Olivia Baxtor strolls out into the path of to the side of the Quidditch pitch breathing in deeply. Even little miss neatness can appreciate that the sun has been poking its face out a bit and giving Hogwarts a reprieve from snow and rain. “So, that one is…” A pause as Olivia seems to be wracking her brain, and seeming rather distracted at it. “I can’t remember. What is it?” She glances at the plant again fleetingly before glancing up at the semi-clear sky. She smiles despite herself at it as she awaits the correct answer to which plant it is exactly that she is supposed to be identifying.

Clavicle Gravely comes walking along humming as he goes. he is juggling a few skulls, all of them well preserved.

Accompanying Olivia, Evan Geroff wanders off to the side of the path, more meandering than purposefully looking at the plants around him. He, too, seems to be enjoying the journey out, a light smile on his face, free without a cloack draped around him. He obligingly moves forward to peer at the plant Olivia points out, finally bending down to touch the leaves gently. “Dittany?” Head canted slightly, he pauses. “Have we studied that?” Well, no one said he didn’t need work at the subject. But he remembered a name! Standing, he glances at Olivia, his smile mixing with a faintly puzzled expression. It must be the sun. It does things to people.

Clavicle Gravely grins, the skulls are small animal skulls, and he sings as he walks along.

“I… no, I don’t think it’s Dittany.” The girl stoops down to look at it, carefully tucking her robes up safe from the mud. “Perhaps it’s colicroot?” She stands up, her parchment tucked under her arm rather carelessly. “You know, Evan, maybe we should have stayed closer to the pitch. I think I knew the plants back there.” Olivia glances at him and crosses her arms over her stack of parchment, her quill steadied in between her fingers (causing a later-to-be-woed inkspot on the back of the parchment). “Well, here, what do you suppose that one is there. The one with the bell hanging off of it.” A quick glance over her notes leads one to assume that the girl does not herself know.

“Could be,” Evan agrees, giving the plant a final look. Then he grins at Olivia. “It’s so much more exciting here though. See, that one looks like some kind of muggle flower – but maybe it bites.” To be sure, he pulls rolled up parchment from pocket, carefully unrolling it and making a show of examining it. “Here we go.. the vicious bell tower plant. When it’s satisfied, it rings the time.” One might dedict from this that he, also, is not sure of the real answer.

Clavicle Gravely places his juggling skulls in his robe and wanders over curiously. “What’s up?” asks the slightly creepy 1st year.

Unable to stifle her giggle, a snort seems to emit from Olivia as she covers her mouth, imagining the plant tolling the time. “There’s no such plant,” the girl asserts, brushing her hair carefully over her shoulder. She turns as the first year approaches. “Hello.” She says suddenly, trying to place him, as if she should recognize him. Upon deciding that she shouldn’t, she turns back to the plant and tickles it a bit with the end of her quill. “We’re just studying for Herbology.” A smile at the younger student. “Must be prepared for the exams, you know.”

Clavicle Gravely skids to a halt with a look of utter horror, “On…Purpose?” he looks at them like they turned into two headed muggles. “When you could be … doing.. something else?” he shivvers. “I better stay over here then…. plants hate me.”

Evan Geroff frowns at his notes, brow furrowed. “Must have written something wrong.” With a rather unconcerned shrug he re-rolls the parchment, stuffing it back into the pocket as he turns to look at Clavicle. “I didn’t get out here on accident. And this one won’t hate you, it’s very gentle and has a nice sound.”

Clavicle Gravely approaches slowly… but he has the exact opposite of a green thumb. Something about the boy just makes plants that are capable of mobility…dislike him. “Er… is that plant hissing?” his hand inches towards his wand.

“I imagine you’re not a fan of Herbology class, then.” Olivia smiles a bit, the clearer weather apparently helping her mood. “You’ve got at least three or four years left of it, so hopefully you can come to terms with it.” Olivia pauses. “Though I wish we could drop some of these classes. I hate how messy we’re expected to get in the course.” The girl stops and glances down at the plant. “No, I think it’s actually laughing.” She stops tickling it with her quill and stands. The plant seems to calm itself down a bit, and shrugs. “How many more plants should we do, Evan? I’m bored of this already.”

Clavicle says, “I’m good at finding Monkshood and wolvesbane blooms. they are similar species…nearly identical. And I had a cactus once…it died.” he says with a frown. “I rather think it is hissing…bidding it’s time. It’s probably a cousin of devil snare…” he eyes the plant suspiciously, “He’s got a dodgy look…for a plant.”

Evan Geroff laughs quietly. “If you’re bored, m’lady, then not a single one more. We ought to have packed a picnic.” He bends, as though to place himself on the ground, but gets almost nowhere near as he straightens again at Clavicle’s reply. “It looks nothing like devil snare, and it’s hardly big enough to strangle you. I truly do think you’re safe. A cactus, though? Whyever for?”

“A cactus? That sounds… interesting.” She shrugs a bit. “I doubt any of the plants on the grounds are about to eat you or attack you, though. The headmistress would never allow something like that to come near us.” Her voice is certain, but a moment later, she glances to Evan with an uncertain expression on her face. “Would she?” Olivia< shakes her head, as if trying to shake the thought from her head. “A picnic would have been wonderful, I agree. Too bad we’re supposed to be studying.” Olivia smiles in a closed-lipped fashion, her cheeks pink from the slight chill in the air.

Clavicle says, “I don’t know. I heard a rumour there was a grove of whomping willows they had where they sent students who did badly.” he frowns as he looks to the forest “Somewhere in there.”"

Evan Geroff gives his head a quick, definite shake. “No, Olivia, she would not allow anything that would harm us.” Outside of class, anyway. “That’s..” he pauses between words, looking at Clavicle, “why the forest is off limits. If the grounds were dangerous, they would be too.”

Despite the fact that it may not be extremely hot out, though still spring, Evan seems quite ready to spread out on the ground with talk and food and whatever else. If only they had some. “We’ll have to think of that next time, there’s no rule against studying and eating. Perhaps we should study the edible plants – that might cover potions and herbology.”

Clavicle Gravely blinks. “Now potions…I can do.” he grins. “But I am no good at finding the raw plant ingredients I fear.” he hmmms. “I found the recipe of a potion that makes you belch fire….”

“That sounds like a lovely idea. Maybe next year we’ll be able to study more of the edible plants.” She smiles and strides off of the plant a bit, away from the forest, and twirls in the grass a bit. “I’m glad it’s not raining. I was so hoping not to have to bring an umber-all — an umbral– whatever that thing is. The one that keeps you dry in the rain.” Olivia waves her hand around as she fumbles for the correct word and carefully sits down in the grass, making sure her robes won’t get damp or muddy. She does, however, wrap her scarf around her neck in an effort to keep warm.

Clavicle Gravely blinks. “You mean an umbrella? I have one in my room…if you want it. I am sure someone could make it rain for you?” the firsty grins a grin that is a touch too wide, and at his neck, a tatoo of a skeleton wearing a tophat pokes his head up and waves at the other students.

“Belch fire. That certainly sounds useful; one wouldn’t have to wait and try to become a dragon animagus then, would he?” Though Evan speaks to Clavicle, his eyes follow Olivia, pleased with the day and glad to see her enjoying it. “We don’t want to make it rain, it does quite enough of that on it’s own!” As Olivia sits down, he finally takes a second to do so as well, though he pays less attention to the ground below him as he sprawls on the ground, using his arms to prop up his back. “And if we truly do want an umbrella, it might be best to wait for the summer and go into one of the fancy shops in London, you could get quite a beautiful one there.. maybe find someone to enchant the design for you after you buy it.”

Clavicle says, “I thought enchanting muggle artifacts was illegal?” the boy asks He looks around at the other two students. “Isn’t it?”"

“I’m fairly sure it wouldn’t be right,” Olivia says in agreement, then pauses. “Though, I don’t see what harm it would do.” She pauses. “I wonder if it would be possible to get one with little flowers on it. Perhaps they could float around on the umb– umberella.” She looks from Evan to Clavicle and back again, trying to ascertain whether she has pronounced the word correctly. “That couldn’t possibly be harmful. Isn’t it only illegal if it could hurt someone?” Olivia is obviously not well-versed in the law. Understandable for a fourteen-year-old.

Clavicle says, “I am not wholly sure.” the youngish boy states. “In my families carnival we have to use a special mirror to divide the wizarding from the muggle section”

Evan Geroff shakes his head ‘no’ one time. “It doesn’t have to be harmful. Anything done to a muggle object.. some can be quite amusing, honestly..” He trails off, instead addressing the other part of Olivia’s words. “I don’t see how it’d hurt anything though, and who would even notice an umbrella? You couldn’t use it around muggles obviously, enchanting the flowers like that. But what wizard would mind the trick, as long as it wasn’t enchanted to attack people, or fly, or something like that?”

Olivia Baxtor smiles happily, thinking of such umbrella. “Could one also enchant a basket to stay cool, do you think?” She pauses. “Well, I imagine we make enough of our own baskets that it wouldn’t be bad. It would be very handy, don’t you think, to have a picnic basket that keeps itself cool. Then the sandwiches wouldn’t be warm, and one would have time to find the ideal spot.” She smiles up at the sky again, an unusual feat for her, so many times in one day, considering her consternation about her teeth.

Clavicle says, “The muggles have a thing that does that now. It’s called… a cooler. It holds ice in it…and that keeps the food cool.” he shrugs as he wanders around a bit. “My family’s carnival goes in both worlds… wait till you see their money.” Clavicle Gravely turns and looks at the writhing plants with a slightly green look. “Well er…..you all seem to be having a good day… so I have er, broom practice.” he nods. The practice is an optional study thing, but Clavicle bows with a flourish and heads off.

Evan Geroff smiles back at Olivia, with a nod of agreement. “Sure. A cool picnic basket would be wonderful.” .. “Besides, we have many basic articles that muggles also use, though ours are enchanted. Such as brooms; those are very different from muggle brooms. So the umbrella or the picnic basket might not cause a problem in any case.. I’m not sure of the intricacies of it all.” Not that he would be expected to be, at this point. And what possibilities, if they could start enchanting their own items! His eyes drift up to Clavicle, and he offers a lazy wave, before adding his own suggestion. “Why has noone ever enchanted all the cloaks and clothes to stay warm on their own in winter, I wonder?”

Olivia Baxtor pauses in thought as she considers this. “You know, I’m really not sure. I imagine it’s because we can knit things that keep us quite warm.” Another pause. “I wonder if Madame Malkin actually employs those kind of charms on the cloaks.” Olivia bites her lip in thought as she steps away from a plant that appears to be attempting to eat her cloak. “I wonder if that would cause problems in the spring and fall. Couldn’t one overheat if the cloaks were enchanted to stay warm?” She glances to Evan, her eyes still quizzical with thought.

Evan Geroff pushes his arms off the ground, sitting up straighter as he ponders this latest inquiry. “Is there a spell to sense how cold one is, that could be used? I haven’t heard of it, but there’s a lot left to learn.” With a thoughtful frown he shrugs once. “That would certainly be a problem if they overheated, but perhaps if they only put it on half the cloaks – and then everyone could buy one that was enchanted for warmth, and one plain.”

“That would get quite expensive, I imagine. Since I have a brother and two sisters, I don’t think my parents would buy both, so I would end up with just the plain ones.” She pauses. “But that’s alright. Most of the time I’m able to stay quite warm, as long as I have the correct layers on.” Olivia smiles a bit and sits down on the grass next to Evan. “I wonder if we could come up with a charm to do that. I’m sure it could be managed. We could come up with it, and name it after ourselves. Isn’t that what people do when they come up with charms and potions and things?”

Evan Geroff‘s eyes light up for a moment, excitement coupled, perhaps, with the Slytherin ambition. “We’d be famous! And then you could afford all the cloaks you wanted. You could make all the cloaks you wanted, if we invented the charm.” He even reaches into the pocket opposite his herbology notes, drawing out his wand, then looking along its length in contemplation. “So.. how do we start?”

Pulling her wand out of her pocket, Olivia points it down at her own cloak, pondering what one might say to make it detect her own body temperature. “I’m not sure how to start. Maybe we should check the library. There may be some books in there to help us get started.” She bites her lip. After all, Olivia isn’t the best student. The girl ponders a bit, trying to guage her own ability to complete such a task.

Evan Geroff chuckles quietly, not actually at Olivia, but at his own inability to have any idea how to start. “Well.. temperatus.. oh, what is the Latin word for temperature? Spells do seem to use latin a lot after all, but I’ve never studied it, I can’t speak it.” Something to add to his desire to study it later on in life, perhaps, though that won’t help him now. Rising further, to a kneeling position, he gives Olivia a questioning look. “Shall we try to look it up, then? I can’t think of an easy way to figure out the motion, but perhaps if we have a set of words to try first…”

“I can’t speak it either,” Olivia responds, biting her lip in response and brushing at her skirt, as if there could be grass on it. “Perhaps we should go inside and see about checking out a latin book to see if it can give us any hints. That way we can be sure to have the right words and … phrasing.” Olivia doesn’t seem to know exactly what she’s talking about, and her cheeks redden in embarrassment as she relaizes how silly she must sound saying it just this way.

If Olivia’s words are odd, Evan doesn’t seem to realize it from his minimal experience with foreign languages. “I don’t know how we’ll figure out what order and which specific words, but if we find a Latin book, we ought to begin by simply pulling out likely words..” In his excitement at this new adventure of sorts, he fully stands and moves a step toward the castle, giving his companion a grin and glance to see if she’ll follow. “Once we have that list, most likely the order of words will come into place. We just have to know them first.” Well, he’s nothing if not confident, anyway.

“Okay,” Olivia answers simply, standing up carefully and dusting off any dirt or grass that might be there, and continuing to dust for things that she might miss, though she doesn’t actually see any. “I’m sure the Library has loads of books that would help us pick the incantation to come up with it. It can’t be too hard, right?” She shrugs and begins to follow Evan toward the school. “We’ll have it figured out in no time.”

With Olivia following along, Evan begins to walk toward the school and eventually the library within, steps slightly quickened by the thought of what they’re about to figure out, or perhaps the glory involved in doing so. Either way, he turns to answer as they walk. “Might take a little work, but I’m not worried. Between the two of us we ought to figure it out without a problem. Perhaps they’ll give us automatic O’s on our charms work, as well as being famous. Maybe even automatic highest scores on the NEWTs..” One can certainly dream.

Skipping a little bit to catch up to Evan, Olivia crosses her arms over her parchment, holding her self-inking quill carefully in her fingers. “I think that would be wonderful, to get such high scores on the OWLs. I think I’ll spend all of fifth year just trying to make sense of everything so that I don’t fail them. Wouldn’t it be awful to fail? The girl shakes her head sadly and continues along the path. Their conversation does not end here, though it trails off as they enter the school, bound for the library and a slew of Latin books, in hopes of finding what they’re looking for.

Olivia Baxtor sits at a table, her books neatly stacked at her right side, her quill poised in her left hand as she glances over an open book. She looks to the right, then neatly — and slowly — inscribes something in blue ink on her parchment. Taking notes is a long process for the girl, as she stops and fixes any smudges or blotches on the parchment with a small rag, and then rubs bits of ink off of her hand. Oh, the plights of being left-handed! Olivia sighs and glances over the book, and the process begins again as she starts writing something else onto the parchment.

For once on his own – but how many people want, more than anything, to accompany someone to the library? – Evan Geroff walks into the room. A bag of books is hung over his shoulder, one hand clutching the strap as he pauses a number of steps past the doorway to look around. Particularly, he scans the room for a familiar face, search stopping as he spots Olivia. The standing still also stops, as he begins to walk in her direction.

Happening to glance up, Olivia sits up a bit straighter, arching her back to stretch it a bit. A glance left brings Evan into her vision. “Hello, Evan–” she greets, a bit loudly, and her hand flies up to cover her mouth. She shoots a hesitant glance at the librarian, who doesn’t seem to have moved at all since Olivia‘s entrance and cracks a bit of a closed-mouthed smile at him, rubbing at her left hand, almost as if out of habit.

“Hello, Olivia,” Evan replies once he is next to her, grinning at his fellow third year, perhaps a bit more even at her slip, but it’s friendly. Placing a hand on the back of the closest chair, he offers her a shallow bow to go alongside his greeting, before asking, “May I sit here?”

“Of course,” Olivia answers, sounding more polite than enthusiastic about his entrance. Then, when does Olivia sound excited? The girl moves her books a bit closer to her side of the tabel. She smiles at him. “What have you come to work on?” she asks congenially, still rubbing at the new ink spot on her pinky finger, as if it is poison.

Evan Geroff pulls the chair out, then sits down and sets the bag down on the floor beside him. “I brought books for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and for Ancient Runes,” he replies, before diving down to pull out two books. These are placed on the table before him, slightly off to the side, as he looks back at Olivia, voice hushed but still friendly. “What are you in the midst of?”

“History of Magic,” Olivia answers happily. “It’s my favorite subject.” It requires no getting messy. Of course, Olivia doesn’t mention this, and glances back down at her book, dabbing up a bit of ink that has just dropped onto the open page. Ah, not a trace of it, she has caught it in time. “Are you good at Ancient Runes? I have trouble sometimes, understanding it.” She sighs and glances at the next book on her pile, which is, coincidentally, her Ancient Runes book.

“History?” Well, to each his own. “My favorite is Defense. Ancient Runes isn’t bad, though; I’m doing all right.” Which isn’t to say that Evan hasn’t had to put any extra study into it, but this Slytherin could almost be mistaken for a Ravenclaw in that aspect. Without really thinking about it, he pulls his book on Runes over in front of himself, not opening it but idly fingering the edges. “It’s just learning another language, but I’ve never tried that before. I imagine it gets easier once you get used to reading and making them. I do enjoy theorizing about their creation, I was hoping to read some more on that.”

To say Olivia is a bad student would be unkind, but one could never assert that she is a good one. She rests her chin in her hand for a moment, brushing her loose hair over her shoulder. “What language are you learning? It must be hard to learn another language.” If one were to look closely, it would be obvious that her books are set up alphabetically. She closes the book she has open gingerly and moves it to the left of her parchment and places the parchment atop it, revealing a clean sheet of parchment. Her quill sits neatly in her inkwell as she replaces her chin in the palm of her hand and listens for Evan’s answer.

Evan Geroff may be quite observant about some things, but he hasn’t yet bothered to observe Olivia’s books too closely. He hasn’t even focused on his own since sitting down, with the exception of unconsciously tracing lines on the one – it’s a good thing there’s no quill in his hand. “Oh, I only meant the Runes. All of the grammar and rules and things for writing them. It looks like it can become quite intricate, though we won’t be doing much of that for a while.” Here, he pauses for a moment of thought. “If it was offered, though, I would learn Latin. All the ancient scholars used to study it, and everyone who knew anything could read it.”

“Aren’t we sort of learning latin by memorizing all these spells?” Olivia suggests, hopefully. She pulls the Runes book out of the pile. “I suppose Runes rather are like another language. They’re difficult to learn, though. So, if that’s what learning a language is like, I’d better not try.” She pauses. “You mean everybody learned to speak latin a long time ago?” Olivia balks at the idea, trying to imagine juggling two languages in her head. Clearly the idea of it escapes her. This is not to say Olivia is not an intelligent girl, but her learning style and the tasks that the school put her up to, well… they do not mesh. Her focus is not on her book, however, though she does open it to the bookmark she has carefully placed into it, she does not even look at the book.

Evan Geroff likewise opens his book, to no particular page, more just in copy of Olivia in case she plans on returning to her studies; he won’t look quite as much as though he intends to keep her from them. Not that he is terribly worried about it, either, his answer neither rushed nor short. “We are, aren’t we? Not very much of it, thouh; at least not to the extent that I could pick up an old book and read it.” At the second question, he nods. “Everybody. All studies were done in it.. Of course, at one point it was the regular language as well, even before that. Someone told me once that other languages still use it, and I wish to travel some, so I imagine it would be practical as well, wouldn’t it? One wouldn’t want to get lost.”

“Travelling would be so neat,” Olivia comiserates. “To see all the places that we learn about in our books.” Her mind wanders temporarily to a story of a Goblin Crusade that took place in China. “I should imagine, though, that it would be beneficial to have some knowledge of the language spoken where one is travelling to.” She nods slowly. “Have you ever been anywhere very far away? I haven’t been anywhere outside of England. We did visit the sea once, though.” Olivia thinks on this, and for a moment, she smiles, before remembering that her brother had ruined the trip for her.

Evan Geroff shakes his head quickly. “Never outside of England. Mother has – Father took her when they were still in school – and she’s told me stories about it. I’m sure I would very much enjoy it, and there would be so much to learn. To actually see it all instead of just read about it!” He stops for a moment, eyes shining with the thought. “Where would you go if you could? Did you like the sea?”

“Well, I did at first. I thought it was splendid. Well, until Christian started being a pain.” She sighs. “He pushed me into the sand just as a wave came up onto the shore, and I was soaked.” A pause. “My dress was a fright afterwards. And my dad only laughed, though Mum wasn’t pleased.” Olivia sighs. “I hope we can go back some time. Maybe… without Christian.” She sighs. “I don’t know where I’d go, though. There are so many places. I hear the muggles like to go to Rome or Venice. Or Paris…”

“I’ve never thought dresses were made well for swimming in. Or doing much of anything in; I do feel sorry for my aunts in that respect.” “Is Christian your brother? They should organize a school trip. Wouldn’t that be fun? I’m sure there are plants or animals or something we could look at there, so it’s not without learning.” Oh, the possibilities, though. The most interesting aspect of that, for Evan, might not be the learning. “Venice would be splendid I’m sure. Did you know it’s in the water?”

“Christian is my older brother. He’s a fifth year.” She sighs a bit and leans back against her chair carefully, smoothing her robes down. “He’s horrible. He’s always messing up my things.” She pauses. “Professor Morgan took us on a trip to Diagon Alley last year. It was quite fun, except that I was covered with soot the whole time. It wasn’t a very pleasant feeling.” Olivia shrugs, as if that one fact, for once, doesn’t matter. “I wish we could take trips more often. Though I do like it here. At least Christian can’t bother me in my commonroom.”

“Perhaps I’ll suggest various places.” No question, of course, that the teachers would listen to what Evan suggested to them – he might find himself surprised if he does try. “It’s nice to have at least a somewhat private area, isn’t it? The dorms are good for that. Much of the castle probably could be.”

“That’s true. Our house isn’t big enough to stay away from him well enough. I have to share a room with my sisters, and his room is just across the hall.” She shakes her head a bit. “He won’t leave me alone. He’s always moving my things or taking them.” Olivia closes her book again, realizing that she certainly isn’t going to be able to focus on her Runes work now. “Do you have any siblings? They can be so… frustrating, sometimes. I do think you should suggest some, though. I doubt the teachers would listen to me.” A pause. “Since I don’t get the best marks.” A blush spreads over her face at this admission. She isn’t one to admit her own difficulties in school.

Evan Geroff hesitates before replying, eyes lowering to search whatever page has remained open before him, then turning away from it, half sideways in his chair, to rest an arm on the table and more completely face Olivia. “You did fine the other day.” He shrugs. “I will suggest something, and we can go exploring together. I think my siblings all get along fairly well, but we don’t have much choice. I have one sister and three brothers, and my four youngest aunts and uncles live with us. There are always other people around too, students living with us for the summer or our cousins visiting or people that Mother knows, they’ll sometimes bring their children.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of people. How do you get any privacy?” Olivia looks stunned at the idea of so many people being around all the time. And this boy is so calm! “I’ve only three siblings, and I get so frustrated with them, too, because they’re so messy. Especially sharing a room with my two sisters.” She sighs a bit. “Do you enjoy so many people being around? It must be rather stressful.”

Evan Geroff shrugs as though it doesn’t really matter. “I grew up with it. My aunts and uncles are all older than me, so they were around when I was still a baby. If I need privacy I can always go into my room, though it’s shared, or outside, and except for the little ones they’ll respect it usually.” He glances around him at the library, that being all he can presently see of the school, and smiles slightly. “This is the most privacy I’ve had, here, and I do like it – but I don’t think I’d want much more.”

“Wow, I can’t imagine that,” Olivia comments, leaning back in her chair as she sets her quill down carefully. “I suppose you must like all of them really well. Better than I like my siblings, anyway.” Olivia shrugs a little bit at this. “How many of them are here at Hogwarts?” she asks, curiously. After all, she has all of her siblings at the school already.

Evan Geroff nods, offering a slight smile at the comment. “I do. We have our times, but who doesn’t?” He shrugs. “You don’t get along very well? None of my siblings are at Hogwarts yet; it will be a couple years still before the next oldest arrives.” To bad, really – he’ll be the only one not to have a sibling at school almost the entire time.

“Well…” Olivia starts, then pauses. “You can have my siblings. Sometimes I wish I had been born an only child.” She sighs a bit and shrugs. “It’s nothing, really. I like being at school, because I can stay away from them, and I don’t get picked on as much.” For all that Olivia seems bothered by her family, she doesn’t appear to be suffering all that much. “Do you wish your siblings would be at school sooner?”

“I can’t imagine that,” Evan admits, not sure how else to respond. “Though I sometimes admire people who don’t mind time alone.” .. “I wouldn’t mind if they were here; it would be nice to share some of this with them, explore things, spend time together. Mostly, though, I would like to see more of the little ones as they’re growing up – and it wouldn’t work out too well to have them here.”

“No, that’s true,” Olivia agrees, smiling just a small bit to Evan. “I guess I don’t really want to be an only child. Helen and Gertrude are nice enough at home.” The Hufflepuff shrugs her shoulders a bit, pushing them from her mind as she gazes across the table at her Slytherin yearmate. “I suppose it all depends on how you grow up.” Olivia appears to be rather thoughtful about this. “Oh… I should be studying,” Olivia realizes, looking over her now-dry parchment and closed books, perhaps a little disappointed at realizing her original reason for being here.

“I’m sure that does make a large difference.” Evan chuckles then – quietly, since it’s a library. “I hadn’t intended to distract you so. I really should look at these,” he motions to the two books beside him, “as well.”

“Alright,” Olivia agrees, smiling a little at him. She slowly opens her Runes book again, glancing up at him every once in a while. Part of her can’t believe that someone is even sitting with her, and doesn’t appear to be bothered by her… well, quirks. Olivia knows that she isn’t exactly like her peers. Who knows, perhaps this could be the start of a nice, long friendship. All Olivia can do is hope.

Evan Geroff pulls his own Runes book toward him, opening for the first time to a specific page. He, perhaps, is much more used to being accepted and carrying around with large crowds, and his full concentration is given to the lesson, finding it not the least unusual to be sitting here with someone.. even Olivia. And, who knows, he might not mind making a friend outside of his usual pack.

The Potions classrooms stands in its normal, ordinary state; which is to say, surprisingly clean. Burn marks have been charmed away, stains vanished, the sulphur smells cleared – all signs of the previous class has all but vanished. However, unlike most classes, today, the front table stands completely empty except for a small stack of parchment: term test results for the third years, ready to be redistributed back to their owners. Near the stack of parchment stands Karina Sedgewick, her arms crossed, but a smile on her face, waiting for her third years to enter her classroom.

Matty Matherson leads a small gaggle of Ravenclaw boys and girls into the potions classroom. As usual, the distribution of new grades brings out their best spirits, and Matty is personally confident of his own excellent results. A pair of other Ravenclaws whisper eagerly about how well they hope to have done.

Olivia Baxtor comes in holding her sack neatly in her hand. She strides to her usual seat — third one from the edge in the front row — and begins to pull her things out of her bag and setting them up neatly. She smiles a bit at the students filling in around her, ensuring that everything is set up just right in her usual way.

With his schoolbag strung over his shoulder and a handful of other third year Slytherins around him, Evan Geroff makes his way into the Potions classroom. The stack of parchment is quickly pointed out by a taller girl toward the front, and the general whispering noise-level from the groups rises, though Evan himself merely glances at them before continuing on to find a seat. Further in a few of the Slytherins disperse to find tables, only that same girl and one other boy remaining with Evan. He pulls out a stool for the girl, then takes a seat next to her, clearly not caring when the other boy gives him a challenging look and claims the seat on her other side. Instead, he turns his attention to the rest of the classroom, offering Karina a shallow bow before sitting down himself.

Thaddeus Livingston less confident, but hardly showing it in his demeanor, the Gryffindor boy takes his seat. He’s never been one for potions and has embarrassed himself plenty in the course of the past, no doubt in front of many of these blokes. In the most disorganized and disheveled of manners, he sets up his own things.

“Good afternoon,” Karina address her students, sounding cheerful. “Please put away your books and supplies if you have them out. We won’t be needing them today!” She pauses for a brief moment to let a few more expressive students let out cheers. “But, before that, I would like to say a few words regarding your term tests. As you will remember, last class was the practical unit test for our unit on Infusions, Distillations, and Essences. I have organized my notes and assigned grades for each of you, and the results are here.” She pats the stack of parchement gently. “I am very pleased with the results, overall. Every one of you achieved an Acceptable grade or higher. Some of you answered my questions and performed the practical elements of the test so well that I cannot find fault with your work. I would like to thank all of you for your efforts!” With that, she takes out her wand from her sleeve, and gives it a light wave. Pieces of folded parchment suddenly take flight, fluttering towards their owners like moths.

Matty Matherson grabs his, as do a set of other Ravenclaws. While most of the students in their group look delighted by their results, Matty‘s face falls. Only an acceptable? He did better than that!

Olivia Baxtor stops short as she straightens up the supplies on her desk. What, no potion brewing today? Olivia catches her paper. Oh, a mediocre grade. She sighs a bit at the parchmet before turning it face-down and packing her supplies back away neatly and setting her bag aside. Part of her can’t help but be disappointed that they will not be doing any brewing just that day, but Olivia is certain that Professor Sedgewick will make it worth their while.

Thaddeus Livingston lets his come to him, only gently taking it in his hand. “Ugh…” He moans, dreading the moment when his eyes meet his… spectacular grade? He perks up, glancing around him to see if anyone notices that there’s been some sort of horrible mistake. Since when does studying pay off?! Suddenly he feels as light as a feather, his lips curving into a catlike grin as he beams. He smiles a little to the others in a smug little manner. Hmm.

Evan Geroff reaches up out to grab one of the parchments once it is clear the object is headed for him. He unfolds it, a faint, satisfied, yet also unsurprised smile appearing on his face as he sees the grade. Pleased though he may be, he does not linger looking at it, merely slipping the test results into his bag which has been placed on the floor beside him, then turning curiously to the front to his what it is they will be doing – he hadn’t bothered to take anything out yet. Beside him, the girl pauses in the midst of returning books and other materials to her bag in order to look at her test grade, then ignores the rest of the supplies while sharing scores with her other male companion.

“Today,” Karina continues, “There will be a class treat for your good work. Please leave your things here, grab your cloaks, and follow me.” She grabs her own cloak and wraps herself in it quickly, before heading out the classroom door.

Matty Matherson slumped to the back of the Ravenclaw gaggle, feeling depressed over his low mark as the group follow Karina. Most of the others, though, are excitedly chirping over E and O grades.

“Must we really leave our things here?” Olivia laments and sighs, following the teacher out of the room, trying to stay towards the front of the group. She glances around at the other students as they all walk outside. She pulls her robes tighter around herself, somehow wishing she’d worn an extra sweater underneath her robes and rubs her legs together a bit as they come to a stop in a clearing on the campus. Every bit of her wants to ask what they’re doing outside, but she keeps her mouth shut, choosing not to question her house head.

Abandoned by his previous companions – one may guess by the other boy’s wishes, if not actually seeing him lead her away as the journey started – Evan Geroff pulls on his cloak and, also somewhere near the front of the class, follows the professor out. Lacking a gang of Slytherins around him now, he makes his attempt at finding other travel companions, and soon finds himself near Olivia. “This is exciting,” he offers to her, the remark somewhere between a simple statement and a question. “You aren’t cold, are you? You may use my cloak, if so, I don’t mind the cool weather much.”

Thaddeus Livingston strolls along, still smiling broadly to Olivia, the random victim of his joy. There is a little hop in his step. He lets his cloak flow freely after him, not much put off by the chilly weather but quite liking it. The boy’s head is in the clouds.

Karina Sedgewick watches as the students gather around her, some looking cold in their cloaks. The Professor, however, seem unfazed. “We will be getting some exercise, soon!” she promises. “Now, as you may remember from your tests, Infusion of Wormwood is an ingredient in used in the variant of Calming Draught we have been in studying. You may also remember the other ingredients in that Potion. I have hidden, in this clearing, all of the ingredients required for this Potion. So, if you will kindly form groups of four, you may begin your search. Each group finding all of the ingredients will win a prize.” Although the term “scavenger hunt” is not mentioned, this is clearly what it is.

“Oh, thank you,” Olivia murmurs quietly, offering a small smile to Evan. She takes from him the offered cloak and wraps it, too, around herself, trying not to visibly shiver. She glances around as many of the students group up quickly and smiles at Evan. “I suppose we should group together, so I can give your cloak back when we’re done.” She spots just one more person and takes a step over toward him, as if inviting him to join into their group. Although, the rest of the students have already paired off, so it seems as if there are no other options.

Thaddeus Livingston smiles to Olivia and Evan, “Uhmm…” He motions a finger between himself and the two, “Mind if I join your group?” He looks around hesitantly, “Doesn’t seem to be any others that aren’t full… …” He pouts, as if begging the pair even though Olivia seemed to be planning to invite him anyway by the looks of it. “I got an E on the test…” He offers, as if it were more of a selling point.

“My pleasure,” Evan responds to Olivia, both in recognition of her taking the cloak and suggesting they team up. “I’m sure I remember the ingredients; would you object to winning the prize?” Now without a cloak himself, he resettles his robes around himself, perhaps just a bit tightly but for the most part successfully ignoring the cold. They’ll be running around soon anyway; keeping that in mind does wonders. As Thaddeus speaks up Evan turns to look at him, then waves him over. “Of course; you look quick enough.”

Karina Sedgewick looks on happily as the children organize themselves. Slowly, she shifts away from the center of the clearing, as children start to scramble to and fro, looking under shrubs, under rocks, in the trees.

“I’ve never won anything before,” Olivia says, in all earnestness. “It would be very neat to do so!” The girl smiles a rare wide smile, her crooked teeth coming visible, before it fades again, as if she is somehow ashamed at the disarray of her own teeth. “I think I remember the ingredients to it. I wonder if we’ll have to brew it after,” the girl muses thoughtfully, seeming to somehow get lost in the mass of robes and cloaks on her figure.

Thaddeus Livingston claps his hands together, his expression, while still happy, molding with that of a lost one. “I… don’t remember them.” He states cooling, blinking a little, “A reminder would be… quite good.” He glances around the area, scanning, before looking back to the two. He’s not at all embarrassed, accustomed to… not knowing much.

Evan Geroff returns Olivia’s smile, grinning at her before he turns to scan the clearing. “There must have been something,” he replies, while starting toward a stand of trees. “But if not – let’s try this way, first – then you can start today.” Speeding up a bit, simply assuming the others will follow, again addressing Thaddeus. “Oh, well; perhaps we can give you a list while we walk. Or simply look for plants and things that don’t belong where they are.. Why don’t you run and check that far tree, we’ll look under the near ones here.”

Thaddeus Livingston lets out a very sarcastic, “Ha. Ha. Ha.” To Evan, “I believe I have a vague recollection, I guess I’ll just make due.” He smiles, shaking his head a little – not at all offended or put off, it seems. He glances around, beginning to look for ingrediants, sighing.

Olivia Baxtor nods and starts walking towards a group of shrubs. “I think I’ve found one!” she calls, kneeling to pluck up a group of plants and examine them. Feeling them quiver, she drops them quickly with a gasp, finding that they are not, in fact, plants, but actually small animals who are merely shaped like plants. “No! Not one of them!” She calls, her voice sounding a bit strained. The girl strides quickly around the other side of the bushes and looks around, biting her lip, feeling a bit queazy as she tries to find the relevant plants.

Karina Sedgewick chuckles to herself as her students focus on their task almost as hard as if they were brewing a potion. Her own Potion teacher would have laughed at her teaching methods; but, she truly feels that the break is well deserved. “Careful there, Miss Baxtor!” she calls out.

Evan Geroff arches an eyebrow at Thaddeus. “By all means, don’t go off on your own. We’re only looking for good hiding places; and as I said, we’ll discuss..” Whatever he intended to discuss, the Gryffindor is quickly dismissed as Olivia calls over to him. “No? Here – there’s a low branch that looks like it has something hanging off it, and there’s a promising dip in the ground over there – would you like to crawl or climb?” He pauses to give her a small chance to think, after adding, “I’ll take the other.”

Olivia Baxtor pauses for a moment, weighing which would dirty her robes less. “I’ll climb,” she says in a decicisive tone and starts towards the tree, swerving wide around the spot where she’d found the plant-like creatures, and stops at the tree, gingerly holding onto the lowest branch and trying to pull herself up onto said branch. The spectacle is a sight to see as the girl struggles and struggles, finally managing her way onto the first branch and clinging there. “I… I think I’m stuck,” Olivia calls, refusing to let go of the branch she has strong hold of.

As soon as she claims the climb, Evan Geroff begins to run toward his spotted dip in the ground. As Olivia begins to climb, he has spotted something else about the dip worth checking out – a patch of taller grass and plant that, in the colder weather, is bending over to hide the ground beneath it. Fallen onto hands on knees he begins to search, and waits just a second after Olivia calls to turn around, something dangling from his hand. “But you’re nearly there!” he calls back, beginning to run back toward her. “Hold on – I’ll help, and then I wish you to look at something.”

Thaddeus Livingston peers up, moving just under Olivia in case of a fall, “Just take deep breathes, and don’t panic! We can probably catch you if you fall!” He calls up, glancing around for Sedgewick. Reminding the girl of the possibility of falling might not be the greatest idea… but the breathing thing… that was gold, right?

“Oh–okay, well… take your time,” Olivia calls. Ever the picture of composure, Olivia is striving to remain calm and collected. “You might catch me?” Her voice rises a notch in pitch and and volume. “I’m never coming doooooown!” Olivia‘s composure is completely gone as she clings more tightly to the branch in question, only glancing down to respond to Thaddeus, and instantly regretting it. Whose idea was it to climb the tree, again?

Karina Sedgewick watches as Olivia attempts to climb the tree, then dangles from it like a Christmas ornament. Her first reaction was a smile, thinking back to her own childhood days, wanding around with her brothers causing trouble, dangling from trees, swimming in swift moving streams, cartwheeling about in the fields, chasing sheep, just to name a few. Her second reaction was to think that she should have mentioned something about trees. Or rather, that students shouldn’t be climbing them. “Miss Baxtor!” she calls out, her usually quiet voice carrying across the clearing. “Please come down from there!” It was a request, more than a command. Karina obviously hasn’t noticed the problems with Miss Baxtor and the tree: namely, that she can’t get down from it.

Arriving at the tree, Evan rolls his eyes at the Gryffindor. “She shan’t fall, not if I have to climb up there myself and hold her up.” With that, he peers up to the first branch. “Hear that, Olivia? Now, I’m going to reach up toward the branch, and Thaddeus here will remain on the other side-” he shoots a pointed look at Thaddeus here, “-And I want you to try and shift your wait so you’re sitting. Grab my hand if that will help.”

Thaddeus Livingston does as Evan instructs, only to help Olivia. “You’re going to be fine, Olivia.” He coos, mouthing out, ‘She’s afraid!’ to their Potions teacher and shaking his head before turning his attention once more to the girl.

“Okay, okay, here,” Olivia takes a deathgrip on Evan’s hand as she tries to sit up. Slipping a little, she shrieks and grabs on again momentarily, before giving it a second try. She slowly sits up, glancing down at the two boys below her, breathing heavily. and sighing a bit. “How am I supposed to get down now?” she asks, glancing down and feeling even higher than before, which causes her breath to catch in her throat.

A frown creeps onto Karina‘s face, as Olivia’s troubles become clear. Quickly, she draws out her wand, ready to break Olivia’s fall with a bit of magic. “Are you alright, Miss Baxtor?” she says as she makes her way to the tree. A small crowd has gathered, as some students break off from their searching to watch the struggle. “Do you need help?”

Evan Geroff blinks as Olivia takes a hard grip on his hand, but doesn’t pull back, holding his arm as steady as possible to help her. “Now, none of that,” he murmurs as she screams, then smiles as she manages to sit up. “See, you did it? Now – do you see that branch to your right, just a little higher? I want you reach for it – and maybe check out what’s hanging, while you’re there – but reach for it, and hold on tight, and swing from it.” He doesn’t seem to have noticed Karina’s arrival, with other students beginning to come over as well – it’s all just a crowd. “Go on and try it, I’m right beneath you.. and I promise you won’t get hurt.”

Thaddeus Livingston simply stands at the ready, watching the scene unfold in silence.

“No, no, no, I’m not getting the thing in the tree, I’m going to fall!” Olivia responds, shaking her head quickly, her voice tense and shaking a bit. “Just get me down!” She glances around, seeing no faces, just a lot of people. Oh great, people are looking at her, and she’s cold and frightened. So far, this is not a good class for Olivia.

“Miss Baxtor, please try to remain calm,” Karina says to the girl, sounding concerned. She gently pushes a few students away from the tree as she steps closer, her wand held at the ready. “Please, just hold still,” she tells the girl in the tree, as she gives her and a neat swish and flick in her direction.

Evan Geroff glances up at Olivia, then other to the branch he has been trying to get her to reach for. “Don’t get the thing. Just lean enou-” Pause. Oh, the Professor is here. So Evan falls silent, watching Karina, pressing himself closer into the tree to stay both out of Karina’s way and semi-under Olivia. Within catching distance anyway, because she’s clearly scared, and he’s had experience dealing with frightened siblings in his life.

As Olivia notices the teacher, she finds herself floating up in the air, and her eyes get still wider as she gets higher into the air. “Oh, I haaaaate flying!” the girl shrieks as she pulls her knees to her chest, burying her head in her arms. “Please get me down,” she begs into her knees, trying not to cry out of sheer fright.

Thaddeus Livingston frowns, offering the obviously-terrified Olivia a sympathetic expression. He gulps a little, his eyes drifting away towards the bushes where she had been chasing about little creatures earlier. He takes a step back away from the crowd, feeling as though one more person would just add to it… and she needed air… As he stares down on the ground, a something triggers in his mind and he reaches down to pluck the small, easily missed shrub. “Hey I got one…” He muses quietly to himself, before standing and looking back to the group, his concerned expression returning…

Although confident that the Professor will give Olivia a safe and gentle landing, Evan still reaches his hands up toward the girl. His intent, should nothing stop him, is to get a strong grip on her both arms with each of his so that she might feel just a bit safer and less frightened as she descends. Ignoring everyone else around, he keeps his gaze focused on Olivia. “You’re safe, Olivia,” he murmurs, though loud enough for her to hear if she pays attention. “You’re safe, Professor Sedgewick is going to bring you down, I’ll hold onto you, don’t worry now..”

“Try to stay calm,” Karina says to the girl, as she curses herself for her clumsiness. Gently, she uses her wand to guide the girl back to the ground. As soon as Olivia is back on the ground, she tucks her wand away, and hurries towards the Hufflepuff. “It’s alright. Everything is fine now,” she says soothingly, sitting on the ground beside her, hugging her close. “There, there…”

Olivia Baxtor looks up and around at her surroundings now. Too many people around. FInally she releases a breath of relief, though, feeling the ground firmly underneath her. “Thank you,” She whispers, glancing around. Breathing deeply for a few moments, the girl stands up, quickly brushing herself off of any dirt or debris from the ground and tree. “I hope we still have time to finish the search,” she asks, looking at the gathering of students.

Thaddeus Livingston walks back over to his group of three, not saying anything to Olivia, besides what he says with his expression. He holds out the ingerdiant to to Evan, whom, he thinks would appreciate it more then he or Olivia might, while keeping his eyes on the poor girl.

Evan Geroff seems a bit confused by Olivia’s quick recovery once down, though while she seemed in need he was quick to help, and quite hurriedly pulls his hands back. “Miss Baxtor, forgive my forwardness.. I only meant to lend support..” Dropping that line, still looking to mask his confusion, he focuses his eyes on the ground at his feet. “By all means, somewhere down here – I thought I found something, but I’ve dropped it..”

Karina Sedgewick is also a bit surprised at Olivia’s quick recovery, although she seems more relieved than anything. As the crowd disperses, she drifts back to the edge of the clearing to observe, a bit more aware of the student’s activities, looking on as the third years continue the scavenger hunt. Most groups have found at least something, and some groups have started collaborating, at least for now. It is still a contest, however, and many (including the knot of Ravenclaws), are clearly taking it very seriously

Olivia Baxtor‘s breathing has by no means returned to normal, but she is trying to brush off her stray from composure. “Oh–okay,” she responds, trying to rub out a particularly obvious stain on the outer cloak, feeling absolutely annoyed that the spot will not come out. The girl’s breathing is still rather irregular, and her voice higher than normal, but seeing that others appear to be deceived by her act of composure, she relaxes just a bit.

Thaddeus Livingston gnaws on his lip, holding out the ingrediant more forcefully, “Uhm.” He clears his throat, “I found this.” He offers innocently, looking between Olivia and Evan. “If you’re still up to trying to do this all…” He adds, for Olivia’s sake, pouting.

Looking up at Olivia, finally, as she doesn’t respond to his appology, Evan catches her rubbing the cloak and smiles faintly. “I am sorry, truly.. Please don’t worry about the spot, Mother will know a way to get it out if I can’t, or she can always buy me a new one.. Please do forgive me.” Finally noticing Thaddeus, Evan takes the offered object, giving a firm nod. “We’re going to be first; we’ve got time to make up. Here’s one..” Pausing to bend down, finally spotting his dropped plant material on the ground, he rises again with a more confident, “and here’s two. Let’s head off that direction a bit,” he points, “and run! If you’re up to it, Miss.. Stop if you see anything, though.”

“It’s okay,” Olivia finally responds. “You didn’t know that I…” How should she word this? “don’t like high places.” She sighs and lets the robe go, the spot still nagging her in the back of her mind. “I think I see one over here,” she announes, smiling a bit at Thaddeus for his finding and picking up the one that she has spotted. “Can you keep this with the one you’ve found?” She asks him, trying to make up for the drama she’s created, and the time lost for her group.

“I’m glad you can perform the levitation charm, Mr. Delaney, but please do not practice here,” Karina Sedgewick admonishes as student as the hunt continues. Some teams are nearly completion, now. Of course, there is one very hidden ingredient, a small mushroom, that Karina has cleverly disguised with an illusion. The illusion has a weakness, however. When you look at the spot on the ground at just the right angle, the mushrooms can clearly be seen…

Thaddeus Livingston beams when Olivia offers him a smile, glancing around for another ingrediant as he should. However, he has no luck, “What are we missin’?” He asks under his breath to the others, moreso tagging along with them.

Evan Geroff blinks at Olivia, as she fails to lessen his confusion. “Oh, well that’s all right; I meant about my.. err..” ..forwardness, but he doesn’t finish. “Well.” “There we go, that’s three, and we’re nearly there.” He angles off to the side a bit, the pauses to look out over the clearing. So much ground left to cover, and he will not allow a loss. “Do not look away from the ground. .. Unless you come across somewhere higher up to search.” “Missing? Well..” only partially pausing again – trying to move backwards, stare at the ground, and actually see the most recent ingredient, he gives up in favor of not missing something himself and instead just asks. “Olivia, what is it you have?”

“I found the dandelion roots,” Olivia answers, gesturing towards Thaddeus’s hand. “Don’t worry about it, Evan,” the girl responds, smiling at Evan. “You’ve been kind to me, helping me.” She gives him another smile, once again baring her crooked teeth. Twice in one day! “We need… one more. Right?” She looks to her teammates for the correct answer, looking hopeful.

“Ten minutes!” Karina calls out. Sure enough, time is ticking away, and soon it will be time to return to the classroom. She doesn’t give any hints however, as the teams desperately search for the missing ingredient.

Evan Geroff stops to kick over a stone on the ground, then frowns as he finds nothing under it. “Dandelion roots.. hmm.. it’s a mushroom,” he pronounces. “Correct? Small.. it could be anywhere. Do not even blink.” Stopping to move a longer piece of grass with his foot, yet again finding nothing, he falls silent and continues on.

Thaddeus Livingston remains silent as he scans the area, eyes squinting tightly in his concentration. A mushroom. We’re looking for a mushroom…

“Wait is that it over there?” the girl gasps, running over to a spot where she believes she sees the missing ingredient. “Oh. Just a rock. Hm.” Disappointment clouds her face as she turns and heads back towards her group, straying just a bit away from them, kicking over things gingerly on her way. “Oh! Oh wait! I think I see it!” She stoops down, pulling her robes and two cloaks up gingerly and reaches into a tiny dip behind a log. “Here it is! I found it!” Olivia skips back over to her teammates, looking quite triumphant, and brandishes the last ingredient.

“Times up!” Karina calls, conveniently when the last ingredient is found. “Please gather around! Which group has the complete ingredients? Please step forward!” She waits patiently for the stragglers to gather around, before making the prize presentation.

Evan Geroff pauses in the midst of kicking at whatever else he has found on the ground, spinning to look at Olivia. “You found it? Wonderful! Hurry, let’s run and show Professor Sedgewick before anyone else gets there.” He smiles at Olivia, turns to glance at Thaddeus, then takes off toward the teacher. Slowing as he reaches the crowd, he turns to look for his teammates, already holding up the two ingredients that he has. “We’ve got everything, Professor!”

Thaddeus Livingston simply grins, “Good job!” He nudges Olivia, shaking his head, “I wouldn’t have ever seen it!” He follows along, tightening his scarf around his neck and beginning to realize, fully, the cold.

Karina Sedgewick examines the group’s ingredients as they are presented to her, a smile returning to her face. “Great work!” she says to the three as she takes the ingredients from them. “TWo points will be awarded to each of you. And on top of that…” she rummages in her pockets for a moment, before producing three vials of orange potion. “One drop in a glass of water will turn the water into fresh pumpkin juice,” she tells the three as she hands them each a vial. “An invention of mine. Enjoy! Class, let’s return to the classroom to gather our things!” With that, Karina leads her students back into the castle.

Tramping up the stairs, her robes muddy, Briony Wexler does not look pleased. This is her third detention this year! The girl can hardly believe that her own mother was the cause for this one. She sighs as she knocks on the door leading into the office. “Professor Hargrove?” she states, rather quietly. “It’s Briony Wexler. I’m here for my detention.” The girl says all of this in an unusually quiet voice, hoping the Headmistress will not have heard her. Of course, stomping up the stairs didn’t help the matter, but this never crosses Briony‘s mind.

Trailing behind Briony, red-faced and gasping from her hurried climb up the steep staircase, is Katherine NicholsHer robes are similarly disheveled, but with a diffuse layer of brown powder that coats not only her robes, but her straggling dark curls. Halfway up the stairs, she is forced to pause as she gasps in – in – “ACHOO!” The little girl’s sneeze echoes up and down the hallway, and her steps sound even louder in the wake of the silence that follows. “Oh. Hullo, Briony,” she greets the other girl as she reaches the top, her voice hushed and subdued. As she draws closer, a faint scent grows – cinnamon. She smells overwhelmingly of cinnamon.

“Come right in, girls,” the headmisstress calls. Behind her desk she sits, veiled by high stacks of books. As she stands to step around the desk, all that is visible is the top of her frizzy head. Amelia pulls two candies out of a box in her drawer and sets them on her desk in front of her as she waits for the two ‘perpetrators’ to enter her office, which, just now, shows signs of rather early Christmas decoration. “Have a seat, please, and then I’ll have to you tell me what it is that got you sent to me.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Briony answers, opening the door and stepping in past the plump Hufflepuff. She takes a seat in one of the chairs — the red one, as she’s not much a fan of green — and glances around the office. Briony gawks at the decor of the office, finding it shocking how insane she feels the headmistress must be. Her eyes spot the candy, however, and all thought of the christmas spirit emanating from the room is forgotten. She glances at the woman who is standing over her for a moment, then her eyes glance back at the sweets.

“Yes, ma’am,” Katherine echoes the younger girl, standing politely aside to let her go first. She hovers uncertainly inside the door, brushing at her cinnamon-dusted robes with hands so covered with the spice that they seem to add more than they take away. Finally, she gives a deep sigh of resignation and plunks down in the green chair. The odd appearance of the headmistress’s office doesn’t shock her – she’s been here too many times to be surprised by anything, and despite her dejection, Katherine can’t help but smile a little at the sight of the signs of Christmas. An eager gleam lights her eyes as she too catches sight of the candy – but she says nothing, just folds her hands neatly in her lap and sits, waiting patiently. But then – “Ah- ah – ACHOO!” Another sneeze bursts out of her, and she mumbles a sheepish, “Sorry.”

Amelia Hargrove chuckles and conjurs a handkercheif in an obnoxious shade of yellow. She hands the object to Katherine and leans against her desk. “Now, tell me, what brought you here.” She pauses a moment. “Ms Nichols, why don’t you begin?” the woman asks, eyeing her dusty and pungeant robes with a raised eyebrow. “Then Ms Wexler can enlighten me.” Amelia takes the two peices of candy — them having had the desired effect, and holds them in her hands, as if she has no intent of giving them to the girls at all.

“Yes, ma’am,” Katherine says again, reaching out to take the handkerchief. “Thank you, ma’am.” She snuffles into the handkerchief for a moment, wiping an almost-clean spot around her nose on her cinnamon-dusted face. “Well, it was…I was working on the assignment that Professor Calwern had given me,” she begins. A slightly stricken expression crosses her face as the candy is withdrawn, but she swallows hard and continues, reciting the events as if she were presenting a lesson in class. “She had these little umbrellas, you see. To put in drinks.” Her chubby hands wave in the air, miming the opening and closing of a tiny umbrella. “And I thought that they would be marvelous in hot chocolate – made of peppermint sticks and candy floss and things like that.” Enthusiasm begins to bring a smile to her face as she gets carried away with the telling of her own story. “Or that opened up to conjure little marshmallows or cinnamon or chocolate bits. And Professor Calwern said that she’d give five points to Hufflepuff if I could make one that did that. And she said that she liked cinnamon, and…” Katherine is starting to lose momentum as she gets closer to the unhappy ending of the story. “And, well, I made a bit too much cinnamon.”

Briony Wexler stifles a giggle as Katherine tells her story, and scoots back a bit in her chair. To tell the truth, she hasn’t even noticed yet that the candies have disappeared from the table, until she looks at the headmistress, in whose hands are the suckers. Ohhh, sweets… Briony pauses for a moment in the silence of the room, until she realizes — after a stern look from the headmistress — that she should be divulging her reason for her detention. “Well, uh, I was trying to find my kitten, and I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, and I sort of… ran into a prefect. A Slytherin prefect. And she hit me because of it, so I fought with her.” Briony pauses. “But I won! And she hit me first!” The girl settles back into her chair, fuming again, at the memory of the situation. “My mum fixed me up, and sent me to you for detention.” Another pause. “That girl is still in the infirmary, though.” A mean grin crosses her face, a t the thought of overcoming a fifth year.

“I see,” the headmistress says. “Well, we’ve got some fun planned for today. You both are going to help me research for my next seminar.” She pauses. “I suppose it would be helpful for you to be my assistants when it comes off as well.” She nods. “Now, all of these books are about animals of extraordinary means. I need all the information you can glean from them about Kneazles. We will begin to compile it in one hour. And when you’re finished… then, you may have these sweets.” For all Amelia‘s sense of duty, she still can’t help slipping the occasional sweet to the children.

“Yes, ma’am,” the girl answers with a sigh. She scoots her chair forward and takes a book, and finds, before she can ask a question for it, that a stack of parchment appears to her right, in addition to an inkwell and some quills. She sighs a bit, trying not to breathe in too deeply, for fear of being afflicted of the same cinnamon ‘disease’. “Oughtn’t you have cleaned up before coming up here?” Briony asks congenially, taking a bit of parchment and poising her quill in her left hand as she opens the book, ‘A Study on Kneazles’.

Astonishment opens Katherine‘s mouth and hope lights her eyes as she looks up at the headmistress. Not the promise of being the headmistress’s assistants, but more sweets? “Yes, ma’am!” Katherine replies, and stifles another sneeze with the gaudy handkerchief as she too reaches forward to take a book. She stuffs the handkerchief into a pocket for a moment as she searches through the other pockets of her robes for a quill, coming up with several bright pink sugar ones before finding one that will actually write. “Professor Murphy told me to come directly to the Headmistress’s office,” she whispers, in response to Briony’s question, as she follows the younger girl’s example and flips open her book.

“I need as much information as possible so that the demonstration will be interesting and informative for the whole student body.” The woman nods and deposits an inkwell down in front of Katherine. She doesn’t even seem to notice the cinnamon emanating throughout the room. Her head disappears behind the stack of books on her desk, and scratches from a quill can be heard. There seems to be some whispering and the occasional ‘mew’, though nothing is visible, from behind the books where Amelia sits. If one was not accustomed to her nature, it could be quite disconcerting.

Briony Wexler nods at her classmate and glances at the big pile of books. “Did you lose points for it, or did you just get a detention?” she whispers gently. “My mum took points away. She said I ought to know better. Five whole points.” The girl’s posture fails a bit as she slumps lower in the chair, scribbling a half-hearted note onto the paper. Detectifying was much more fun than this. For that, she enjoyed taking notes. “By the way, when we’re out of detention, I think I’ve found a few leads on the badger. He’s a sneaky little devil, but I think we’re getting close.” The girl nods and tries to find another ‘important’ fact to scribble onto her notes.

“If they can’t get the cinnamon out of the carpets, then I’ll lose points,” Katherine sighs, giving the younger girl a sympathetic glance as she reaches across the table to dip her quill into the inkwell. “I can only imagine how many points I’d lose if my mum worked here,” she murmurs. “The Howlers are bad enough…” Scattered, disorganized notes begin to take shape as Katherine flips back and forth between several books at once, decorated with arrows pointing from one paragraph to another, and little pictures in the margins. “Where do you think the badger might be?” she whispers, leaning closer so that she can keep her voice low, but trying – and failing – not to sprinkle too much cinnamon on either the Headmistress’s floor or the other girl.

“If you’re going to talk, make sure you’re productive while you’re doing it!” Amelia‘s voice echoes from behind the large stack of books. The woman seems to have magical hearing, as the girls are speaking quite softly. One might wonder if she has the disposition for this job, which would appear to require a much less friendly and giving disposition. These girls, though, have not angered the woman, and still are promised sweets at the completion of their detention, despite the stigma of being in trouble.

“It appears that he’s hiding down next to the potions room. I think, anyway.” The girl pauses. “Gabe says that it couldn’t possibly be there, but he seems to like it in the cold area. Maybe badgers like cold weather. I don’t know.” The girl shrugs and scribbles a paragraph down, just filling up her first length of parchment. She puts it in front of her for the ink to dry, and scribbles some more. “I didn’t know people researched kneazles so extensively,” Briony whispers to Katherine, shaking her head in disbelief.

“They do. And tunnels and things,” Katherine whispers back, with an authoritative nod on the subject of badgers. “I’m not surprised he’s near the Potions room. Or she. I’m still not sure. And maybe he – or she – knows that Professor Sedgewick is our Head of House, or something, so it wants to hide near her. ” She pauses for a moment, drawing a curly arrow to connect two sections of notes, then adds, “And Kneazles are interesting! They’re ever so clever. Smarter than regular cats, even…”

Amelia Hargrove rifles through several more books, putting down two more books which she has finished investigating. Hearing the girls continue to chatter, she does nothing to quell their talk, feeling that it must be a healthy thing if nothing else, for such conversation to occur between young girls. Amelia‘s notes far out-do the notes that the two collectively have gathered, but this does not concern the headmistress, who is merely eliciting their help because a detention was necessary. One could hardly say she enjoyed making the students do pennance.

“I’ve never seen one myself, not up close. My dad wouldn’t let me go near it in the shop, because he told me I wasn’t allowed to buy such a thing. He told me I could get a pet, then he wouldn’t let me get a kneazle.” Briony sighs rather dramatically about this. “But that’s alright, maybe there will be one at the presentation, and we’ll all get to pet it!” The girl looks hopeful about this and scribbles a few more notes in her disastrously uneven handwriting. “I’ve heard that they know the good people from the bad people and they will only associate with good people.” She nods sagely, obviously believing herself and her comrade to be in that special group.

“Oh, they do,” Katherine whispers back, with an earnest nod and a smile that shows that she has just as much confidence as Briony about which category they would be placed in. She pauses to scrawl down a few more lines of notes, her careful round handwriting becoming sloppier as her excitement rises. “I wasn’t allowed to have one either,” Katherine continues, wrinkling her nose in a sympathetic grimace. “Just an ordinary cat. Although I wonder if Nina wasn’t maybe part Kneazle after all, the way she acted. Still, I would like to see a real one up close. I hope we’ll be able to pet the one at the demonstration.. .” She lets the sentence trail off, daring to send a hopeful glance up towards the Headmistress at the end of it – and another hopeful look towards those sweets that sit so tantalizingly close.

Amelia has been listening to the conversation going on over on the other side of the book piles, and smiles to herself. Now, where could Aristos be? The woman glances around, and then makes a bit of a clicking sound, quiet enough to go unnoticed, and Aristos comes trotting in. The little cat-like creature is a sight to behold, quite a bit larger than an average cat, with thick, fluffy fur, and dark purple spots covering her back. The creature jingles a bit as she jumps up onto the desk allowing her fur to be stroked. “Never seen a kneazle, eh girls?” Amelia asks, a curious and suspicious glint in her eye. She stands, taking the fluffy cat-like creature in hand, and takes it around the desk, setting Aristos down directly in the center of where the girls sit. The creature sits, looking quite regal, glaring from girl to girl.

“Whoa, you have a real kneazle?” Briony‘s voice is full of awe as she gawks at the large animal. She reaches out gingerly, suddenly not quite so bold as to outright pet Aristos. “What’s its name?” she queries, softly touching the fur on the kneazle’s shoulder, almost frightened, as if she can sense that the creature doesn’t like her. And, indeed it does not, as Aristos is a peculiar kneazle, who trusts only adults, finding children to be particularly untrustworthy.

“Oh!” Katherine lets out a squeal of excitement and surprise, and her mouth remains open in a wide, wondering smile as she gapes at the creature on the desk in front of her. She exchanges a quick, happy glance with Briony – their request has been answered! – then continues staring wonderingly at the Kneazle. “Oh, it’s lovely!” she breathes. “May I…?” The question is asked more to Aristos herself than to the Headmistress – Katherine looks straight into the cat-like beast’s eyes as she reaches out a chubby hand, hovering a few inches away and waiting for permission before actually touching it.

A small growl can be heard emanating from the large cat-like creature’s chest, though it does not move at all to attack in any way. “Behave yourself,” Amelia scolds at the kneazle and the growling dulls, now hardly audible. “You may pet her as long as you are gentle. If she begins to growl, remove your hand at once. She has very sharp claws.” Amelia watches carefully, her eyes like those of a hawk’s, taking in every movement, every breath, every look. She knows her kneazle far too well.

Looking a bit more nervous, Briony removes her hand back to her lap, merely looking at the majestic kneazle. “Go ‘head, touch it, Katherine,” she encourages, sitting back in her seat a bit. The girl is simply not brave enough to touch the creature yet, not wishing her arm torn up by the scary beast. She instinctively pulls her pile of notes from the table, so as to save them from shredding, should there be a bloodbath.

“All right,” There is a quiver of apprehension behind Katherine‘s agreeable tone, and she swallows hard at the Headmistress’s warning about the Kneazle’s claws. But the little Hufflepuff girl keeps her eyes steadily on Aristos’s, and says to the creature, “It’s all right. I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m not going to hurt the Headmistress. I just want to pet you. She’s said that I might.” Katherine moves her hand a little closer, searching the Kneazle’s impassive expression for any signs of hostility or assent – and listening intently for another growl – until finally, she touches the animal’s thickly-furred side.

No growls are heard at this juncture while Katherine gingerly presses her fingers against the fur. “It’s fine, Aristos. She’s a good little girl.” Amelia‘s voice is confident. Aristos looks back at her owner with an impassive look, tolerating the affection she is receiving for the time being. The headmistress looks on, watching carefully as one girl shys away from petting the creature she had previously expressed interest in seeing.

“It looks so cool,” Briony whispers, watching intently from the back edge of her seat. The girl obviously does not want her arm torn open today, by any chance of luck or lack thereof. “She sure is pretty,” she tells the headmistress, a leery smile on her face. One might be unable to tell whether this is an attempt at flattery, or whether there is sincerity behind the comment, but Briony looks more terrified than anything else. She clearly did not expect the beast to be quite so big and intimidating.

“There you go,” Katherine murmurs to the Kneazle, her smile returning as Aristos accepts her touch. “Good girl…” She lets her hand flatten out, touching Aristos with more confidence now, and beginning to move her fingers in a gentle stroking motion – but she still keeps her head tilted, listening for the first sign of a growl. “There you go,” Katherine says again. “Here, Briony, do you want to try too?” Katherine takes her eyes off of the Kneazle just long enough to glance back at the younger girl, then looks back quickly, not wanting to break her eye contact with the creature for much longer than a second or two. “She’s nice! Yes, you’re a good girl.” Her voice starts to take on a sing-song cadence as she continues speaking to the animal. “And you’ve got lovely purple spots…”

“Alright, I think that’s enough,” Amelia says, reaching out and plucking the unhappy looking kneazle from the desk and placing her onto the floor, watching her trot away. “Alright, I think that’s enough for today. If I could have your notes, that would be marvellous. And you both will, of course, accompany me for the seminar and help me make my presentation.” The woman smiles nicely at the girls and takes the sweets from the desk, holding one out to each of them. “Please make sure you go get yourself cleaned up promptly, Miss Nichols, else Miss Scott finds your cinnamon trail and sends you directly back to me.” Amelia smiles at them and waves her hand as if to shoo them on out of her office, to attend to important headmistressly duties.

Briony Wexler takes the sweets slowly, smiling at the woman. So this wasn’t the worst detention she has yet had, and the girl is certain that it won’t be the last, either. She stands and smiles at Katherine, almost offering to go out and have a romp, but then deciding against it, remembering the excess of cinnamon on her being. “I’ll see you around soon, and we’ll try to find that badger.” Briony giggles and turns, walking rather quickly out of the room, as if she has somewhere important to be.

Katherine‘s brief disappointment at the Kneazle’s retreat dissolves almost instantly into a pleased smile – she is going to be helping the Headmistress? And getting candy, too? Is this really a detention? Katherine reaches eagerly out to take the sweet, remembering only after she has popped it into her mouth what the Headmistress’s other request was. “Mmph! ‘orry!” she mumbles indistinctly around the candy as she hands her notes across the desk. “Nnnk you, m’m!” She gives the Headmistress a bright, candy-stained grin, bobs a curtsey, and hurries out after Briony.

Clavicle Gravely walks in, he’s carrying a suitcase and bows to the woman with a formal flourish…which looks a little silly, as he is so young. “Good evening madame. My family would like to supply you with a new confectionary treat.” He smiles hopefully.

“Er, well, that’s kind of you, but oughtn’t I be the one supplying you with the sweets, little man?” Maura leans on the counter, clad in her new purple and blue frock — her cousin’s insistence, certainly not hers — and grins at him. “But tell me what it is that you’ve got for me.” She smiles at him sweetly, glancing only momentarily at a group of little girls who seem to have caught the giggles.

Clavicle Gravely grins hugely, “The gravely seasonal confectionary inspired by our cousins in the central Americas, We proudly present…. The confectionary skull.” he opens his suitcase and a dozen skulls highly decorated are there. All made of sugar, One winks. “Hiya toots.”

Clavicle Gravely‘s skulls declare “Undale! Arriba!” “Hey…is this France?”

Maura Wexler appears to be taken aback by such a thing. “Oh, and… you all have charmed them to talk? How… quaint.” Maura can’t seem to get the look of shock off of her face as she stands there, gawking at the case of skulls. “I’m afraid they might be a bit too… frightening for many of the children who frequent here. We do get a lot of young ones, after all.” Maura shrug at him, looking rather leery of his case of skulls. “I would be more than willing to sell you some candy of course,” She suggests, coming back to her original tack. “And perhaps you could check at a shop in Hogsmeade. I hear there’s a knickknacks shop, full of odds and ends and unusual things that might just love something like that.”

Clavicle Gravely hmms. His uncle told him to make the sale. “They can be trained to be more polite…” One tries to get out of the case….by jawing it’s way up. Another waggles icing brows at the woman. “‘ello … Are you hungry? I was made for a pretty girrl like you to eat!” Clavicle smiles hopefully. “I didn’t charm them… my uncle did. We have a shy line as well. for the bashful childe.” He nods to the Hogsmeade advice. “We plan on stopping there as well…before term starts.”

“I hope you’ll have more luck there. I’d consult with my cousin, but I know what her answer would be. Everything in the shop here, we make ourseles. That is, I make it. She blows it up.” Maura chuckles to herself for a moment, before remembering the task at hand. “At any rate, I’m going to have to decline your sweet offer. I’m sorry.” She ponders for a moment. “But perhaps you’d like to try our newest concoction? It’ll turn your mouth many colors.” Maura smiles at the boy, hoping to spare his feelings.

Clavicle Gravely frowns. “Are you sure? we only ask 4 sickles for the lot?” he grins “They are made for Dia del Los Muertos… to celebrate.” he sighs. “Well…maybe you could just try one?” He grins. “We could call it a trade?”

Clavicle Gravely looks at the case where the One skull has escaped and is grinning. “Pick me.. pick me!” the skull has a frosting baseball cap on. “I’m great at running errands! Pick me!”

“I could try one, but I’m sorry, dear. It just isn’t even feasible for me to give you hope, since it would be false. You’re welcome to try our new candy; I won’t even charge for it, but we can’t buy your sweets. Have you tried the Leaky Cauldron?” Maura smiles helpfully, pausing to ring up one of the giggling girls. “I must reiterate that we won’t be able to sell your candy from our shop.”

Clavicle says, “I know. I understand. But Morty there really seems to like you.” he takes the candy she offers and closes the suitcase…and once again…bows with a showman’s flourish.”

“It’s still a no,” Maura tells him again gently, closing the register again after ringing up another girl. “Tell, ah, Morty there, that he’s going to have to find another shopkeep to attatch his little sugar teeth to.” Maura winks at the boy and pulls out a licorice rainbow, holding it out to the boy. “It ought to turn your mouth about six different colors at once, maybe more.” She grins, proud of her new concoction.

Clavicle Gravely‘s suitcase closes amongst cries of “Eat me. Eat me! ” He scoops up Morty and accepts the licorice. He grins as he heads out. “Thanks!”

Maura Wexler waves at the boy as he departs, chuckling to herself. Born salesman, that one. He’ll go far, Maura thinks to herself as she busies herself around the shop again.

Eva Fallon strides down the stairs into the main part of the shop. “You know, one of these days, I’m going to just have to stay up there, Tommy,” she calls to the man, and sits down onto a chair. She isn’t very pregnant yet, but Eva has always been a bit dramatic. She grins at Tommy as she puts her feet up, reaching to tie the laces carefully and keeps them propped up behind the counter. “Thanks for watching the shop while I napped. I needed it.” She grins at him, leaning back and pinning the rest of her dissheveled curls up atop her head.

“Not a problem,” says Tommy Fallon with a full smile. Standing up and stretching, he laughs and says, “I guess it’s time for my nap, then!” Pretending to head towards the stairs, he stops when he feels his joke has caught. He then turns around to walk over to his wife. Setting both hands on her shoulder, he massages them idly as he looks around the shop. Things were so quiet when the girls were over in the daycare with Avery. Despite loving these peaceful moments, he always did look forward to picking them up; to seeing their beaming faces. He loved his daughters.

Alanna Dragonfire opens the door slowly and with a daughter clinging to each hand, she enters the shop. Having promised them an outing to Diagon Alley after her long work week, the two young girls look excitedly around the shop. “Now, one treat each, that’s all, got it?” and as they scatter, Alanna notices the couple behind the counter for the first time and freezes for a moment, before approaching.

“Hello,” Eva calls, grinning at the two smallish girls. “Welcome to Cordial Confections.” Eva doesn’t even bother to stand, and finishes pulling her hair up into a messy coif. “Make sure you look at everything, because we’ve just debuted some new sweets!” Eva sounds more enthusiastic than she looks, but her excitement level appears to be rising again as the sleep wears off. “Isn’t your sister stopping by today? I hope she comes after we get the kids from Avery, because I’m sure she’d love to see them.” Eva sighs a bit. Her girls are growing so quickly.

Frederick Wexler comes bounding in, Alden on his back. The child looks more frightened than thrilled, and finally, relieved as his uncle deposits him on the ground once again. “Hullo, Eva!” the man calls to his sister, waving as he holds the door open for Basil and and a very prim looking Alice. “Find some sweets you two. My treat.” He grins at Basil as the two wander into the store, not appearing so very excited, but still looking interested at the sweets. Frederick strides over to the counter and holdsh his hand out. “Tommy,” he greets the other man with a nod. Must be nice, just for Eva. Freddie doesn’t have anything against Tommy, but the unfamiliar is always unsettling, especially in his sister’s spouse.

Bursting into the candy shop to he his beloved sister, Gilbert looks around, surprised but delighted to see such a crowd. “Wooow,” he begins boldly. “How come I didn’t get an invitation to this?” he asks Eva, punching her lightly in the arm. “Oops, sorry about that, Eva,” he says. “I should be more delicate with you in your state, right?” he exclaims, pointing to her belly. Turning to Tommy, he slaps him on the back and dives into a Quidditch rant. “Did you see that game the other day? The Pride of Portree sure had nothing to be proud of!” He laughs.

Basil Wexler stops at the door. Lovey, half of his siblings are already here. What brought him this kind of luck? He nods at them all, stepping just into the shop, out of the way of the door so that the customers can mill in and out. His children are milling around the shop, getting near the other children, most of who are younger than them, and sighs. Without Sibyl around, how will he be able to handle their illnesses? Surely they’ll get some sort of cold from the other children, especially nearing the height of winter. The man looks visibly nervous at this thought.

“Kalika probably will drop by,” he answers Eva as he looks to the newcomers to the shop. Shaking Frederick’s hand, Tommy returns the nod. “Hi there, Fred,” he salutes as he takes a step backwards from the audacious Gil Wexler. “Err, I didn’t see the game–” he starts. He only half-listens to the man’s raving about the botched plays and the other game highlights. Seeing Alanna walk into the shop rather takes him by surprise, though. “Alanna!” he calls.

Alanna Dragonfire steps back a little, a bit frazzled at the sudden rush of people, surprised that Tommy acknowlegges her she, she smiles and waves “Tommy, Hi.” brushing a strand of hair from her face, disappointed that she wasn’t able to slip out unnoticed “How’ve you been?”

Having stopped by Avery’s daycare after work (mostly to visit–she *does* enjoy talking), Kalika Fallon has decided to do her older brother a favour by bringing the girls home (particularly since she had intended to visit Mister and Misses Fallon anyways). With a broad smile playing on her lips, the young pads into the candy store–toddlers and baby in a rather large carriage in front of her. “Kah-lee-kah,” she says to the children as she walks through the door. “Auntie Kah-lee-kah. Actually, I’d settle for Auntie. Or Kali.” And then Josie speaks up, triumphantly beaming, “Allie!” Kalika sighs and shrugs her shoulders–it was close, “Very close! It just needs a “k” on the front.” She moistens her lips and examines the crowd. “Business must be good,” she chimes to herself. She pushes the carriage further into the shop towards her big brother. “Tommy! I think these may belong to you . . .” She glances at her neices and step neices and then at Tommy. Who’d have ever thought he’d be a family man? Certainly not Kalika.

“My darlings!” Eva squeals and stands. “Thank you for bringing them, Kalika! And, well, fantastic timing.” Eva chuckles. “That one right there is my brother Freddie, over there is Gilbert, and Basil’s in the back there, being a hermit as usual. That little boy is Alden, he’s Basil’s son, and Alice is over here, she’s his daughter.” Eva grins. “I guess Tommy’s left the baby with Henrietta.” She smiles. “And, I’m getting the idea that Tommy knows this lady over here,” Eva says, gesturing towards where Alanna stands. “Though we’ve just met, sort of.”

Alanna Dragonfire shrugs as Kalika takes his attention and steps back towards the door, bumping into a nervous looking young man that she doesn’t know. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there.” she says quietly and takes her place near the door as well, waiting for her little darlings to finish choosing their treats. Knowing them however, she’ll most likely be stuck there for awhile, thinking of this she sighes and frowns. “Hurry up, Girls, we still have to get home and make dinner.” she mentions to them in vain.

Tommy Fallon shakes his head. “I don’t even recognize them,” he says to Kalika in a serious manner. After a second passes, he waves his hand and swoops down on Josie, swinging her up and holding her aloft, over his head. “Is my little girl learning how to say names?” he asks. “Auntie Kalika is a great teacher. She talks much to often,” he says candidly to the toddler as he sets her back in the carriage. He tousles Essie’s hair before picking up Charlotte and walking over to Alanna. “Things have been great,” he says, holding out his daughter. “This is Charlotte, our youngest. Would you like to hold her?”

Alanna Dragonfire shrugs and smiles half-heartedly “Um…sure, I haven’t had one this little in quite sometime.” taking the infant and holding her gently. “Those are my two over there, Diana and Elizabeth” gesturing toward the pretty little girls near the lollipops “They’re 7 and 5.” she says quietly, rocking the baby gently.

“Excuse me,” Basil mumbles and steps aside as Tommy brings the infant over. Basil glances at her, then back at his own children, remembering fondly when his own children were so small. Well, perhaps not so fondly. He does recall not sleeping much. Basil‘s eyes roll a bit as Gilbert starts to wax poetic about the latest Quidditch match. The man seems to recall why he moved so quickly out of Bournemouth, hoping to be away from all of his siblings.

Entering shortly after the newest arrivals, Daniel tugs open the door with one hand while he pins his cloak tightly around him with the other. Crisp November wind gusts through the doorway and with a shudder, the man straightens up to his full height and maneuvers to the side so as not to get in anyone’s way. Plum eyes dart around the shop and he instinctively retracts from anyone who might be too close for comfort. Smiling brightly, he doesn’t greet anyone but rather makes a beeline for one of the counters that hold some of the specialty candies.

“It was my pleasure! Josie almost said my name,” Kalika grins at Eva. Tommy’s comment is met with an eyeroll. “They’re all bloody brilliant! You must be so proud. They’ll be chatting in no time flat. I’m sure of it.” She tucks a lock of her curly hair behind her ear and smoothes her robes. She listens and watches as Eva points to all of her family members. “My goodness! There certainly are a lot of you. An average family reunion in the candy store.” She chuckles lightly. And then Alanna enters Kalika‘s line of vision. “Alanna . . .” what is her last name “. . . Twinkle, is it?” She tilts her head at the woman. “Well you’re all grown up,” the woman states flatly. She crosses her arms over her chest, “And with the quite the brood too.” She presses her lips together in a straight line.

Gerald Rathe pushes through the door, shouldering his powerful frame into the shop. He slows his long strides, taking his stock of the room as he enters among the cases of sweets and the small crowd gathered here. His frown expression is reservedly neutral and relaxed, in the manner befitting a proper English gentleman, but at odds with his colourful wizarding clothing.

Seeing the curly-haired girl come in with Eva’s kids, Gilbert sidles over beside Kalika and nudges her. “You look familiar,” he says with a laugh. “Miss Fallon, did you watch the Quidditch game? There was the most amazing chaser play. I’ll demonstrate,” he says, rifling in his pocket and eventually finding a couple candy wrappers. Folding one into a mangled-looking broomstick and rolling the other into a ball, he sets it atop the ‘broom’ and holds it with one hand. “Say this was a player,” he says, pointing to the garbage in his hand. Making a complicated movement, he traces the path and makes swooshing noises with his mouth. “That’s how.” He finishes. Not able to resist, he chucks the two wrappers in Basil’s direction, aiming for his head. Tilting his head, he looks back to Kalika for her reaction.

“Oh, yeah, Gil! I read about that! My guy reported on that!” Freddie chuckles as he steps closer to his brother. “Did you see that awful catch by the pride, the one that cost them the goal and got them that first penalty?” Frederick chuckles and leans against the edge of the counter. “Are these my little girls?” the man enthusiastically coos and swings Josie up in one arm, pulling Essie up into the other. The girls giggle and squeal as he does so and puts them down on the floor, watching them toddle over to their mother.

“Hello,” Eva greets some of the newcomers into her shop. “Welcome to Cordial Confections!” she tries to call over the din, but the chaos in the room seems to dictate otherwise. She grins and picks up her girls one at a time, allowing them to sit on the edge of the counter. Rather than supplying them with the obvious choice of candy, though, Eva hands each of them a half of an apple, which both instantly begin gnawing on. “Let me know if you need help finding something.” Though this attempt is futile, Eva‘s habits do not stop easily.

Alanna Dragonfire‘s smile fades as she notices Kalika, “It’s Dragonfire actually.” she replies curtly and glares at the younger woman “You haven’t changed much at all from our school days”. Sighing once again at the childishness of Tommy’s sister, she wishes that her children would give her an excuse to leave, however they seem to be facinated by some new sweet product in the corner of the store. “How old is this little one?” she askes, trying to ignore the younger woman.

Gilbert Wexler nearly tears out his hair in agony as Fred recalls the terrible Quidditch catch. “I thought my soul was going to shrivel up and die when I saw that, Fred,” he says excitedly, looking away from Kalika for a second. “My boo-ing voice was hoarse by the end of that game,” he states with a nod, watching Fred pick up the girls. Even though Gil hasn’t the desire right now to hold a squirming baby, he though they were cute enough… he guesses…

Looking back and forth between Kalika and Alanna, Tommy can sense the tension very obviously. The two had fought quite a bit back in Hogwarts. That big spat between he and Alanna in the Great Hall… well, Kalika had gotten involved in that one. He still does smile in remembrance of Kalika’s reaction to Alanna’s insulting the Fallon name. The little girl’s indignant fit was something to marvel at, to be sure. Tommy is jolted back into the present as, somewhere in the room, a little girl shrieks with delight. There sure were a lot of children in here, thinks Tommy Fallon.

Seemingly engrossed in watching his children, Basil does not even see the bits of paper flying at his head, and both hit him in the face, one square in the forehead, and the other on the nose. “You…” he growls softly at the group of his siblings on the other side of the shop. He doesn’t get openly angry as he did when he was in his teens, feeling that he ought to set a good example for his children, but Basil is noticably in annoyed.

Kalika Fallon wrinkles her nose as Gilbert nudges her. But not in annoyed way merely a somewhat puzzled one. A smile spreads over her lips exposing her two rather prominent dimples. “Kalika, please. No one outside of work calls me Miss Fallon. And I mean no one. And no, I can’t say I managed to see the game this time, Mister Wexler–work and all that! Never a dull moment in magical law! Always parchments to read. New cases. But it sounds like I missed a good one!” Her eyes brighten. “I enjoy watching them play! The thrill of the game! The excitement of the chase! The players are all so talented and balanced and quick and–” She stops talking quite abruptly midsentence. She bites her lip and sits in rather awkward silence. A glare is cast towards Alanna and then Kalika‘s attention is redirected to Gil. She stifles a giggle as the bits of paper hit Basil in the head.

Twisting this way and that to get a good look at the display, Daniel lifts his head when he hears the welcome and grins brightly, looking in Eva’s direction even if it isn’t directly at her. “Thank you very much. I’ll be sure to say something when I’ve made my selection.” Unaware of the tensions between some of the members in the shop, the silvery tenor responds with enthusiasm and good will at the welcome. “Quite a crowd here today, it’s good to see a shop doing so well.” Indeed, the young man glances over the patrons and takes note of each if not in an overly studious fashion.

Alanna Dragonfire smiles as her daughters have made their selections. “Well, we ought to be going then” attempting to hand the infant back to Tommy. “It was lovely seeing you again, and your family is really nice.” she says with a bit of an edge to her voice as she tries to make her way towards to counter, through the crowd of people.

“Good to hear, good to hear… Kalika,” says Gilbert reverting to the casual first name-basis rather than ‘Miss Fallon’, which does seem a little awkward at first. However, Gil shows no sign of this, as he doesn’t miss a beat before, “Yes, the players are amazing!” The man nods as he looks toward Basil, pointing openly at him. “That’s got to be worth a hundred points, don’t you think, Basil?” He laughs, so enjoying bothering his eldest brother. Although it was always so easy, it was always rewarding. Really, he brought it upon himself.

Moving among the display cases, and eyeing some the fancier fare there, Gerald eventually passes by the Wexler brothers. Here he pauses, eyeing Gilbert calculatingly for the barest moment, then glances at Kalika, before extending a hand sharply. “Miss Fallon, it’s wonderful to run into you outside of the workplace. And Mr. Wexler, always a pleasure. Out indulging our sweet teeth? Or could there perhaps be business going on even in this refuge of childhood?”

Frederick Wexler stifles a loud laugh as Basil is nailed twice in the face by Gilbert’s toss. “Good one, Gil,” he whispers, trying not to look overly amused by it. After all, he has to actually work with Basil. He glances at Eva’s toddlers, sitting up on the counter and gives them both kisses on their now grubby-appled cheeks. “I’m going to get going, Eva,” he tells his sister and hails a wave at Gilbert, who now appears to be interested in chatting with Tommy’s sister. “I’ll visit again soon. Henrietta and I have plans this evening. We’ll bring Parker next time.” And with that, Freddie is out the door, on his way back to Hogsmeade and his wife and son.

Kalika Fallon stifles yet another giggle as Gilbert claims his wrappers to be worth a hundred points, “Well even if Mister Wexler doesn’t agree, I certainly do, Mister Wexler.” And then Kalika thinks about the sentence and shrugs. As Gerald greets her the young woman turns and offers the man a warm smile, while accepting his hand in an equally warm handshake. “General Rathe. It’s certainly a pleasure to see you here, sir.” She points towards Eva and Tommy’s children. “As far as sugar goes, it doesn’t agree with me. I was just returning my neices to their parents.”

“Are you sure you won’t have some, Kalika?” Eva encourages, wiping the faces of her children absentmindedly, trying to keep her eyes on all the children in the shop at once. After all, little hands get into things without any notice. “Tommy, Charlotte usually goes up for a nap after she gets home. If you’ll bring her here, I’ll take her up. Maura should be back soon, anyway.” The woman smiles and leans against her stool.

“Yes, sir. A pleasure,” Gilbert says, echoing Kalika and nodding. “I frequent this candy shop often,” he explains to Mr. Rathe. “And even though I do enjoy the confections, I am more delighted by sweet young ladies such as Miss… Kalika here,” he says, indicating the young woman by his side. He grins, hoping to flatter Kalika rather than make her feel embarrassed.

As a few of the others leave, Daniel keeps an eye on the slowly thinning crowd. Deciding on something, he pulls out a pad of paper and a muggle lead, writing something down without a care in the world. When he’s finished, the young man picks his way over to Eva, in an attempt to avoid all the children that he possibly can. “Excuse me, ma’am. I don’t mean to interrupt, but I was wondering if you could fill this order for me at your leisure?” The list is extensive and the candies plentiful and rare. “I can pay for it upfront and come pick it up when you have more time?” Waving in the direction of the door with an easy grin, “I have a shop down the way myself and it wouldn’t be a bother.”

Passing Charlotte over to Eva, Tommy nods. “Have a nice sleep, my darling,” he says in an overly sweet manner to his daughter as Eva holds her. Patting Charlotte on the head, Tommy grins and looks over at Gilbert, who is clearly flirting with Kalika. If it was anyone else but Gil, Tommy would go over there and challenge the perpetrator. But Gil, no… he flirted with all the girls; at least, from what Tommy had seen of him. It didn’t mean anything.

“Thank you, Eva, but I shouldn’t. I have enough energy without sugar.” Kalika winces slightly and shrugs. “I do enjoy it though. I just rarely eat it.” The young woman’s cheeks turn a pale crimson as Gilbert compliments her. “Thank you for the compliment, Mister Wexler.” With a sigh she glances towards the door. “I best be off though–so much to do, so little time. I have to finish all of my errands.” She gives a wave to the crowd.

Gerald Rathe smiles indulgently at the two children, a pleasant but distant look passing briefly over his face. “Yes, there’s nothing like children to take us back to the places that we left behind when we grew up.” Here he pauses, and smirks, “Although some of us require grandchildren for that.” Arching an eyebrow at Gilbert, his smirk deepening on his face, he replies, “I’m sure that some people might find your dedication to the power of chocolates a bit improper, Mr. Wexler, although I have to admit that it can be effective.” Here he winks and grins. “Well, let me not interrupt you any longer. I wish both the best of luck, and perhaps I’ll see you at the Ministry.”

“Oh, certainly. You needn’t pay until I gather it all, though. I’ll have it together in…” She looks down the list. “Oh, a couple of days. I’ll be in Friday, is that alright?” She tucks the list down underneath her counter, atop her ledger book. She takes Charlotte in in her arms and smiles at Daniel as she turns to make her way upstairs. “Keep an eye on the girls, will you, Tommy?” Eva calls as she vanishes through the door upstairs.

“A good day to you, sir,” says Gilbert to Gerald with a genial smile. “We could go to a Quidditch game sometime,” he suggests happily. “I think we ought to have more Ministry outings to Quidditch games. Nothing is greater than watching the sport! People relax when they’re out and cheering,” notes Gil. Yawning, he looks about. “I’d best be going,” he says, walking to Tommy and slapping his back again. He also waves to Basil and Daniel, and tips an imaginary hat in Gerald’s direction. “Until next time,” he announces to the door as he walks though it.

A boyishly delighted grin dances on Daniel‘s face and he tilts his head until blonde curls wave over his shoulder. “I can easily wait until Friday madam, my thanks to you.” As Eva disappears, the young man grabs the edge of his cloak and nods to those left before heading back out into the cold weather on foot rather than apparating away.

Basil Wexler watches as the store empties out a bit, and gathers his children. “I’ll… see you all later,” Basil tells them, not sounding very enthusiastic about the idea. “Tommy, please tell Eva that Mum would like her to owl.” The man nods and takes the hands of his children, who both quietly exit the shop, seeming not at all frustrated that they have got no sweets to accompany them.

Gerald Rathe watches Gilbert leave out of the corner of his eye as he continues to peruse the cases. After a few moments, he selects a collection of finer confections, makes his purchases, and leaves with a smile and a nod for Eva.