The Summer BBQ Open Closed

Food seemed to be the one thing she did right when she was surrounded by people, though with a fair amount of caution. Nothing seemed on fire, and she was hopeful it would remain that way. Grabbing a plate she placed a few things on it. She'd barely got a decent meal together that she heard her name and turned around to note a girl she was quite familiar with. A smile perked her features and the blonde greeted her Quidditch Captain.

"Em!" she responded. Nicknames were still odd for her but she was wrapping her tongue and mind around them.

Bored? She blinked and nodded slowly. She hadn't been long enough to be bored, but she was definitely looking forward to whatever it was the brunette had in mind. Honestly, she looked up to the other student that was a year her elder. At least for now. It helped her be a better version of herself, and the summer was preparation for her goal to make friends.

"Uh yeah, let me just get a halla-whatever burger thing" She'd never had a halloumi burger, or a burger. Things eaten with ones hands that were less than a bite were unbecoming in her family's eyes. At least she would be in good company. Once her plate had the carb sandwich, she turned towards the other girl once more. "Shall we?" she said, willing to follow to a place to chill out, eat, and just relax for once. No homework, no expectations, just vacation.

Interactions
@Annie Morgan

Mentions
@Katrina Walker

To Jay's substantial relief, Annie graciously accepted the plate of food he had presented to her.
"It's fine your perfect-" she said, then seemed as though she would quite like to suck those words right back into her mouth before they ever reached his ears. She quickly corrected herself, however. "Er.. it's perfect your fine."
He raised his eyebrows curiously, a smile tugging at one edge of his mouth as he briefly pondered what she had originally said. He promptly ousted the implications of such a statement from his mind, however, discarding it as a stumble of the tongue that meant nothing. Fact of the matter was, Jay knew that he was so laughably far from perfect that he would never believe anyone could think such a thing of him.
So he showed no sign that he had noticed anything.

Oblivious being that he was, he failed to notice the hint of pink hue that showed itself on Annie's cheeks as she proceeded to thank him for the food and exclaim enthusiastically, "Let's eat!"
He sat down on the bench beside her and watched as she took her first bite. Her eyes lit up with an almost surprised contentment, a sight that pleased him more than she would ever really know.
Following her example, he began eating as well.
Their companionable silence was not to last, however, as Annie paused in between bites and ever so subtly intoned, "I saw you checking me out earlier and you ain't too bad yourself."
Jay jolted in complete shock, having been unfortunately unprepared for such a statement. Barely managing to avoid spitting out the bite of hot dog that he had just taken, he forced the food down his throat, then turned sheepishly toward Annie, who appeared to be enjoying a suspicious amount of amusement at the situation.
Evidently, Jay was a cataclysmic failure at hiding his thoughts. His gaze hadn't even lingered on her for that long, assuming she was speaking of when she had returned from the bathroom not long before- he had simply taken an attentive note on her change of clothes.

Opting for a comical approach at hiding his discomfort, he displayed his most charming smile and replied, an unmistakable layer of sarcasm in his voice.
"Well, I do appreciate your effort to make a homely fellow like myself feel a bit more confident in his looks. If you keep this flattery up, my head might just grow too large for the sorting hat to fit on it." He waggled his eyebrows at her playfully before taking another bite of his hot dog.

As he did so, his eyes strayed past her and spotted another bench not far from theirs, containing a lone occupant. Shifting his gaze to examine that occupant, he realized that they owned a face he recognized. Green eyes, freckles... Yes, he definitely knew that girl. Well, "knew" was a bit of a strong word, considering he had never actually caught her name, but the fact that he remembered her face was a lot more than he could say for most people around here.
"Hey," he said, nudging Annie lightly with his elbow and pointing at the other girl. "I know her."
The girl seemed to be alone, and he, knowing that he found it no fun to be alone at an event such as this, automatically assumed that she felt the same way. Therefore, he harbored a wish to make her not alone.
"Okay, so I don't even know her name," he admitted. "But it doesn't look like she's with anyone. Want to go introduce yourself? Maybe I can actually learn what to call her and upgrade her past 'vague acquaintance.'"

Interactions: @Jay Azul & @Katrina Walker

Annie did notice that Jay didn't react to her "slip of words" which she was thankful for. She then saw an expression of almost relief when he saw that she didn't mind about the food. After all, Annie was raised in a household that said "you eat what's in front of you or you starve" so she wasn't that picky. When she confronted Jay on "checking her out" he nearly choked on her food in shock. She giggled because it reminded her of when he was choking on water at the lake because she had nearly drowned him with her splashes. He quickly recovered from his embarrassment to reply sarcastically. "Well, I do appreciate your effort to make a homely fellow like myself feel a bit more confident in his looks. If you keep this flattery up, my head might just grow too large for the sorting hat to fit on it." Annie nearly snorted at his response and rolled her eyes. "Your welcome, but unfortunately for you sir, your head may already be to big but not because of your confidence but because of your ego." She added a cheeky grin as she sarcastically replied back.

After their small bickering session Jay glanced over her shoulder and Annie turned around following his gaze to a girl. "Hey," "I know her." She observed the girl and saw that she definitely was pretty and Annie got a knot of a weird emotion in her stomach. "Okay, so I don't even know her name," "But it doesn't look like she's with anyone. Want to go introduce yourself? Maybe I can actually learn what to call her and upgrade her past 'vague acquaintance.'"

The feeling Annie previously in her stomach released then tightened again. She slowly nodded her head at Jay's words before getting up from her seat. Annie made her way over to the girl and gave a small wave. "Hi there, my name is Annie Morgan, I'm a second year Hufflepuff and I don't believe we have ever met but Jay insisted on coming over since you looked lonely.." She began to ramble again. It seemed like everytime she met a new person she was shy at first but opened up really easily and quickly.

Interactions
@Annie Morgan & @Katrina Walker

"Your welcome, but unfortunately for you sir, your head may already be to big but not because of your confidence but because of your ego."

As Annie said this, Jay allowed his jaw to drop in apparent disbelief at the slanderous words she had just uttered. He made a show of reaching his hands up and running them through his hair, all around the top of his head, as if trying to ascertain if the statement about his head being overly large was actually true.
"My word," he said in a hushed tone of mock panic, hands still gripping the sides of his head. "I think you're right. I'm not sure my neck can keep holding it for long..." He cast his eyes around as though looking for a solution hidden amidst the grass. Then he threw one hand in the air, a look of triumph now spreading over his features.
"I've got it! I'll simply have the school nurse mount supports on either side of my head; that way, my neck doesn't have to do all the work." Placing the hand back on his head, he nodded slowly, suggesting that the action took great effort. "I'll just have to hold my head until we can make that happen."

It had been after this that he had spotted the other girl and suggested that they go say hello.
Leaving all such clownish antics behind, he followed Annie as she stood and made her way to the girl who sat alone.
He, of course, had absolutely no inclination whatsoever of the kind of undesirable emotions that him talking to another pretty girl might stir up inside of a girl who was interested in him in any way. Besides, even if he had, the notion of any girls being jealous over him would have been considered completely absurd in his mind. The little Romeo was as young as he was oblivious, meaning that any indications of such goings on between his fairer associates would most likely go blissfully unnoticed.

He waited while Annie made her introduction, then continued on to mention their very reasoning for approaching in the first place. That done, she seemed to grow a bit uncomfortable for a moment, similar to the way she had acted when he had first met her earlier that day, so he decided that this was a good time for him to pipe up.
"As Annie already mentioned, I'm Jay. I haven't been sorted into a house yet, seeing as the coming school year will be my first" he said. "I remember meeting you before, but I don't think I ever had much of a chance to talk to you."
It may have occurred to another person that maybe this girl had actually wanted to be alone for a moment, but to wish for personal privacy in a place like this was a bit of a foreign concept to Jay, so here he was, dragging a friend along to burst this loner's bubble.
Extending a hand to the girl, as was customary for him with all new people he met, he continued, "Mind if I ask for your name?"

Katrina enjoyed watching people interact. She began to quiz herself on who was who. She struggled with names and this was the place to practice. This BBQ was quite awkward when she was alone. She noticed her empty place and was about to go throw it away when she saw people behind her.

Katrina slyly noted the two students on a bench behind her. They stood up and began to proceed towards her. She took a deep breath and turned to face them, social interactions were not her forte.

They introduced themselves as Annie and Jay. Katrina made note of their names and spoke up. “My name is Katrina Walker. Gryffindor. Second year.” she grimaced at the monotone of her voice.

She glanced at her empty plate. And looked around at everybody talking and understood why they approached the one loner. She put on a smile and asked them some questions.

“So, what house do you think you will be sorted into? How are you liking Hogwarts? Katrina then addressed Annie, “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your house.”

They seemed like nice people so far. She hadn’t met Annie although they were in the same year. Jay was not sorted yet, but they had briefly met once.

Interactions: @Jay Azul & @Katrina Walker

Annie had puffed up her cheeks to stop herself from laughing at Jay's response. She started getting light headed before letting out a big breath. "Oh my heavens Jay your so confusing and hilarious. I guess you want to start yourschool tour early by visiting the infirmary aye?" She sent him a cheeky grin as the continued to bicker. Annie then turned her attention to the girl who introduced herself as Katrina. She also took note that they were in the same year but she was a Gryffindor.

Annie then blinked and brought herself back to reality before hearing a question addressed to herself. “I’m afraid I didn’t catch your house.” Oh uhm, I'm a Hufflepuff, same year as you." She flashed the girl a small smile, wondering how she was acting so shy if she was supposedly a Gryffindor. On the other hand she herself was a Hufflepuff and some Hufflepuff were known to be quieter or shy. "Well not me, if you thought do you thought wrong!"

Now that introductions were over, Annie was curious. "So how did you two briefly meet?" She glanced between the two of them, wondering if it was from childhood or maybe on a train ride or at the campgrounds. "Okay maybe I'm being a bit snoopy, it's not like I'm jealous just uh.. curious, yeah that.." "You don't have to answer I'm just intrigued since you know Jay hasn't even been here that long, much less is a student at Hogwarts yet." Annie shrugged, innocently contemplating if she should get more food or not

Interactions
@Annie Morgan & @Katrina Walker

"Oh my heavens Jay your so confusing and hilarious."

A pleased grin presented itself on Jay's face at this comment from Annie.
Like most people, he rather enjoyed his own sense of humor. After all, there really didn't seem to be any point to having one if you didn't enjoy it yourself. The only real question was if you could find others who also appreciated it, and Jay knew from awkward experience that many people did not find any particular amusement in his personal sense of humor. So to find individuals who couldn't help but crack a smile when he opened his mouth was a pleasant experience indeed.
"Hey, it's an adventure, right?" he said in reply to Annie's comment about him wanting to go to the infirmary.

“My name is Katrina Walker. Gryffindor. Second year," said the girl they had greeted.
Katrina, Jay repeated in his mind in an effort to commit the name to memory.
Katrina then smiled and proceeded to ask them each a question.
While Annie gave her answer, he pondered the question about what house he thought he might get sorted into. He really knew next to nothing about what attributes constituted a student being sorted into any of the houses, so he didn't figure he could honestly answer such a question. However, he certainly knew how to respond to Katrina's second inquiry.
"If I'm being honest," he began, "this place is absolutely spectacular. I can't say I really understand much in the way of magic, but the castle and the scenery around it seem magical enough to me." He gestured with a hand to the landscape around them as he spoke. "It fascinates me."
He couldn't help but think of a couple very interesting individuals that he had met. Wrapping his head around the realization that vampires even existed still seemed to elude him, let alone the fact that he had been in the presence of two half-vampires - also known as Dhampirs. But he decided against mentioning his bewilderment on the diverse population of the school, as well as the rather... questionable personality of one such individual. While the story of the time his life had quite likely come very close to suddenly ending was a decidedly fascinating topic, he didn't really feel like this was the time to get into that.

"As far as which house I might get sorted into, I really have absolutely no clue," he continued, shrugging and spreading his hands wide.
He was about to turn a sly smile on Annie and question her on her opinion, judging from what she knew of him, but never got the chance.
"So how did you two briefly meet?" She wondered. "You don't have to answer I'm just intrigued since you know Jay hasn't even been here that long, much less is a student at Hogwarts yet."

At the question on how he and Katrina had met, Jay scratched the back of his head sheepishly. The time they had met happened to be one of the many embarrassing scenes of his life. But then, Annie already knew him to be a disastrous mess anyway, so perhaps it wouldn't be so bad for her to hear it.
"Well," he said, chuckling slightly. "It was in the Great Hall, not long ago. It involved hot chocolate, I believe," he added cryptically, turning a knowing smile toward Katrina.

Interacting with: @Erin Ryan

Apparently, the young snake did not know how these so called ‘death witches’ looked like. Arc saw a short, old woman with dead-looking eyes back in the Keeper’s cabin. She -it- was terrifying. Was she a death witch? By the gods, there were more of them? So close to Hogwarts? And the sick boy in the bathroom that Erin mentioned…Kaegen? The dark-haired boy really did not want to talk to him. The older Ravenclaw was also scary, unsettling. But if he really held an important piece to this giant puzzle, he might have to talk to him directly. Urgh. He was already dreading that imaginary meeting. Arc could feel his stomach lurch just by thinking about it.

"I-- don't know," the girl admitted when he asked about what she was implying. "I am still trying to make sure that you are not a part of this," Erin added.

Ah. Well. That made sense. At least, she understood that cautiousness and prudence was the way to go. True to her house, she was not as reckless as his Gryffindor best friend. If she could not even trust the professors, then what made him any better or more trustworthy? In a way, she was already risking herself enough by saying all this. What should he say to that, though? That she could trust him? Right. That certainly did not sound very convincing. Heck, it might even scare her off.

Well, maybe being sincere would work. Now that would not be hard. Because he truly did care. He loved this school. He did not want anything bad to happen to Raine, who most likely would be involved knowing her fearless nature. And even when the boy only just knew the girl in front of her, he wanted her to be safe as well. Arc was not sure why. So, he did not need to fake anything. An advice not to be reckless would not hurt, though. Erin might be clever, but she also had this air of fearlessness that could be dangerous for her own good.

"What?" The Slytherin coughed as he warned her about the intruders. "They have drugs too?" Yeah. He would be shocked too if someone told him that there were some magic wielding, drug-having, powerful half-giants. "I--" she paused, "think Quinn Healy, the Hufflepuff Prefect is in with them."

“Wait, what?!” Now it was Arc’s turn to be surprised. “Th-that is…” He wanted to say impossible. But he stopped. It was not so, now, was it? Knowing how little their population was, they might have this weird camaraderie between them. O-or maybe, they might even have this secret society of part-giants or something. It was not uncommon in minority groups. In a way, he was in a secret society of his own, being in Hogwarts and all.

"And that other big boy, Hugh... Lowe, probably some others," she shook her head. "There is something wrong with that big ginger, I need to get one of them," she confided. "Any of them," she sighed. "They are just... strong," she looked around again. "I am going to start smaller, maybe."

“Erin…” He looked him right in the eyes. Man, those were pretty. Even with how serious this topic was, he could not help not to be distracted. “These were some serious accusations,” he gulped, “but if this was all true…then it is the more reason for us to be careful.” The young Prefect really did not want those pretty eyes to be hurt. “And as easy as it is to generalize; I don’t think that we should consider all half-giants as bad.” And then he recalled what happened in the Cabin. “They might be doing this against their will or they might be tricked. Um…" He closed his eyes to recollect himself before continuing. "Do you remember the last Blossom Ball? Well, that was when I met the part-giants. There are four of them." Which was quite a huge number of them if you considered their total population. Dang.

"My best friend and I followed a half-giant that drugged and seduced a girl to the Keeper’s Cabin near the Forbidden Forest. There I saw a short, old woman, with graying hair, sickly looking flesh, dead-looking eyes, and wearing ragged clothes with bones of vermin around her neck. She might be the death witch Kaegen was talking about… And I think she might be the mastermind." Arc could feel heart beating faster just by thinking about it. "You see, I don’t know why they tried to take Rosie there, but it seems her own kidnapper has a change of heart. There was a scuffle inside the cabin that led to the cabin setting on fire. And he was the one who actually let her out to escape while chaos ensued. Between the three of us, we manage to barely escape from their clutch as those part giants apparently are not very well-versed at using magic. I don’t know if it’s a shared trait or not, but it might be their weakness, by the way." He concluded his recollection with a sigh.

"Anyway, my take on this are two things. One, not all part-giants are bad and condemning them all might actually band them together even stronger under one banner, to retaliate against us. And two, we should plan carefully if we want to ambush them. They might be more organized than we think."

"I will be leaving Hogwarts on the next train." The girl then said. "Italy seems like a good place to spend the remainder of my summer. What do you know about the drugs the giants use?"

“Ah, well, for the drug they used. I’m pretty sure it was some form of Veritaserum." The pale boy was sure of it. He had felt its effect firsthand after all. "They might have other stuff, though. The ingredients for Veritaserum is not easily gathered. And accurately making one is even harder. So, we have to assume that they can make or procure other potions as well.”

Erin admitted her fears concerning Quinn, that he was one of them. A fearless girl with a fear, how ironic.  She also mentioned Hugh Lowe, she had similar fears regarding him. They were just so big and probably strong. Erin prided herself on her strength, but when she compared herself to those massive men, she felt inadequate. She was certain that she could overpower most of her peers, that she could stand toe to toe with people years older than her in fact. She was not sure with those two. In fact, she was certain that she would lose, her pride just did not want to admit that. She would have to start with someone smaller. By someone, she meant @Reid Kovacs, former Head boy, friend of Ben the masked boy, ally of the Professors. She had no idea that @Max Avery would soon return to the school, he was an acceptably weak target as well. she just did not feel that elaborating on such thoughts would be in her best interest.

She started to relax, he believed her!

“Erin…"

That tone. Her heart dropped. He was about to tell her she was crazy, that she was wrong.

“These were some serious accusations.” 

She let out a breath, she deflated.

“But if this was all true…then it is the more reason for us to be careful.” 

She took a shallow breath as he verbally worked through his thoughts. Was this just an easy way of letting her down, talking her out of this line of thinking. There was this defiant urge to insist her truth. He was a Prefect, she just remembered that. This might have been a mistake. This really was a mistake. She shifted uncomfortably in the place she sat. 

“And as easy as it is to generalize; I don’t think that we should consider all half-giants as bad.” 

He reasoned. Yeah, he was on their side. He was defending them but she caught one thing that he said --  not all of them are bad. That was an admission to her that some were bad. She swallowed hard, that was the closest thing to evidence that she had gotten since she started on the trail of these half-giants.

“They might be doing this against their will or they might be tricked. Um…" 

That is a very specific. Erin did not have the self awareness to conceal her thoughts in her expressions, she was suspicious. She backed away a bit. She was not intimidated by his aura, she was intimidated by the implications in her mind. She considered his height, he was not particularly tall. His features did not remind her of a giant, they have different facial features, a rougher appearance. "I--" her voice trailed off a bit. "Should not have said anything," there was a tone of regret and discomfort in her voice. She needed to end this exchange, get out of here. 

"Do you remember the last Blossom Ball? Well, that was when I met the part-giants. There are four of them." 

Was he just trying to get her to stay? Calm her down? See what she knows? A part of her screamed that she should leave, but another part of her wanted to know what he had to say. Would he share a bit of truth to see what she knew? "I... was there briefly," she muttered as she recollected the ball. She had found a boy there, took him to meet the old ladies. She was disappointed by him, his confidence was a ruse. 

She was trapped in her own thoughts when Arc went on to talk about his experience. "My best friend and I followed a half-giant that drugged and seduced a girl to the Keeper’s Cabin near the Forbidden Forest. There I saw a short, old woman, with graying hair, sickly looking flesh, dead-looking eyes, and wearing ragged clothes with bones of vermin around her neck. She might be the death witch Kaegen was talking about… And I think she might be the mastermind." 

Was he trying to trick her? He was describing the crone vaguely enough but he was not giving her the right location. She, well they, were not in the Cabin. They were in the dungeons. Her face said it all, that she was not trusting what Arc had to say. Her eyes widened a bit and she inched away again. Her mouth was cocked to the side. "I am not telling you where the old ladies" yes she said ladies not lady "are." She started to try to stand up and back away, get away from Arc. This would be a more familiar scene for Arc, the frightful expression and the pounding pulse as they tried to move away from the 'dangerous' youth.

He continued to try to explain. "You see, I don’t know why they tried to take Rosie there, but it seems her own kidnapper has a change of heart. There was a scuffle inside the cabin that led to the cabin setting on fire. And he was the one who actually let her out to escape while chaos ensued. Between the three of us, we manage to barely escape from their clutch as those part giants apparently are not very well-versed at using magic. I don’t know if it’s a shared trait or not, but it might be their weakness, by the way." 

Arc's account was textbook accurate, including his hypothesis' to an extent. She was not sure what to believe. He was a Prefect and he might be digging for information. He did not flee, he did not brush it off. Her eyes darted to either side, who was nearby. Nobody. Everyone kept a wide breadth from the boy, she did not understand why, that there was a terrible presence that seemed to roll off of him. Was he trying to calm her down by spilling out more facts? By using his superior bird intellect!

"Anyway, my take on this are two things. One, not all part-giants are bad and condemning them all might actually band them together even stronger under one banner, to retaliate against us. And two, we should plan carefully if we want to ambush them. They might be more organized than we think."

It was working on the skittish Slytherin. His words made sense, but she did not entirely trust him. She had not run off just yet but her heart was beating fast and she was looking a bit pale. 

She gave him a bit of information. The fact that she was planning on going to Italy. She immediately regretted it after she said it. She had said too much. She was planning on checking on DeWynter. he had recently returned but she did not believe the circumstances of his disappearance were as simple as he had claimed. Marcus was one of several students in her class that disappeared only to return several months later as if nothing had even happened. Howard was another example and when he came back he was changed. There were others too, gone and now returned. Dangerous. Different. Many of them former Prefects, people in roles of trust. Roles like Arc's. She thought back to something he said earlier about being tricked or forced against their will. Was he trying to tell her something? She tensed up as she considered that potential truth.

Arc was answering her question. “Ah, well, for the drug they used. I’m pretty sure it was some form of Veritaserum." 


She believed him, she had seen and felt the effects. She knew that much was the truth even if she doubted his earlier claim with the cabin. 

"They might have other stuff, though. The ingredients for Veritaserum is not easily gathered. And accurately making one is even harder. So, we have to assume that they can make or procure other potions as well.”

While the boy was foolish enough to not realize that his best friend Raine was totally in love with him, he probably did not overlook her fearful expression. Her tense stance. The fact that she was backing away. Her defiant claim that she would not tell where the crone really was. "Are... they forcing you..." her voice was slow and almost mechanical as she started to ask "to help them?"