, add more of your own, and...maybe...pass it on to another Gryffindor when it is your turn to graduate. May have to paste it into a notebook eventually... create an anthology of Gryffindoring."

Was this a better legacy than the glitterbomb he had left in the Memory Book? Eh, maybe. It was more intimate for sure. Inspiring...arguably not any less messy though.

Forget-me-not blues lingering on Vera for another intense beat, he finally allowed his attention to focus on Logan since, well, Logan was asking about him and he actually wanted to share for once. "I've felt done with this place for a while now so...pretty darn good to have it be official," he laughed. " I'll be inventing and tinkering in the immediate future. I work at Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment, so you can pop in and find me there from time to time. Be attending university at the WU London campus for Metallurgy & Metal Charming...may tack on Business Administration & Management too since the ambition to open my own business is there." Atlas paused a moment to fix a broccoli that was beginning to fall down on its side of mashed potato mountain. "My unchiul is going to train me some more in elemental magic. He can work fire to his whim, it is really dope. He isn't sure which element resonates with my magic just yet but...pretty confident it is going to be fire too." Though he was kind of hoping for something different. It wouldn't be water like Aunt Minnie though, that much he was certain of. "My brother will be back from abroad for a bit so...finally get to spend time with him. Probably travel together a bit and ---" There was Freddie with the traditional pool party invitation. "...attending his shindig too," Atlas concluded with a slight, but deceptively playful, eye roll.

Apollo was half tempted to go sit at the Slytherin table with Bella or Maya for his last feast. Or to venture off to the Hufflepuff table just to see what it felt like. What were they going to do? Tell him that he couldn't graduate? He doubted that would happen. But sitting at the Hufflepuff table when they'd just won the house cup was probably not a good thing, so he'd rule that one out. But perhaps he'd make his way to the slytherin table after attempting to be social with the gryffindors. Though the late graduation celebration in the dorm was enough really ... and it wasn't like it was goodbye. They'd still see each other again, right?

"It's all up to you guys now..." He looked from Logan to Vera. "Keep Gryffindoring ... and show the others."

The weird thing about his future was that it really was uncertain. Unlike some of his peers that were off to university and whatever else, his future hinged on an offer that he had yet to receive. And if he didn't receive it, he wasn't sure what he'd do. He guessed maybe university, but it was probably too late to apply for the fall and he wasn't even sure what he'd study.