"On the contrary." He insisted, grin now firmly in place. "I think you would have loved it there. Beautiful sights, even more beautiful clothing." Something he'd always known her to be parital to, so long as she could get over the people themselves. With this higher level of tolerance thing she had going for her, he was sure she'd be fine. "No doubt she'll be better able to take care of herself with combat. I still find myself worrying, more so about Maya with all this talk of a killer let loose." The school had yet to send him any news that was reassuring on the matter.

Ah and there! Nothing a little talk of jewelry and relics couldn't fix. Much safer to discuss apparently. "There's still an entire summer before you have to go back to teaching. I'm due back there in another two weeks or so if we could make it work for then." Of course he'd be busy for some part of that trip but not so busy that they wouldn't be able to do the things they suggested. Even while he was busy, Sophia could take the children sight seeing and gift shopping. An inspired idea.

"Any chance Tyler won't be too busy to tag along?" The life of a YATI tended to be no less busy around this time of the year. Shame.

Simon watched as she joined him down on the blanket, intwining his hand in hers as Angelina took it. And then the shopkeeper was leaning her head down on his shoulder. Yeah, it really was nice. The music...the atmosphere...and most of all, the ability to be out and about with his girlfriend with no trouble about. He had noticed a certain reporter and department head nearby with their family but he wasn't about to be quick to interact with them lest they ruin things for him.

"I think my back can handle it," he answered to her remark that seemed to him at least to be teasing him. No creaky or hurt bones for him thank you. "No crazy fights or duels lately." So sitting on the ground was a suitable option and if it hadn't, the auror would have likely strived to fake it anyway...for her sake.

Penelope had finally arrived as Wiggenweld's performance was kicking off, and they were pretty good, yeah? She was considering getting one of their albums now. Well, later technically. 'Cause right now she was just looking for a place to sit and eat. She'd bought herself a Fire Crab Pizza, Fairy Funnel Cake, and a butterbeer, so she just needed a seat with a nice view of the stage now. And maybe a friend too if one came by.

But she finally found a seat at least, so she plopped herself down and set her food and drink down in front of her as well. Time to eattttt.

Alright. Alright. Now. This was cool. No wait.

AWESOME!

In Luc's head that was. He was of age (chronologically) now. So that meant he could do whatever he wanted now right? WRONG. Except for today. His Uncle Charely and his buddy Tobias' dads given them the okay to hang out away from home with no supervision.

They had their reasons otherwise, but please. This was guys day. Which was perfect. It was summer time as this leapling carried Tobias on his shoulders. They were off to the festival! It took a few hasty run arounds and some delicious candy distractions but they finally made it.

One of the rare moments Luc was glad to be tall right now. He could see the whole stage from here, which meant Toby had to have an eagle-like view. "What do you see Tobes? " Glancing up at his mate. Could they get closer or was this good enough? DECISIONS. DECISIONS.

This place was rocking!

Having Luc as a friend was awesome in about a hundred thousand billion gazillion different ways, most of those being something to do with the fact that he was friendly and super fun and an absolute RIOT to hang out with. Basically, Toby could think of no-one better to be at this festival with, AND they were allowed to look after themselves and all, probably partly in thanks to Luc's 'of age' status as well as the fact that they were both incredibly mature and all that. Ahem. YEP

Toby also very much appreciated this view he was getting right now. Luc was soooooooo tall (taller than either of Toby's parents, taller than Mr. Kitridge back at school, probably taller than West Odessa, even), that when sat upon the older boy's shoulders, the sixteen year old could see for miiiiiiiiiles. Or, well... he could see really really far. DEFINITE improvement for someone who usually spend most of his time at eye level with people's shoulders.

"I see EVERYTHING!" Toby exclaimed, unable to keep himself from throwing his arms up in the air in delight, expression so ecstatic it lit up his face so he was like a beacon of Hufflepuff. This was SUCH A GOOD DAY. He looked down towards Luc, positively beaming. "I got the best view in the entire street!"

And, to show his thanks, Toby reached up and took the flower crown he'd been wearing on his head (a MUST HAVE fashion accessory, of course), and placed it on Luc's head instead. "Beautiful."

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlwaysSnapesGirl

Penelope had finally arrived as Wiggenweld's performance was kicking off, and they were pretty good, yeah? She was considering getting one of their albums now. Well, later technically. 'Cause right now she was just looking for a place to sit and eat. She'd bought herself a Fire Crab Pizza, Fairy Funnel Cake, and a butterbeer, so she just needed a seat with a nice view of the stage now. And maybe a friend too if one came by.

But she finally found a seat at least, so she plopped herself down and set her food and drink down in front of her as well. Time to eattttt.

Dani had been enjoying the AWESOME music and dancing kind of by herself--but that was OKAY. Sometimes dancing alone was the best way TO dance since, you know...people could be such hindrances in those sorts of things. And Dani was having fun. So. Yeah.

However, since she HAD come without her ...girlfriend, she was feeling a little lost..and bored..and like she needed to seriously make things up to Tabby.

SIGH.

Morganzo's weren't supposed to be nice so why did Dani ALWAYS feel bad when she was MEAN? Merlin this was annoying. Damn conscience.

Having grabbed a drink she made her way over to the seating area, sipping on her drink graciously, swiping some hair from her forehead, when her foot SUDDENLY made connection with one of the chairs--a leg--and ....TUMBLING DANI WENT. On the ground. She probably did a COMPLETE tumble-set. Luckily playing Quidditch had helped her agility so she didn't look CLUMSY when she fell, but she did.....feel very embarrassed.

And her drink had spilt all over some poor person's feet [PENELOPE]. Siiiiighing, she hopped up quickly and pulled out her wand--"Soo sorry, cutie--" she said quickly, casually, and not really thinking about it before it came out her mouth but seriously-----the girl WAS cute. Dani was flushed.

She had spilt drink all over her shoes. Ugh.

"WOOOH! AWESOME!" Luc pumped one of his fists in the air. Only one cause like, hello Tobias can't support himself alone on the shoulders with his arms out like that. Heh. Who cares, they could see the wooooorld. Or at least Tobi can.

So who was playing? Wiggenweld. Was the song going fast? NOPE. It was still slow for now. Suddenly he felt something fluttery on his head. Oh look it was a crown! A little flowery, but whatever. "Thanks Tobes!" He was cool like that, sharing and all. "Are you still hungry? I think I got some chocolate frogs left." Which reminded him, he still owed that Head of Chocolate Frogs Alexa two boxes. Oops. Oh well. They could always look around for more. They were almost men and needed lots of food and all that good nourishment.

He casually bounced back from the heels of his feet to the under toes. Back and forth. Baaack and fooorth. Wee. It felt so good to be away from Hogwarts again. "So Tobes, you feeling good about no more harsh exams for another yeaar?" He should. Cause like, sixth year was the bomb because of it.

Kalla glanced down and noticed the watch she had recently bought him was donning his wrist. So sweet! That earned him another swift kiss as she kicked her feet playfully.

"Of course you did! And I missed you so much. What a great way to kick off our holiday!" Yep. They were heading out for Italy promptly after their three days here. Hehe. "The plan? You mean besides being seen with a pro quidditch player in a very public place?" She didn't understand the question... why did there need to be a plan? They were at the festival and enjoying the people? Heh.

Ivan noticed the glance at his watch and grinned. Yup! He was a good boyfriend and wore the things she gave him. Especially easy since she had good taste and he didn't have to pretend to like it. He met her kiss and smiled, "You're just adorable."

He laughed as she said of course he did. He could have not...it was possible to not miss her. Though...he didn't really want to find out what that would be like. He grabbed her hand and held onto it. "Are you all packed?" he asked as he stared back out at the stage. "Hmm...a very beautiful one at that. Or...how about you being seen with a Lord out in public," he gave her a wink and slid his fingers in between hers. "Which one wins...the famous quidditch player or the royal blood," he teased.

She grinned at him and lay her head on gis shoulder. "M'not. Youare," she mumbled before burying her face in his chest. Heheheh. He made her blush and feel all giddy. Which was quite nice.

"I didn't pack. Ih my GOSH I FORGOT," she cried out dramatically. Total lie. She had packed all of the lovely things he had bought her... and the necklace was tucked away safely.

"I don't understand the questions you ask. Quidditch player. Duh. That's not even a legit question, " she teased him. Seriously though... she was enjoying his company no matter who was pulling more stares from others. She totally was.

Ivan leaned his head against hers. He always seemed to be smiling around her. Which was much better than his broody self that had been his predominant mood most of the time. "How about we both are?"

"Hmmm...I guess that'll be a problem," he teased. Yup he knew she was messing with him. He's gotten used to her jokes fast enough with her. "I guess we'll have to find something else to do besides go out," he whispered giving her a smirk.

He laughed and gave her side a slight tickle. "I think you're ego is getting bigger each day, love. Might have to get it shrunk a bit. Beside's everyone knows Royal blood is better than sports fame," he teased.

"So...from my inspection of this place, there's music, food, some sort of body art thing, and dancing. Care to do any of that?"

Being up here was super great, there was just SO MUCH to see. Because, in all honestly, Toby wasn't just keeping an eye on the main stage; at a festival where there was so much going on and a million things to look at, it was impossible to focus on just one thing. Everything got his attention: glimpses of what seemed to be old friends running into each other, people showing off new tattoos they must have got from that one place way over there, a whoooooole lot of band merch sported by the festival goers, and... just everything. So much was going on and it all made Toby's head spin in the BEST possible way.

He stayed perched up on Luc's shoulders, bopping his head along to the music and grinning away whilst gently drumming on the top of Luc's head with his hands, keeping with the rhythm of the song. But whaaaaat. Chocolate frogs?

"I could definitely go for a chocolate frog," Toby replied, even though he'd eaten more sweets today than should probably be allowed. But he was a GROWING BOY, after all. Sort of. "Toss one up, please? I can catch it." Man, this was good. SUCH a great day, really. Toby's levels of happy were totally through the roof right now, and he'd been grinning non-stop all day so that now his face kinda ached. But it was worth it for all the happiness, y'know?

At Luc's question, Toby laughed gleefully, because YEP. Even just THINKING about how he'd managed to survive those exams and didn't have any more for two YEARS just sent an extra surge of delight through him.

"You bet, Luc!" he replied with the greatest enthusiasm, and were he standing on the ground he might have started bouncing up and down right on the spot. "I'm feeling great, in fact. More than great. Have been since term ended." He thought about bringing up the topic of Luc's impending NEWTs next, as it seemed like the natural progression of the conversation. But he knew those were even more intense than that OWLs, and decided he wouldn't be the one to mention it. "LOADS more time to have FUN now," was what Toby said instead, still as chipper as ever.

Angelina was still oblivious to Jorge and his family, because she was too happy with Simon to see people right now. She siiiighed happily. The music was starting to become too irresistable to stay calm like that, but Simon probably wouldn't like it if she moved to the rhythm, and anyway, she liked his shoulder and hand too much to move right now.

"Thankfully," she said genuinely. She liked his job, it was certainly attractive, but it didn't mean she didn't worry for him.

"Do you know any of these singers or songs?"

"Yes I know Brazil is beautiful. Tyler had a tournament there and brought my back the most beautiful little bracelet thing..hand made as well." She wouldn't argue with that, she couldn't argue with that. The South American countries were precious little gems in their own rights and distinct vibrant cultures were very much her thing.

"Shhhhhhhh! Hush about that in public Bruce." She shot him a look and hissed. "The school board is in contact with the government, we have the situation under control. You don't think I'd take this lightly with my daughter and my niece at the school do you?" Man was her brother skilled at picking topics that grated her nerves.

"Hmmm..." Sophia rubbed her chin as she got lost mentally planning out her summer."I think we could make that work...with the exception of Tyler of course. I'm not sure if he'll be able to join us but I'll see if Rhea allows Bentley to come along.."

"Okay. We both are, but you're way cuter." Was that good enough for the Lord? Hehe. Turning her head she quickly kissed his cheek before snuggling back into his chest.

He got her. It was so comforting to know she could make a sarcastic comment and it wasn't lost on her man. He was a keeper! Upon hearing his comment she giggled and swatted his arm playfully.

Sports fame?! This made Kalla scoff, but it was quickly lost in her squeals and giggles. "Oh sports fame. Good one!" Like she wasn't from an OLD wizarding family to boot. "And my ego is perfectly well the way it is. Off sets your own quite nicely I'd say." Smirking then happened.

"However did you manage to inspect whilst fiddling with your sleeves?" she asked in mock shock! Hehe she cracked herself up. "I am quite content staying here for the moment. Is there anything you fancy right away? You know I'm up for whatever," she added with a smirk.

Emrys smiled, laughing a little uncomfortably and running a hand through his hair. "Yeah. Wow.. it's.. been a long time." Focused on Louisa, he was completely unaware that his sister was taking that opportunity to slip away, but staying juuuust close enough to keep an eye on what she thought was an.. interesting turn of events. But yeah.. taller. "A bit.." he chuckled. But not much. He was oblivious to her checking him out, sticking his hand back in his pocket. She looked.. well. Merlin. It was intimidating, honestly. He was trying to remember what she'd been like in school, though, and the picnic... and how he'd eventually stopped being so nervous. If he could manage that in this moment, that would be great.

"I'm.. alright. Yeah, alright. And probably my fault too." He shrugged. "It isn't like I made any attempt to stay in touch when I didn't come back for sixth." It wasn't like there was anything particularly interesting in his life. He ran errands. Let his sister meddle in his life. Read.

"What about you? Are you well?"

Józsua had left Olly to get something more to eat. Something for dessert to be precise, following that huge burger and pile of chips he'd just consumed. The bottomless pit of a human was following his nose back to toward the fried food to get himself a chocolate frog and some ice-cream. He didn't have the excuse any more that he was growing. He'd come to a halt there just short of the 5'10” mark.. but he still felt like he was having a constant growth spurt.

Somehow, on his way to the food station, he found himself right slap bang in the centre of a group of people dancing.

He looked around. His dark eyes glinted—People who knew him might have thought he would search for the nearest exit in circumstances such as these.. Y'know.. where eyes may be on him.. but he didn't. He began to move to the music. He liked this song. Food could wait.. and so could Olly. She'd just assume there was a reaaally long queue..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Optimist

Confident that was exactly what she needed to be right now. What if he shows up? What if he doesn’t? she thought and rubbed her finger against her thumbnail as if it were some kind of worry stone. She wasn’t nervous, no, it wasn’t really nerves she was in more of a state of agitation at the thought of possibly being stood up. Chelsea get a grip you are amazing. If he stands you up he’s not worth it. She told herself with a nod.

She hadn’t even been there more than five minutes really as she stood there watching the first musician she couldn’t help but grin. Timofey had an amazing voice she was SO going to congratulate him if she saw him later.

It was now, with the music that she wished she had worn a skirt so she could dance and let its layers sway in the breeze. Maybe that would be nice? Would he recognize her? What had she told Takashi she was wearing? Right. She had to breathe and relax first dates didn’t have to be crazy.

He was not late, for the record.

In fact, Takeshi had arrived ridiculously early to the festival in hopes that he would loosen up long before his date arrived. Only the complete opposite had happened. So instead of looking confident as he swayed back and forth to the music, he was standing off to the side hidden behind some decorations with sweaty palms shoved into his jean pockets and hat tilted in such a way that his features were hard to make out.

Matters were only made worse when he saw her arrive...and ended up slinking back into the corner to sandwich himself between two decorations a bit more. Well, maybe not sandwich as much as trap...because now there was no way of escaping without walking right out in front of her.

Why had he signed up for this again?

Solely because he did not want to appear rude or heartless - and so as not to make a lady cry because she had been stood up - he took just enough timid steps out of hiding so he could reach out and tap her on the shoulder. Twice.

Er....hi?

Was Bristol happy about being here? Maybe.

Had she been forced to come against her will? Yes. Thank you, Dee.

Was she hoping to see someone here? Maybe, but she was was hardly daring to hope.

Mostly, she tried to focus on the positive energy around her ... the music, the people, the atmosphere. It made her want to get up and daaaaaance. Honestly, she would have. If she'd been in the mood. Instead, she laid down on the grass, her hair spreading out around her on the grass and tapped her fingers against her leg to the beat of the music.

And there they had it, Brazil was worth the little quirks you ended up picking up while visiting there. It was nothing he couldn't break out of, given the right time and the adequate cultural shift; just a matter of time in the end.

The urgency to cover up the situation didn't register much to him. It seemed that wherever you sent your children they were likely to encounter near deaths--save Beauxbaton. He hadn't heard anything about them for the longest while. Bruce gave a small shrug. "Full of assumptions today, my dear sister. I don't suspect you'll take anything too lightly when your family's in danger. That doesn't make a father worry any less." Indeed, it didn't, not even hearing about contact with the government. It said very little til the man was actually caught.

"Thank Merlin it's summer and they can get a break from there. I trust you'll update me on the situation before I make plans to send Maya there for the new school year?" It would be nice to know so he could consider his options.

The plans for now sounded like solid enough plans for him to begin making arrangements. Excellent. A break while he worked might do him some good as well. The fact she would have only asked for Bentley to tag along was left where it was. It was hardly worth another argument when they'd found a subject that made her happy. Perhaps later. "We'll be doing a bit of excavation. You can come along if you get tired of the sights." Options were always important.

Quote:

Originally Posted by StarShine

Angelina was still oblivious to Jorge and his family, because she was too happy with Simon to see people right now. She siiiighed happily. The music was starting to become too irresistable to stay calm like that, but Simon probably wouldn't like it if she moved to the rhythm, and anyway, she liked his shoulder and hand too much to move right now.

"Thankfully," she said genuinely. She liked his job, it was certainly attractive, but it didn't mean she didn't worry for him.

"Do you know any of these singers or songs?"

Music was in full swing for their enjoyment, from one group or musician or another, they were all a mesh to him cause he wasn't all to familiar to them. Was he at least that old that they were new to him? Simon felt more then heard Angelina's contentment and relaxing against him. He leaned down to kiss her head before resting his own head ever so gingerly on hers.

He nodded at her one word response, the feeling quite mutual. No trouble meant he was alive and unharmed another day, something that wasn't to be taken for granted by one in a profession such as his. "Honestly...not really." It wasn't like he had all that much free time to go about listening to music. Sure there was the random stuff heard in passing but the auror doubted he'd identify anything by name of song or artist. "What about you?"

England.

ENGLAND.

E-N-G-L-A-N-D.

HOGWARTS.

LIFE. AT LAST.

To say Forrest was delighted would be an understatement, because he was beyond the words. He couldn't stop grinning, his heart was constantly beating fast and he wanted to hug everyone that he saw. What was the icing on the cake was this BRILLIANT festival. He clearly didn't know whose idea was it, but if he found that person, he'd kiss them sloppily on both cheeks.

Before that, though, he saw someone he KNEW, and his heart did that weird thing as if it was squeezed. He... didn't even know what to do. He had to greet her, but the manner? HOW should he greet? WHAT should he say? He vacillated while he followed her with his eyes and when she lay down on the ground, he had decided: he would keep it cool, friendly, and ask why she didn't get out of her room.

He walked towards her, sweating coldly in anxiety, and looked down at her, though he knelt down the next moment, since it was quite rude and he felt weird.

"Hi," he said only in his manly voice. Hi. Was he still familiar?

Minutes passed by and Bristol actually started to get into it, the whole festival thing. She REALLY wanted to get up and dance. The music was intoxicating. It felt like nothing could bad could happen and nothing could break through the bubble of calm and bliss that was surrounding her. But ... of course ... she was wrong. A voice broke through.

A voice that seemed ... oddly familiar ..

Her eyes flew open wide, she raised herself to sitting and opened her mouth to speak, but ... no words came out.

She was speechless.

Bristol Haigh, the girl who always had something to say, was speechless.

Maybe it was the fact the FORREST was knelt next to her, or the fact that he sounded so different, or that he had LOTS of hair and ... a beard, an almost beard. Maybe it was all of those things. Or maybe ... it was that she had so much she wanted to say to him that she just didn't know what to say first. Her eyes kept wandering to his face, his hair, his size. Even when kneeling down, it was obvious that he'd grown. She tried to do the word thing again ... "F-Forrest."

......... "You're here."

Louisa couldn't help the smirk growing a bit as she noticed how he still talked with slight... nervousness? It wasn't really stammering but it definitely reminded her of boy Emrys who was always so nervous and adorably awkward. "Yeah, but that's ancient history now, we can catch up now since you don't seem to be dying to dance." With a chuckle, she pointed at the main stage behind them where some band were rockin' hard.

Now they could go and have a seat together, she wasn't even fussed that she wasn't going back to dancing. "I'm very well. I'm interning at the international wizarding confederation office, I have to hand in an assignment and a presentation to be considered for a real position there." She beamed, obviously excited and proud of this. "It's really the best place I can think of where I want to kick off my career. What are you doing now? After Hogwarts?" She didn't remember they talked about their post-Hogwarts plans (of course she was only a fifth year when she knew him, awfully young and lost at the time).



Some band was playing a really good beat, Louisa was having an easy time letting it seep into her body and move it with the rhythm. She raised her arms over her head like two slithering snakes and her hips bopped with the music, her feet were taking her to dance with random guys but she didn't find one that suited her yet. She was subtly backing from someone when her hip bumped someone else-- a much cuter, tall guy.

She smiled slowly (momentarily, too, dancing was not hot when you were smiling) and dropped her arms to level with the boy's guy's neck claiming him as her dancing partner for this song. Regardless of his reaction, she danced and turned and danced some more, bending her knees at the slower parts of the song and slowly standing up again to sway with the faster beat.

Her hair was flying everywhere, but it didn't seem to bother her; In fact, she looked like someone with no inhibitions as she danced.

It was probably one of Angelina's happiest moments in life: she loved people, Simon, festivals and music. Tonight was a night to remember. And, with such positive feelings, her hand resting on her knee started to tap with the rhythm of the music. Soon she would dance, and she wouldn't even listen to Simon's complaints - he either danced, or danced with her!

"No," she admitted too, "I mostly listen to muggle music, but these guys aren't bad at all." Her eyes were on the stage, studying the area. Would he... like to go there? Althought THIS was the dancing area... hmm...



While they both stared at each other and she sat up, Forrest studied her too. She had grown up as well, and he could tell it easily. She was more... womanly too, and definitely 'pretty'. She wasn't the girl he remembered, just like he wasn't that stupid timid boy too. The memory of their meeting came unbidden into his mind, and how they promised that they would be best friends, and then how they went on a Hogwarts expedition, how they had both been sorted into Hufflepuff... it all felt like another life now. He insecurely bit his lip as she tried to speak. Honestly, he wouldn't do any better job too. He was angry at her, for sure. He had left too, but she left earlier. She broke the promise. They weren't 'BFF's now. If anything, they were at a worse position than they had started: they had been two gleeful children easy to please and make laugh; but now, their insecurities, mistrusts and great personalities stood between them.

"It's been so long." He didn't let himself smile. Instead, he stated the obvious fact: it had been too long.