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

[Nicci]

Wrinkling her forehead in annoyance, Juliet clearly realised that their conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere fast if they kept on asking known questions.

“No it wasn’t” Juliet blurted “You were the one who couldn’t trust me yet here we are in the exact opposite scenario. I’m not the one now in the wrong”.

Her statement was a vicious, yet a defensive stab to protect any remaining self pride she had. Seth had friends to absorb the pain, right now she had no one.

“Fine” she spat bitterly “But don’t blame me if whatever you happen to not be doing doesn’t go to plan. Peter can’t save you from everything”.

Whether it was the yearning feeling to keep him out of danger or the desperate need to knock Peter down an ego peg or two, Juliet’s mind had already begun to summarise the benefits of ‘accidently’ revealing to someone the little details she knew about the group’s venture into the forest. Initially it might look like betrayal but if it saved someone’s life they’d be thanking her.

Turning her back on him she prepared herself to walk away only stopping to look over her shoulder in case he had anything else to say.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Serena looked around as Peter spoke and didn’t doubt any of his reasons for splitting up the group. With two groups they certainly could cover more ground so there was little evidence to distrust his idea. Nodding in agreement as she was assigned to be in Seth’s group, she drifted away from behind Ylana to stand with the others.

Still concerned about Juliet observing the group, she followed Seth leaving with her eyes and detailed the hostility in his supposed girlfriend’s gestures. From their clash in Diagon Alley, Serena hadn’t formed a very high opinion of Juliet and now her every action seemed to back up that feeling. She didn’t trust this drama queen and right now maybe Seth was better off away from her even if it was going into the Forbidden Forest.

(I will get around to introducing her to Betta)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The last rays of the evening sun were just warm enough on Sammi’s face to make her smile and partially obscure her vision as the glare reflected off her glasses. But the long trudge across the uneven terrain wasn’t enough to deter her from her mission, she needed to find Leah. Every night since her friend’s disappearance, Sammi had stared at the empty four poster bed into the long hours of the morning, unable to sleep due to the mystery. She couldn’t handle the possibility that Leah might have died in the fire, but the knowing that the shack had been confirmed as empty and that the professor’s hadn’t said anything kept her tears at bay. There was still hope if not anything else.

Across the way on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the groundskeeper’s hut appeared in sight. There was no smoke coming from the chimney but that didn’t necessarily mean someone wasn't inside, the weather was quite nice after all.

[Chris]

Seth wasn't going to get into an argument. He couldn't divulge more, since she wasn't involved. Even some of the group didn't know the full extent of what they were looking for. "I'm getting so many mixed signals from you." Running his fingers through his hair, Seth added on, "what do you want from me? What's this about Peter? It was true that there were things that made me not trust you. I'm sorry if it feels like the tables have turned."

He didn't know if this would spur more questions or if she'd leave it there.

*****
Joe followed with Sammi across the grounds. The sun was warm. Ahead of them was the hut. It didn't appear to be occupied, but just because it didn't appear to be, didn't mean it wasn't.

As they came to the groundskeeper's hut, Joe knocked on the door.

[Nicci]

Exhaling heavily Juliet sadly shook her head, everything now she considered in Seth’s life revolved around Peter. There was no denying it in her eyes and she was heartbroken to see that the person in front of her was so oblivious.

“Everything...” she spoke with a sigh, feeling her built up aggression slowly melt away. “Just...go...”
Harshly flinging her pointed finger back in the direction of the others “They are the ones you really want to be with”

Ascending the stone steps back towards the castle, she didn’t have the courage to turn back around. She had tried to talk to Seth again but failed, Peter’s control over him was far too tight and the likely future of a reunion between herself and Seth looked bleaker then it had done that morning.
The sound of her shoe soles against the hard surface made a saddened shuffle as the weight of the whole thing on her shoulders felt emotionally heavy. From now on she’d have to ignore him and continue on with her studies, if he wanted to talk then he could come and find her. It was the only way, the only way to move forward.

[Chris]

Seth didn't understand what Juliet wanted, even after she said...'everything.' Yes, he loves to hang out with his friends, but Juliet had never worried about his friends before now. Why all of a sudden? There was something about Peter...maybe she thought she knows something?

As Juliet walked away, Seth took a breath in, and let it out. Turning around, Seth returned to the group. The whole conversation was flowing through his mind.

[Nicci]

The ground floor corridors were reasonably empty at that time of the afternoon; the vast majority of Hogwarts’s students were nestled back in their dorms or common rooms preparing themselves for an evening full of homework after the usual hearty dinner. As Juliet passed the rows of closed classroom doors she tried to keep her mind off her developing problems with Seth. One day full of so much trouble? It wasn’t even a Friday 13th. Catastrophically awful summed it up nicely.

Sighing heavily, she knew there was no escaping the disaster. This… mess was what everyone around her seemed to secretly want to see happen: Tommy, Peter, Christine even her mother… the Slytherin’s could probably be included as well.
Drifting around the corner and hauling herself up a few steps she could hear her mother Marissa’s voice nagging from the back of her consciousness. ‘Haven’t you got a restraining order on that boy yet?’.

“No..” Juliet exhaled under her breath to herself as she tightened her grip on the banister rail. Why did someone else always control her happiness?
Arriving at the Potions classroom, she knocked twice and patiently waited for a reply. Maybe another dull session cleaning glass bottles would numb any feelings she had left in her body.
**********************************************

Having quickly introduced herself to Betta, Serena dropped the chitchat with the two Slytherin’s and shuffled to attention as Seth rejoined their small group. His character had really taken a severe hit in the last five minutes the once encouraging upbeat manner was now replaced with something more sullen and grey. Did he really need a trip into the forest to worry about on top of everything else?

“Lets get moving shall we?” she sheepishly announced to the three other students and nudged them in a direction across the lawn. Split from Peter she had no real idea where they were going, all she could do was hope for the best.

After taking several steps and repeatedly stopping, Serena fell in line beside Seth and frequently scanned his face for any change in emotions. She didn’t want to be nosy or damage their delicate thread of friendship even more then it already was but his face clearly signalled for a caring thought.

“I know it’s not any of my business” Serena began quietly, stating the obvious before asking her question. “Are you ok? We can head back inside if you’d prefer?”
************************************************

“What are you doing?” Sammi whispered under her breath as she pulled Joe by the arm away from the door and around the side of the building. “We can’t just knock and ask if she has Leah inside, if she’s in cahoots with the professors…she likely wouldn’t tell us anyway. We have to be stealthy, I’ll look through the window.”

Climbing up on top of the small woodpile, Sammi stretched to reach the sill and peered through the dirty window. All she could see inside was the embers in the fireplace smouldering a pale orange and a couple of large dead game birds hanging by their feet from a string over the rafters. No Brunhilda, Leah or the invisible dog.

“I can’t see anyone. Shoot” she cursed to herself with a grumble as she slowly climbed down from her position. “Now what do we do?”

(Urgh, i think that was a trash post. Really lost the flow of what was happening in the scene since it's been well over a month and a half since we wrote about them last. Maybe it will pick up again once everyone returns. Many apologies, that really wasn't one of my best posts.)

[Chris]

Seth was really feeling depressed, having just been hit with more Juliet drama. Why must she continue to do this? Why is he still drawn to her, as though there's at least one last strand representing his care for her. All is not lost, but she might think that. Taking a breath in, and letting it out, Seth could feel that he was feeling deflated. His usually happy attitude was replaced by this.

Serena's words comfort him some and then he gives a small smile. "Thanks, Serena." Looking between the others, Seth continued, "I believe I'm up for it. Once Peter brings his group in, then we'll take things a bit slower. I'm not wanting to put you all into more risk."

********
Once Seth returned to the group, Peter spoke up, "Thank you all for coming along, and may we find what we're looking for." With that speech, Peter added, "my team, follow me. Stay close, since it will undoubtedly get dark inside." Taking a few steps forward, Peter looked behind to make sure his team was coming along. Alex was coming along, with the others of the first team.

Peter continued walking as they made their way into the forest. Imagining that the tree is deep in the forest, his gut feeling is that they have to move away from the castle in the angled direction on the side with the lake.
********
As Sammi mentioned about their being stealthy, Joe nodded. "That makes sense." Joe watched Sammi, as she was peering through the window. "Be careful." When she came down, Joe could hear a twig break. "Be quiet," he whispered. Reaching for Sammi's hand, Joe turned invisible, not sure if whatever it was could sense them, invisible or not.

********
Once Peter and his group entered the forest, Seth looked at his group, and asked, "are you ready for this?" Not really sure what would be in the cards for them. What will the forest have for them?

(Sorry if my posts were a bit lacking. >.< )

[Nicci]

Serena wasn’t entirely convinced by Seth’s spoken words. Although he seemed smart by having given thought about the effects of his personal problems on the developing situation the fact he was still pressing forwards regardless teetered on the verge of recklessness.

“Are you absolutely sure?” she questioned again trying not to undermine him as they stood on the edge of the forest. The concern behind her dark eyes formed a genuine gleam as she softly expressed the more human side of her nature. “Peter wouldn’t want you doing THIS…whatever THIS happened to be unless you were totally focused,” emphasising the extremely randomness of their forest trip by expanding her arms above her head like a tree. “He could forgive you for knowing your limits and stepping away but could never forgive himself for ignoring that his friend was preoccupied if we encountered an unforeseeable accident…”

Realising that she had probably said too much and likely sounded like a scared child, Serena shrank back to give the conversation a chance to breathe. Seth wouldn’t let Peter down for any reason; it was clear from their friendship that their mutual trust and courage couldn’t be swayed by any life interruptions but still she felt she had to double check that things had been thoroughly thought through. Breaking the rules this time wasn’t like returning a library book late, a forgetful moment was far more costly.

“I would normally trust your judgement though,” She piped in lightly to strengthen her support for him as their new group leader whilst she glanced at the passing tree line on their left hand side “I just, know what’s out there”.

Seeing Seth step across the boundary into the forest she knew she had no choice but to follow him, somewhere in her pocket was her wand but as she stared down at her fingers she knew she might not have any use for the magical shapely twig. Stuffing her hands into her pockets she hurried after the others and continually hoped they wouldn’t be in there any longer then was necessary.
As they continued to walk the odd, occasional chirp of birdsong or the swift flutter of feathered wings interrupted the silence between the four members of the small party. Above their heads the reddening leaves clung tightly to their branches like babes to their mothers heralding the approaching end to the glorious summer. Soon it would officially be autumn and that was enough to send a shiver down Serena’s spine. Ahead of her strode Seth with his blonde hair and ridged shoulders gentlemanly moving low branches aside as he passed, behind Betta and Lyn chatted in whispers amongst themselves and truthfully Serena didn’t know how long they would last before wanting to turn around. Maybe if three of them voiced similar concerns the trip could be postponed?

Passing a thickened Ash trunk, Serena sidled close into Seth’s shadow and continued to watch for changes in his facial expressions. It was clear that Juliet had already sowed a seed of distraction in his mind, and like many a man she knew he wasn’t likely to want to talk about it. She had to cover his back, maybe more physically then had originally silently offered.

(I hope this is ok? it's been a while)


Unexpectedly being pulled off balance and brought down into a crouched position against the log pile, Sammi hadn’t heard the cracking of the branches coming from the forest and rested bewildered with a strange tightening sensation on the end of her hand.
“Joe?” she whispered, knowing he was beside her somewhere “What do you...”

Her question was cut short by an interruption of shushing; he had clearly heard something large moving through the undergrowth that she herself wasn’t paying attention to.
For what felt like an eternity Sammi huddled in silence, feeling like even her own exhaling of breath was a loud as a dragon. What was the source of the noise? An animal? A person? Naively could it even be Leah?

Standing to her feet she stared across the pumpkin patch into the darkness that nested between every tree trunk. Maybe somewhere out there held the answer to her mystery? Maybe that was the reason her friend couldn’t be found anywhere in the school buildings? What secrets did the forest hold?

Still tightly holding onto Joe’s invisible hand she found herself mesmerised by the gentle swaying of the leaves and the whistling melody of the whipping breeze as it danced across the blades of grass. The forest was calling and as she stumbled forwards across the tilled earth she had to answer it.

[Nicci]

Having escaped momentarily the wrath of an annoyed Vixie, Lance stood silently contemplating in the shower hoping that his worries would roll off his back and down the drain like the ever flowing cascade of water combined with the last remnants of frog mucus. He knew he couldn’t hide in the cubicle forever; once upon a time he could have looked past Miss Veron-Browne’s chilled attitude and hoped there was something warmer in her heart, now her spiteful putdown’s were growing more tiresome as quick as they rolled off her tongue.

Desperately he scrunched his eyes tight together in a mild despair and pressed both palms against the cool tiled wall. ‘HE IS A FROG!’ her cruel, unkind voice pierced his mind like a sharp, hot instrument repeatedly over and over “if you actually cared about him you would have noticed those rather...Prominent details!".

Exhaling with a thumped fist, he couldn’t stand the irritation any longer; which one of the girls now unexpectedly involved in his life was he more annoyed with?
Had Juliet really said those words? The fact that they screamed of an unhealthy Newt Scamander obsession deducted it was highly plausible but her contradictive burst of ignorance earlier in the day left him mystified. Where was she now? What was really going on?

Turning off the tap with his damp right hand, he couldn’t face further debating with his brain about Vixie’s problem and there certainly wasn’t any room left for Leilani’s. He’d have to leave that for Shawn and maybe they could bring it up openly between themselves in a conversation.
Wrapping a clean dark green fluffy towel around his waist he sluggishly made his way to the door leaving the safety of the bathroom but not his troubles behind him.
Spotting Shawn In his usual relaxed reading position propped up against his own pillow across the room, Lance immediately envied his best friend. Shawn never seemed to have many problems; girl trouble – none, school work issues – none, secret made up lies about family definitely... none. Right now if he could trade places with anyone it would be Shawn.
Collapsing on the empty bed to the right of Shawn’s Lance let out a displeased grunt and covered his head with the nearest pillow.

“I hope you are grateful out of all of this” he mumbled playfully loud enough for Shawn to hear. He knew Shawn wouldn’t take the comment the wrong way; they had been friends too long to know when the other was trying to be serious and this wasn’t one of those moments. “You weren’t the one that got turned into a frog?”

[Chris]

It was apparent to Seth that his focus might be marginalized, but he couldn't let it affect his decision-making. Even if he didn't want it to, would it still affect it somewhat? Seth listened to Serena's genuine concern. Taking a breath in and letting it out, "I'm sure. Let's take things slower, though," he added towards the end, hoping that giving it more time would allow him to regain his upbeat mentality that usually came with him. Perhaps, Seth could let Serena take the helm of the second mission, or at least, more of the leading. He'd have to think about that more before deciding that.

"Thank you, Serena," Seth said with a smile. "It does weigh on my mind, but then, as you are probably aware, I don't want to let Peter down. If we take things slower, it would probably help." As he broke the plane of the forest boundary, the mission was a-go. Taking out his wand, Seth wanted to be ready for whatever would come. Slowly taking each step, Seth passed one tree, and then another, and another. Serena was behind him when he passed by an ash tree.

Coming to a clearing, Seth looked around and saw trees forming a small circular formation. Knowing they were looking for a tree, it didn't help to be looking through a forest of them. Hearing a twig break, Seth's attention shifted to the right. After a few moments of silence, he led them on through the clearing.

***********
Joe watched as Sammi began to be serenaded by the wind, the sound it was making and the gentle tune of the forest. Within moments, he found himself being pulled along as Sammi answered the call of the forest. As they broke the plane of the forest, an actual whistling sound, not just the wind, could be heard. "What's that?" he asked. Joe couldn't help but want to find out the cause of the sound, but on the other hand, he didn't want to find danger.

***********
(I'll lead the other group further in...so they don't get behind)

Peter had been to the tree once, but that was with the help of the nymphs. Hopefully he'll get his friends to the tree, before anyone is hurt. The time starts to fly, initially feeling like it is fifteen minutes, but it actually was closer to forty-five. That also meant that they were getting kinda far into the forest. Each tree looked just like the rest. Continuing on in their current direction, Peter paused as he took a step. He wasn't sure what made him pause. Maybe it was a feeling inside him.

Having this urge to go to the left of their current location, Peter turned to the left, and kept going.

***********
Turning the page, Shawn heard the shower cut off. As Lance made his way out with a towel around his waist, he collapsed on the nearest bed. Shawn heard a grunt, and then Lance's head was shielded by a pillow. As if that would keep all bad things from hitting him. With a small chuckle at the sight, he listened to Lance's words. "Maybe that means you're a frog-prince," Shawn added with more of a chuckle.

He could tell that something was weighing on Lance. Putting his book on his belly, Shawn added, "is something bothering you?"

[Nicci]

Serena hesitated as they stared through the darkness at the open clearing ahead of them. Its quietness unnerving yet emotionally relieving, no monsters, no shadows just a ray of pure untainted light. As Seth pushed the party onwards, she froze rooted to the ground, straining her ears to hear any other sounds after the loud crack of a branch but yet there was nothing.

Rationalising a valid everyday reason for the sudden noise, Serena pressed on slowly after Seth stopping only in the middle of the clearing to stare at a clump of large mushrooms.
The Boletus edulis or more commonly known as the Cep mushroom she could identify growing proudly with its delicate glazed sticky bun coloured flattish cap before her eyes. This was a safe, edible species but unusual to be seen this early in the autumn. Leaving it behind with the conclusion that the unique forest conditions were likely to blame for the early emergence, Serena regained her wits and resumed to inspecting every tree one by one in her view. Behind any one of them could be a threat waiting to pounce on them.

“There could be hundreds if not thousands of trees in here” she loudly whispered carefully avoiding a dip of soggy ground. “How are we meant to know which one we are looking for when Peter isn’t even with…..us?”.

Serena’s question trailed off quickly as she found her other foot partially submerged in ice cold water and found herself making a rather displeased facial expression. Ideally wishing she had an extra pair of eyes, she dropped her attention on the surroundings and hobbled as fast as she could over to Seth again.

“I know this is going to sound crazy but….. do you have any string?”
As soon as her new idea left her mouth, she realised how absolutely random it sounded and giggled to try and ease the mounting bewilderment. “Well I could have asked to hold your hand but that would be weird as you are you and I am I, but we are going to have more accidents not watching where we are going then from any dangerous creatures so the next best thing was to ask for string….Also my foot is wet”.
*************************************************************

(I’ll cover Gen for Jazzie for a bit until she comes back)

As Peter stopped to make a sudden turn in direction, Gen accidently bumped into the back of Alex and lost track of the incredibly annoying tune she had been humming over and over in her head since they had entered the forest. It had been something like an update version of bottles of beer on the wall to Bertie beans in the box and although 697 was an unrealistic number to fit in an average sized container it was pleasant enough an idea to fill the void of nothing in this rather dull, dank forest.
Putting off the disappointment of having to starting the tune all over again she reached into her pocket hoping to find a odd sweet or two that may have survived from their weekend trip to Hogsmede. Finding only a few lint covered peppermints, Gen still found the heart to reach out and offer one to Alex regardless of what state they were in.
*************************************************************

Sammi’s mind was completely relaxed as she passed subconsciously into the forest. The sad, slow melody was overwhelmingly enchanting but the tone had definitely deepened and was now very rich and woody.

“I..don’t know” she muttered followed by a deep and refreshing breath “Isn’t it wonderful? I’ve never heard anything like it”.
Tugging on Joe’s hand, she continued to lead them in an unknowing direction.

(I think we might have to find the source in the next post or two my posts for her are getting very short)
********************************************************************

“Yeah..right” Lance scoffed knowing that was completely ridiculous before removing the pillow from over his face and tucking it back under his head. Adjusting his shoulders to allow his neck to lie comfortably she sighed and attempted to formulate a manly answer to Shawn’s question.

“Nothing really” he lied to spare himself from spewing any unnecessary sentiments “Nothing changes about Vixie…How’s Lani?”

Asking about Leilani was a sure way to change the conversation slightly; there wasn’t ever much change there in their relationship. They met, they collided like two celestial astronomical masses destined to interact with one another and that pretty much wiped out existence and memory of any single life activity.

[Chris]

As Serena whispered the question, Seth knew how insane it was, considering Peter wasn't with them. "I'm not sure what the tree looks like. I'd anticipate it is old?" he added at the end. As they walked through the small opening in the trees, he narrowly missed the puddle, not paying attention to know he missed it. As Serena approached Seth, the randomness of her question caught him off-guard. Waving his wand, and muttering a spell softly, a string left the tip of Seth's wand. Once enough left it, Seth quit the wand movement, and the string cut itself off. Holding out part of the string, "I wasn't sure how much you needed." Chuckling as she mentioned about her wet boot, Seth added, "the blow-dry spell is exaresco, with a small flick."

(not sure what else I should add. >.<)

****************
Alex stumbled forward a bit as Gen ran into him a bit. Not getting angry, Alex turned and asked, "sorry for the sudden break." Looking at the candies she offered him, Alex said, "thank you, Gen." He gratefully took one, and asked, "would you like some of my candies?" Reaching into his pocket, he found a couple of a wrapped candies. Not overshadowing her generosity, Alex added, "these could help lengthen the longevity of your candy." He smiled, but then realized that might not have sounded right. "Uh...that didn't sound right." Putting his hand to his forehead, Alex tossed her candy into his mouth, appreciating it a lot.

Peter stopped again, this time, he was a bit ahead of the others, so there was plenty of time to stop. Conjuring a fireball in his hand, he threw it up to an opening in the canopy, and it reflected back to the ground ahead of them. "We're definitely on the right track. This was one thing I noticed after I returned to the present time from my trip to the past." Conjuring five or six fireballs, Peter started floating them around the group, since it could help out more-so than to have light from their wands.

****************
(haha. We can have them find it. Feel free to rp some of the centaur too. xD)

Joe was being led through the forest, towards the sweet melody. Coming to a clearing, he stood side-by-side with Sammi, and watched as the centaur playing the pan flute, sent the lovely melody into the air. "Wow," he whispered. "That's gorgeous."

****************

Shawn chuckled, and added, "I know that something isn't right, but you know that you can tell me when you're ready." As Lance asked about Lani, Shawn stared at the ceiling. "She and I are doing well." Returning his gaze to Lance, Shawn added, "you're trying to change the subject, aren't ya?" with a full smile. "We don't have to talk about Vixie if you don't want to. What should we talk about?"

[Nicci]

“Old? So we are talking big here, since every tree grows a certain amount each year that’s about…” Serena began in reply to Seth calculating an average rate of growth for a deciduous tree in an undisturbed forest in her mind “These…around us then are saplings in comparison I’d estimate about a hundred years if not younger…and oh thank you”.

Holding out her hand she gratefully accepted the many lengths of neatly woven twine. They were perfect for what she had in mind and now just needed the others to be willing to participate.

“Ok now let me see your hand?” she requested as Seth looked on at her with a growing smile as he did as he was told.
After careful consideration and several minutes of mumbling Serena gave him back an end of one of the longest pieces.

“So, now you are my extra eyes with that tiny bit of string. I’ll tie my end around my left wrist and you can hold your end with your right hand. Here’s the logic behind it, when we are close together I should be able to follow your path without a problem and when we are further apart and the string goes slack I know you have dropped it and drawn out your wand. Clever huh”

As Seth’s quietness was replaced by a hearty outburst of laughter she couldn’t help seeing the funny side. “Yes I know how to make cups out of palm leaves too alright, I have a terrible habit or reading any old thing and some idiot’s guide to jungle survival happened to cross my path one day… and of course those mushrooms we past were edible, if we get stuck out here too long you can consider eating them before, me or them back there” Serena finished motioning over her shoulder at the other two girls who had finally caught up to them.

“Lyn you can lead Betta you’d have more chance with your defensive spells on the group if you were in the middle then at the back”
**********************************************************

Gen beamed gratefully as Alex offered her some of his sweets in return. Even on a potentially dangerous journey he was still the kind and gentle soul she secretly treasured. Popping the last carefully examined mint into her mouth and Alex’s sweets away in her pocket as a replacement, Gen waited for him to resume his thoughtful walking posture before spontaneously hugging him tightly from behind.

“Thank you” she whispered burying her head close to the hood of his robes. “For everything, I’m glad I’m not alone”.


Absorbing the brief moment between them, Gen only found herself pulling away at the sight of Peter’s brilliant conjured fireballs suddenly floating around them.
******************************************************

Sammi was still mesmerised by the melody as she entered deep into the leafy clearing. As her strides reduced down to small pigeon steps, she never once took her eyes off the blonde haired creature that sat no taller then her in height across the way from them with the wooded instrument still pressed to her lips.

Replying to Joe with only a mumble in agreement, the young Gryffindor could only stare in wonder at the first real centaur she had ever seen. The young foal whose eyes were a brilliant cerulean blue, bluer then the clearest sky and whose short white coat was as pure as unspoilt milk apart from the occasional spots of a deep chestnut on her flanks.
As Joe joined beside her, Sammi instantly thought about the many times Juliet would sit with her after dinner over the last few summers reading to her Fantastic Beasts and Where to find them. Centuars had come up very early in their study sessions but now she wished she hadn’t been so eager to skip a majority of the alphabet to get to P just to hear about Pygmypuffs. Jules was like a modern Scamander, a strong female role model who made the texts come alive like she had really taken the voyages to study all those wonderful creatures that were described on every page. If she were here with them now she’d know exactly how to handle the situation and live to retell the story.

At the sound of shuffling, the young centaur paused her playing and stared back at the two innocent children, both with shining glass coverings over their eyes.
So what her mother had told her about playing the melody was true and the proof was clad in many long layers of black before her. What she didn’t know was how these two human children would be able to answer her questions?
************************************************

“It’s just…Oh I dunno” Lance answered sitting up and swinging both legs together over the side of the bed away from Shawn. “Why are women so… complicated?”

Leaving his sentence lingering on a potentially unanswerable question, he sighed and made his way to his trunk of belongings. Since a whole set of uniform was still dripping wet from his habitation in the glass jar there was no further chance of wearing it until it had been cleaned by the school’s house elves. Pulling on a crisp white shirt to hide his un-muscular, scrawny torso Lance resumed his conversation.
He wasn’t entirely convinced that things were well with Leilani. After her behaviour at lunch sitting away from everyone, the news Vixie had told him she received must have been somewhat serious. But if Shawn had suggested things were well between them then it wasn’t really his business to doubt his best friend and to prize out any further details. He knew he’d get told about it…eventually likely when it was dead and buried but that was still eventually.

“You’d think that offering to do something nice was the least of your problems”. Lance’s voice trailed off as he disappeared back into the bathroom with a handful of clothes and reappeared wearing them all but a black sock that he launched back across the room cursing.
“Stupid sock…” he grumbled having made the large hole in it that much bigger.
“How was I meant to know it wouldn’t be easy to find a book for…..”

Freezing in mid step, he threw a glance to make eye contact with Shawn realising he had potentially said a bit too much about the previous weekends activities.
“Forget I told you that, whatever happened last weekend is clearly over between me and….where’s my tie?”

Looking away, Lance shook his head dejectedly. Even his topics of conversation were all over the place and to Shawn he must have sounded like a loony. Lifting the lid on his trunk for a seconded time, he closed it just as uncaringly quickly without even bothering to look for his chosen item of neckwear. He didn’t want to really bring the subject of Juliet into the discussion even though it tussled in his brain with stuff about Vixie. If it weren’t for a spontaneous hormonal outburst then there wouldn’t have been a subject about her in the first place.

[Jazzie C]

Jey watched as Katie gulped down the hot, sweet liquid nervously and smiled at her. "I do hope everything's okay, Katie, you do look ever so stressed. Dealing with children can be tiring... I know it's not for everyone." She stirred her own tea, waiting for it to cool a little before she drank it. "Especially some of the younger ones. They can be a pain. It's a tiring job, but ever so fun. Are you getting on okay with it?" She asked, pushing her hair back from her eyes.

There had to be some way to get Katie to talk. Jey glanced at the tea in the mug the girl was holding and narrowed her eyes slightly. Not yet, she needed the girl to trust her first. Then she could get her to talk all she needed her to, then she could use her for her purposes. She needed her so that she could destroy the line of the Roses once and for all. Liana was the last one left and there was something about her which was proving ever more elusive to Jey. She needed to get rid of her.

Jey had lost her motives a long time ago. They'd been replaced by bloodlust, by rage, by madness. Her wits had not left her, but her humanity, her compassion were long buried in the dusts of time. Nothing would stop her. Not this time. Not ever again.

(I'M BACK BABY!)

[Nicci]

Katie twitched as she felt the tea land heavy in her stomach. Jey’s questions never provoked a simple off the tongue answer; her brain was always left swimming, flailing, desperately out of its depth. In fairness she wasn’t much older then the current seventh year students, did that still make her a child in Jey’s eyes?

“It’s fine..” Katie spoke delicately finally finding her feet again. “I liked seeing my fr…I mean my former house performing well in their studies today. They certainly all have the potential to be nominated for Transfiguration Today’s …. award”.

Silently gasping that she had nearly slipped over the line, Katie searched the bottom of her teacup desperate to find a mouthful to steady her building nerves. Empty, except for bitter rough leaf deposit combined with a flake or two of hardened lime scale. Right now she’d take anything over another building silence.
“I, I am enjoying it though..” she continued unaware of the motives scheming behind the professor’s supposed caring expression. “I’d do anything not to let you down, I’m eternally grateful that you accepted my letter”

Glancing down at the pile of pale blue workbooks on her lap, Katie found a smile creep onto her lips as she noticed Seth’s name facing up at her. Now wasn’t the time to let her mind wander though, and as she returned to face Jey she felt exposed almost internally naked.

[Jazzie C]

"Ah, the Transfiguration Today award? Yes, yes I remember... yeah, I suppose that they are a rather talented bunch. Well who would you nominate? Pick someone. Take your time over it and let me know! We can certainly nominate a student." Jey said, smoothly. "Do calm down Katie." She said, noticing her aggravation. Under the table she tapped her wand which began producing a soothing, lavender scent. Jey watched the girl waiting for her to calm. Calm enough to slip up.

She sipped her tea calmly, completely relaxed in her own office. She wondered what it had been like for Lia to see her here, for Katie to sit here, in a place, a lair almost that was not her own. She smiled, but it didn't really touch her eyes. Only malice lay there. There was nothing left to save.

She offered Katie a biscuit and took one herself, biting into it delicately. She watched the girl, deciding what to ask her next. "You looked frightened as a bird when I first saw you... you seem... vaguely more settled now. Are you nervous around people?" She asked, leaning on the desk.