'In the Meantime...Something for Fun' Cont..

[Nicci]

Seeing Seth stretch out a hand Serena took it gently and shook it with a smile.
“I’d like that” she answered, feeling his sincerity. “Maybe we can enjoy this ‘hike’ together…and Peter will walk with us instead of unleashing his fancy flying ability”.
Chuckling again Serena heard the call of Lyn’s voice from only a short distance away and turned to face her direction. The young woman’s voice was unfamiliar with the hinted accent but her face Serena had definitely seen before.

“Erm…” Serena began in a stutter as an answer to Lyn’s question. She didn’t know if it was common knowledge to share about Peter’s transformation ability and even if it was she still didn’t really grasp the facts herself. “Nothing.. Really, Peter just played an unexpected trick on me and..I scare easily…consequence of living a sheltered life I suppose..”.

Giving a uncomfortable chortle, Serena was about to turn to Alex and Seth in hope that they would be able to cover better for Peter but suddenly realised where she had seen the Slytherin girl from.

“You?, it was you on the path just outside Hogsmede the other day wasn’t it?”. It was a bold statement to make to someone she hadn’t really met before but Serena was certain of it, in between phases of unconsciousness it was her who had tried to help. “You tried to help me didn’t you?...But my brother…I’m so sorry for his actions, he’s a tad over protective sometimes”.
Pausing, she hoped she hadn’t been too upfront and Lyn wouldn’t be too overwhelmed.

[Chris]

Seth shook Serena's hand, and nodded. "Definitely." Alex heard a voice, and turned around. "Hey there. Lyn, isn't it? Peter just gave Serena a scare. Nothing big. He had to run off somewhere." Seth just listened and awaited Lyn's response to this.

[Nicci]

“I thought..” Kalina began in staggered sentences through puffs of breath “You were..in trouble. When I saw..the patronus I thought... it was the Professor”.
Being pulled up onto her feet, she giggled with a warm smile and stashed her wand back in her pocket “I’m glad you are...”

Before Kalina could express her relief, Lia had thrust a few sheets of paper in her face and was squealing excitedly. It took a few moments to cotton onto what was happening but after reading the headline of the introductory sheet, she too found herself jumping about enthusiastically.
“This is great Lia” Kalina exclaimed, re-reading over the introductory sheet for a 2nd time “The Hogwarts Express!! What a name! It’s just like the train..I was thinking more ‘Warts n All’ but yours is far more creative and witty..and look at the font it’s even like in little cloud shapes. Lia this is a great start of course I’m in”.
Beaming an uncontainable grin, Kalina continued to read over the introductory article that explained what was going to happen in the forthcoming weeks followed by an informative, easy read bulletin of key dates and events. However near the bottom of the page a key word jumped out at her: Quidditch, it wasn’t going to be easy to hide her feelings on the subject for very long.
“You deserve this..” Kalina finally spoke proudly, handing the copies of the introductory sheet back over to Lia “Don’t let Professor Garland take this away from you..It’s going to be a great success. What can I do to help?”

[Nicci]

Having come from Defence against the Dark Arts class, Callie sat on a stone bench in the small fountain courtyard alongside Tasha trying to construct a conversation out of their small talk. They hadn’t really had much of a chance to talk since the weekend visit down in Hogsmede but if Callie was ever going to get answers confirming her suspicions about Kyle then Tasha was possibly the best person to prize it out of.

Trying to seem uninterested in mentioning Kyle, Callie had skirted around the direct questions and began bring up the easy things: Kalina’s behaviour, Homework, her brother...
“So how’s things going with Ganny huh..Still showing him around the castle or whatever you call it?” she joked nudging her friend’s arm. Being around her friend again had really lifted her spirits even if it only lasted momentarily, being constantly left alone and moody was enough to drive someone crazy. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Erin’s not already eyeing him up or already has to that matter...”

[Jazzie C]

Lia smiled earnestly at Kalina, hands still slightly stained with ink she pushed her hair back a little and grinned sheepishly. Her eyes flicked down at the paper and flicked back up to Kal. She giggled slightly and just said 'You know exactly what you can do.' Turning away she wove through the printers and changed the odd thing, rearranging inks and things until the room was in order, as she waited for Kalina's response.

[Nicci]

Kalina rolled her eyes playfully and shrugged her shoulders “Oh I suppose so..” she spoke retaining her cheeky chuckle and a beaming smile. Following Lia into the back of the room, Kalina headed over to the end of the production line and glanced down at the quickly stacking pages “These aren’t going to be distributed by themselves, what do you recon bundles of forty to each house?” she called out across the room hoping her estimate was enough. “I’ll take forty five in four lots and a spare few for around the castle that should be plenty”.

Taking out her wand again and tucking a thick clump of curly hair behind her ear, Kalina cast a simple counting charm at the pile of Introductory Sheets and separated them with neatly bound twine ready for distribution. Stepping back she did a quick double check for what was going where “Ok so if you take one pile to Ravenclaw Tower and the odd ones for around the castle, I’ll do the same with Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Sound ok?”

Waiting for Lia’s answer over the whirring of the printers, Kalina’s thought’s drifted down to the small boxed article that was placed under the ‘Hogwarts Express’ name on the top of the four piles of papers. Flashing occasionally in coloured ink only grabbed her attention even more ‘JOURNALISTS WANTED: APPLY BY OWL’ followed by some small print details, did she really have what it took to write something half decent to help out Lia or was she just better off being the distributor.

[Jazzie C]

Gen was sat, on her bed staring at the Transfiguration notes that Kalina had left her, wondering how best to start her essay. She sighed and looked up at the old clock beside her bed. Her eyes widened and she swore loudly. Jumping up, she threw her cloak on and sprinted down the spiral staircase towards the entrance of the common room.

Leaving the castle she jogged down to the others at the edge of the forest. 'Hi..' She gasped, looking up at Lyn and the others. She smiled and stood up straight 'Sorry, am i late?'

[Nicci]

Still focused on Lyn, Serena didn’t notice Gen hastily approach the group and stand beside them gasping. She could see Seth twitching in her peripheral vision but it wasn’t anything she felt concerned enough to turn around about.
---------------------------------------------------

Swiftfully darting through the portrait hole, having passed an older girl on the stairs first year Samantha Carrington navigated her way across the Gryffindor Common room and approached a young boy sat reading in a chair nearest the fire.
“I’ve looked everywhere..AGAIN” Sammi explained to Joe whilst stopping her glasses from cascading off the end of her nose “This is serious, the professors have to be lying to us I haven’t seen Leah since the fire and although they have told me she is recovering in the Infirmary she’s not there I’ve checked four times today alone”.
Partially irritated from frustration and her pigtails itching her neck, Sammi tossed part of hair over her shoulder and stood defiantly with her hands on her hips. “What about Jesse? Do we have any new news about him? I haven’t seen him in class at all this week? Could the two of them be connected?”
“JOE!!...are you listening to me?” Sammi scolded with a worried expression as her friend was still engrossed in revising the basic spells for their upcoming transfiguration test “It’s just us now! With Leah missing, Jesse somewhere else and Dani still not allowed out of bed..it’s just… us…” Pausing to leave the thought of the two of them at the front of both their minds, Sammi chose not to mention Anders because he had gave her the creeps in Herbology class pretending that spiders were lurking everywhere in the greenhouse.

[Thomas]

Lyn gasped excitedly "You can own a phoenix? I didn't know you could have one for a pet here, how did you get it? " she wondered aloud, hoping it didn't make her seem dumb, at Durmstrang they were only allowed cats or owls.

But the girl hadn't seemed to notice her outburst thankfully, as she suddenly realised she was being accused or something... no wait was that a thank you? Something about that day down in the village, she knew she had to admit, she had thought the girl looked familiar and now knew why.

"Yeah, I was trying to help you, you looked like you needed some help", she flushed a little as she realised the gryffindors were still there and were probably wondering what on earth she'd been up to, turning slightly away she looked down at the ground "Sorry if I freaked you all out, I was just casting some barrier charms to make sure nothing who wanted to or could harm you could lay a finger on you. I didn't mean to send your ''friend'' hurtling across the ground", remembering the incident she still couldn't understand why he had been affected, he looked perfectly human...

[Thomas]

Tasha giggled a little " I've been keeping busy Callie, I've been training hard for the quidditch, but Ganny hasn't been far from my mind" she gave a little wink and wrapped her arm around Callie's.

"You're ok with it are you? I know it's probably a little wierd but he's nice"

It was great to have some time with Callie, she hadn't seen her about much this week, but she was going to enjoy every second she could get. She hadn't really seen much of anyone, but now Kyle was gone she felt like she needed to prove something, he'd abandoned them, but they had to go on. It was a lot of work, and with Olli not feeling his best the team were in serious trouble, so Tasha had got a little preoccupied, and having the kitten to look after was just adding to it all.

At the mention of Erin she rolled her eyes, "Hah! She can try all she likes Callie, I just feel sorry for her, it's kind of sad that she needs a man to feel loved. No don't you worry about Erin, she's harmless" Tasha grinned, but felt a little bad, bitching about her teammate... sure they didn't always see eye to eye, but Kyle trusted her so she must have some redeeming qualities, plus she is a wicked defender.

She started to rifle into her bag, pulling out a pastry wrapper, she handed Erin a chocolate brioche, and bit into one herself. "Anyway enough about Erin, how are you doing? Been eyeing up any boys yourself?" She winked and smiled cheerily.

((Merry Christmas))

[Chris]

(Merry Christmas. )

Alex turned as Gen came from behind, and said, "Hey there. Its alright. We're waiting on Peter to come back. He had to run off really quick."

As Alex was talking to Gen as she came in, Seth listened to Lyn's reply and chuckled, "Hogwarts does only allow those pets. I don't know who it belongs to."

********

Peter got a sky-view, and still wasn't sure where exactly the tree was. Not wanting to risk returning in this form, he flew into a clearing deeper into the woods, and ran back out. This took about five minutes.

********

Joe was deeply engrossed in revising for the upcoming test, but his attention was brought back to it when Sammi scolded him. "I'm listening...I'm listening." Pushing his glasses up his nose, Joseph nodded when she said its only them now. "Its true that it is. We'll find them though." He gave a reassuring smile, hoping to alleviate some of her concern.

[Nicci]

“Of course I’m ok with it…” Callie answered before pausing to remember the first night of term where she had flown off the handles at Erin for going to the ball with her brother. Tasha wasn’t anything like Erin and deep down Callie only wanted the best for her closest friend.
“You are already like a sister to me of course I’d support your choice of anyone even if it wasn’t my brother”. For a long time Callie had assumed there was more to Tasha’s friendship with Kyle but clearly now she had been mistaken.

Trying to offer a positive part smile about the comment about Erin, Callie felt the happiness drain out of her body as the wrapped pastry landed on her lap. The brioche looked and smelt amazing but her stomach had quickly lost its appetite just as fast as the ability to speak left her throat. Hanging her head sadly she contemplated an answer to Tasha’s question, Callie knew that her best friend would be reading the building silence just as easily as if she had given her a proper answer but still she didn’t have the courage to reveal the truth.

Turning the plastic wrapped pastry over and over in her hands, Callie handed it politely back to Tasha beside her and prepared to speak. Peter could have been a sufficient answer, it would have ticked all the boxes that Tasha would have wanted to hear, but although he was charming, caring and showing interest he just wasn’t someone else.

“I don’t really have the time anymore…” she began, clasping her hands together and twiddling her thumbs “I don’t want to hurt anyone like I did with Olli, as much as I hate to admit it I think he was right last week in the infirmary. We were just using each other to cover what we really felt, he clearly wanted Erin and I….I….Oh, It doesn’t matter”.
Now wasn’t the time to go into detail, there were so many things that she should have told Tasha and maybe one day things would come to light. But now wasn’t that time.

Raising her head as Tasha scrunched her empty plastic wrapper into a tight ball, Callie stared up at the late afternoon sky “The right person for me is out there somewhere… I just don’t think they are here at Hogwarts though”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Thank you” Serena spoke sincerely placing a gentle hand on Lyn’s shoulder “I was in pretty bad shape that day, it was my own fault for going off alone I should have been more careful. Would you like to join us? I’m sure we could use some of your advanced barrier spells”

Turning around with a smile, Serena noticed a familiar girl approach Alex and Seth “You must be Gen” she stated cheerfully “I’m Serena, I don’t think we’ve had the chance to be acquainted yet. I haven’t been here very long, I was tutored at home before my guardian sadly passed away”. As sad as the thought of Amelia’s accident was it felt better to talk about it and get it out in the open. Being able to share the memories of someone so special made the grief for her easier to come to terms with.

Too busy talking to the other students, Serena hadn’t noticed Peter land in the forest nearby nor was aware he was making his way back to them.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although Joe’s reassurance temporarily eased her worry, Sammi was still excitedly twitching eager to solve the mystery about the disappearance of their first year friends.
“So… what are we going to do?” she squealed whilst hopping from foot to foot “Knowing how to turn a bird into a goblet isn’t going to help us track down Leah, she could be anywhere…THEY could be anywhere and this castle is HUGE!!”.

Pulling her slightly large robe back up onto her shoulder, Sammi straightened her glasses on the bridge of her nose before announcing her intended departure. “I’m going to check the grounds again maybe they are being looked after by the Groundskeeper. You coming?”

[Nicci]

(Post to help Lozzy fit back in )

Having spent the last few hours relaxing in the quiet comfy annexe section of the library, Ylana had completely lost track of time and scolded herself as she bounded up the long spiral staircase towards Gryffindor tower. If she didn’t hurry Peter and the others would head out on their adventure into the forest without her.
Unaware that Gen had passed that way not too long before, Ylana panted as she announced the password to the portrait and slipped inside before the door decided to close on her. Greeted by the warm air and the unusual scent of cinnamon firecrackers, she progressed through into the large common room and looked around for any signs of students from her year.
Nearest the fireplace were two young first years both wearing glasses, interacting in a seemingly active conversation. As the young girl in unstylish lopsided pigtails flapped her arms in fluster, Ylana thought nothing more of it and proceeded quickly up to her dorm room.

Exchanging a few looks and the odd greeting as she continued on her way, Ylana flipped a thick dark strand of hair out of her eyes and stopped as she approached the wooden door to the seventh year dorm. Feeling a slight tingle as she touched the doorknob, she tried to ignore the thought and pushed with all her might as the door swung inwards.
Stunned by what she saw as she entered the room, excitement and delight exploded off her face in the biggest of smiles as she rushed over to the end of her bed. Seeing her clean Quidditch kit hung up and well presented on top of her trunk was like having presents to open on Christmas day, the boots were polished, the clothes neatly pressed and she even was allowed a new shiny bludger bat to replace her old one (that ‘accidently’ broke in half).

Tearing herself away from the gleeful thought of the evening’s Quidditch practice, Ylana pulled out her black overcloak from underneath her bed and slung it over her shoulder. Now she was prepared, all she had to do was find Peter.
Noticing Rory the stuffed lion nestled safely of Gen’s pillow, Ylana grinned a sneaky expression knowing exactly how she was going to make up lost time by using her powers to locate the Gryffindor’s. Wherever there was Gen there was Alex, and wherever he was Peter and Seth wouldn’t be far away.

(Alex, Seth, Serena, Lyn and Gen in last few posts are outside the front of the castle waiting and chatting for everyone who is going to arrive)
--------------------------------------------------------

Sat on the edge of an old red Victorian style wooden armchair, Lance (now human again) cradled his forehead in the palms of his hand trying to ease a spout of severe dizziness. The blanket around his shoulders had calmed his violent shivering but his skin still crawled like it was covered in mucus and he had to physically clamp his mouth shut to try and escape the possible horror of his tongue lashing out.
Groaning a pained mumble, he stared through split hands at the overturned glass jar that rested on the table having spilled all its contents all over the floor of the Room of Requirement.
Over on his right stood Vixie, occasionally pacing in the shadows around the edge of the room wearing a permanent scowl that complimented her attitude. On his left stood Leilani, chilled but touched by a thought of compassion enough for her to constantly keep an eye on his progress after the transformation. It was him after all that had blocked the attack on her by the younger student on the staircase, so he presumed in her own kind of way this was how she showing her gratitude.

Lastly beside the young blonde woman stood Shawn with his wand still gripped tightly in his hand. It had been his knowledge of advanced transfiguration that had turned his best friend back into his human form and still retained a partial amount of shock at having succeeded.
“I feel like I’ve been hit by one too many bludgers” Lance slurred out loud trying to make contact with his friends again in his normal human body. He hoped one of them would be kind enough to fill him in about the goings on of the last few hours, the last things he remembered were being zapped on the staircase, staring at the world through blurry glass and now he was in an unfit condition whilst being soaking wet. What on earth happened?

(Ok so the Slythies are back in business both Chris and Lozzy should be able to join in here too)

[Lauren]

(Thankies Nicci ^.^ Seriously, your Ylana RPing is better than mine LOL))

Ylana made her way over to the teddy and picked it up by one of its fluffy paws. She noticed the quaint stitching that made it seem like the stuffed animal had toes and looked at its furry face. The fabric that the mane was made of was sticking out at odd angles, running away from the body. She gripped her pale hands around Rory's plushy stomach and closed her eyes, concentrating hard on Gen. For a few seconds, Ylana stood there, eyes clamped shut, feeling idiotic, but then an image came through, flickered and died. And then another came, and another and another until they ran together smoothly. It felt like she was standing right beside them already.

A girl that Ylana vaguely recognise was smiling at Gen. “You must be Gen," she said; her voice sounded gritty and slightly muffled as though Ylana was trying to hear through a pane of glass. "I’m Serena, I don’t think we’ve had the chance to be acquainted yet."

Ylana caught a glimpse of Gen before she was thrown back into her own body in her dormitory in Gryffindor Tower. For a split second, she was disorientated; it had really felt like she was standing next to all of them. Then she looked down at the lion in her hands and remembered her purpose for Seeing. After quickly placing Rory back on Gen's pillow, Ylana patted a hand to the inside of her cloak to check that her wand was still there and then she was out of the door. She hurried down the stairs and through the Common Room, ignoring the startled glance that the two bespeckled First Year girls gave her and then practically sprinted along corridors and down the huge majestic marble staircase. She had to slow for a moment, her shoes skidding on the polished stone as she fought to change direction and make her way towards the Entrance Hall, but then she was moving swiftly forward again, passing quickly through the huge Entrance Hall, looking straight ahead. She burst out of the oak front doors and ran down the few steps that faded to emerald grass and came to a sudden stop at Serena's elbow. Gasping for air and almost doubled over, Ylana squeezed her eyes shut as she gulped down lungfulls of firey air. "Hi... Gen... Hi... Serena... Hey... Rest of you... Merlin, never run... Through... Hogwarts..."

---

Vixie raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at Lance; cloudy water dripped steadily from his sodden robes and gooey streaks of green descended towards the plush carpet that covered the floor; a dark patch was gathering around Lance as he dripped and dripped and dripped. It was like somone had filled balloons with water and burst them inside his clothes.

"You don't already know?" she asked incredulously.

"Vix, he can't remember. Don't you get it?" Leilani cut in quietly, shooting a glance at her best friend. She handed a plush red towel to Lance to dry his hair (it had appeared on the shelf out of nowhere) and folded her arms across her chest. It made her look like a resolute guardian angel.

Vixie mirrored her pose; it made her look angry. She glared at the blonde Slytherin. "We were going up the staircase, remember?" She said the words slowly as though he was stupid and struggled to understand English. "A Ravenclaw zapped you with a seriously complex spell and turned you into a frog. Nature Freak was absolutely hysterical when she first saw you s a frog." Vixie tried to put on a decent impersonation of Juliet's voice. "Shawn! Shawn! It’s a real frog! A Rana temporaria, look at its markings and gosh I’ve never seen one this big before. It must be twice the size of a normal adult! Of course, Nature Freak freaked out and started screaming that you-" She scrunched her face up as she struggled to remember Juliet's exact words. "- HE IS A FROG! Stop calling him a bloody toad, if you actually cared about him you would have noticed those rather..." She paused for a moment, trying to remember the rest of the sentence. "What else did she say again? Oh, yeah... "Prominent details!" She shook her head sadly. "It was like visiting a patient from the mental health ward at St Mungos."

Leilanie closed her eyes and laughed slightly at Vixie as though she knew she shouldn't be laughing in the first place. "She insisted that she get you a proper temporary habitat and then buggered off to leave us to sort everything else. In the end, it was Shawn who sorted everything out," Leilani paused for a moment, looking over at her friend who was still frozen still, wand outstretched, eyes wide in shock. "Didn't you, Shawn?" she prompted.

[Nicci]

Huddled in a dimly lit corner of her new cupboard office, Katie rested her head against a large tasselled cushion and sighed exhaustedly over and over. In her full first afternoon Professor Garland had worked her hard: carrying books of all sizes, transfiguring all the classroom stools back into their correct shape after the third years class and even having to fetch numerous pots of hot tea by hand just because Jey claimed she hated waiting for the water to cool down to a comfortable temperature after teleporting it straight up from the kitchens.

Raising an eyebrow whilst deep in thought, Katie pondered questions about her new mentor. Maybe all the hard work was just a preparation exercise? Or was it just a mental test to whittle out the weak?
Whatever Jey’s true intentions were, they at least were better then being left alone with Uncle Winston. Screwing her eyes up tight to block out the horrible memories of her past, Katie tried to focus on better, nicer things: cats, toffee apples.. Seth.

Clutching her enclosed palm tighter around the small object she was concealing, Katie opened her eyes and let it fall gently onto the ground beside her. A perched golden figurine of an eagle with two piercing emerald eyes stared back at her from its upside down fallen position. The statue was not much bigger than an oversized walnut, but even as Katie observed it intently she felt the same uncomfortable twitching feeling that she usually got whenever she thought about Seth or had to stand in his presence.

Clambering to her feet, she picked up the small eagle figurine and tucked it safely in her pocket hoping to hide away her secret feelings once again. They didn’t belong here. If Jey found out how she felt, it could seriously mean the end of everything for her: both inside and outside Hogwarts and Katie knew she’d have to do anything to keep things from getting out of hand to that.
Determined to keep on her mentor’s good side, Katie glanced at the time and proceeded to leave her office. Half past four was due to be another tea break and this time she would make sure she was ready and punctual to meet the deadline.