Well, this is rather awkward closed

April had really been the month to bring out spring this year. Scott had of course tried to enjoy the school grounds all semester, but now it was becoming properly pleasurable... what with the grass not being wet every morning, and the clouds parting every so often to even let the Scots get a glimpse of what the rest of the world calls the sun.

So this day, he'd spent every minute he could outside. The small periods between classes, his lunch break... Really, he'd tried to soak up what sunlight and fresh air the day offered him. Some would think he took it all as an opportunity to ponder and reflect, because apparently that's what some students his age were just starting to do, but really it was the complete opposite. His thoughts felt light outside. Like the slightest puff of wind could make them go away.

And now, in the afternoon, it was even easier. He and Ami were both out of class together for the first time all day! He'd call her the thought-vanisher, if that didn't sound immensely like an insult. Because it wasn't supposed to be one. It's something he greatly appreciated.

He'd brought her, and both of their cats, along with him for a walk.

It hadn't ended up being a very long one, though. Leo was, though Scott loved him all the same, a beast. While his own cat walked calmly and close to his legs all the way down the stairs and out on the grounds, Leo was playing in and out of their sight every five seconds... Eventually the two of them had settled to stay close enough to the castle, on the courtyard, standing in the sun by the colonnade. It was no use trying to get down to the lake, or to the edge of the forest, without losing the little guy along the way. Ami had already had to leave several times in order to retrieve him from whatever hassle he got himself into when they looked away for even a second.

Maybe it was Leo that was the true thought-vanisher.

What thoughts would he be having though, if neither Ami nor her cat had been there to distract him? Nothing too horrible at all, today, actually. He'd received quite a curious letter earlier that morning, from a second year Gryffindor girl that Scott had met a few times now. It had been very friendly, and not at all bothered him, but it still left a confused sort of air about itself.

Anastasia might be more articulate in writing than she was in person, but that didn't stop her surprising him.

Speaking of:

"Hello, Scott!"

The girl looked different from the first time he'd seen her this year, and very different from the second. She seemed confident; happy... maybe she really liked Tuesdays. Or maybe she, like him, was starting to feel how spring was pulling winter away- and hopefully some nasty things with it.

"Hello!"

Looking to his side first, Scott noticed that his friend was once again occupied with her jungle cat some way away. Smiling after the red hair disappearing and reappearing between the distant stone columns, he left the one against which he'd been standing to meet Anastasia halfway from where she'd greeted him. Lady following tightly behind.

"Out for a walk, too... Pleasure or exercise? Or a determined purpose? You look quite determined, if you don't mind my saying so. Like a narrator."

Scott smiled, and felt Lady Madeleine stop in her track just as he did.

"I got your letter, by the way."

Jesus Christ, at this rate, Scott would turn into a middle-aged, vegan yoga instructor. First, it was the change in demeanor, which admittedly, Ami hadn't really processed what that meant, but now it was taking walks? They had never taken walks around the grounds before- it was usually goofing around in the library or sitting down to actually study in the Great Hall or, more recently, outside. But taking walks? That was like, what her mom would do.

The inclusion of their feline companions helped lighten the mood considerably, though. Even though Ami couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what it was that was so off about Scott, she could feel that the dynamics of their friendship had shifted suddenly. She didn't know enough where she could comfortably bring up the topic to him, but she knew that something was definitely wrong this year. Lady Madeleine always seemed to give Scott something to focus on whenever his eyes got that glossed-over look- she was like an anchor for the Gryffindor.

As the two wound their way through their little promenade, Ami was pulled away from the path every couple of minutes, or so, by her absolute rascal of a cat. Like owner, like pet, right? He simply couldn't keep from darting after whatever imaginary rabbit or squirrel he kept seeing off the path. Once she managed to get him under control, it was only a matter of minutes before Leo was convinced that something new needed investigating.

As the duo and their companions lounged lazily in the Courtyard, Ami groaned as Leo decided that it would be absolutely hilarious to streak across the courtyard to try and steal some poor student's sandwich right out of their hands! With a groan, Ami stretched out her legs and prepared to chase after her absolute menace of a cat.

Darting across the Courtyard, dodging students left and right, Ami weaved through the mild crowd that was taking advantage of the beautiful weather. "Leo, get back here!" she yelled, trying to keep an eye on the little monster as he yote himself across the courtyard. "Sorry, y'all..." she muttered softly as she pushed through students to try and reclaim her little monster. "My cat's an idiot, guys, sorry..."

Finally catching up to the menace, she scooped him up in her arms, profusely apologizing to the poor student Leo had been harassing. Scolding him as she cradled him in her arms, she grumbled a lot of curse words at her cat, who was way too familiar with those words by now. "You idiot, you can't just go around doing what you want, taking whatever you want from whoever you want!" she hissed angrily, ignoring the strange looks she got from her classmates. "Do you see what you're doing to me? Huh? Absolute idiot. Now I look even dumber than I usually do! ...and that's pretty hard to do, mind you."

Returning to her best friend, her eyes narrowed at the girl standing by him. Her robes identified her as a Gryffindor, as well, although Ami didn't recognize her as anyone from their year. Her heading swiveling from the girl, to Scott, and back to the girl again, she could feel a heavy weight in her stomach forming, and the distinct taste of absolute dread in her mouth. Oh no, oh no no no no no... absolutely not. They had a deal, and she was supposed to go first. Scott didn't get to mess around with girls, yet!

Letter...? What letter were they talking about? Wait, why was she thinking this? She had a mouth, might as well use it... "Hey!" she said with a wide smile, although as she turned towards Ana, it looked more like she was baring her teeth.

Her lips pursed into a grin, setting Leo down on the ground and leaning on Scott's shoulder with her elbow. Mine. Back away, the gesture said, rather definitively. For once, Leo seemed to know that it was a time to sit still and let Ami interrogate the hell out of whoever this chick was. "What letter are we talkin' about? Scott, who's this... charming little kid?" Tilting her head, she smirked at Beckett, although her eyes glinted with the tiniest bit of menace behind her eyes.

Ana smiled brightly when Scott walked toward her. She felt so much better than she had the other times they had talked. Third time surely had to be the charm. She just felt it. This was going to be good. She wasn't going to dump anything on him or faceplant. She was going to be a nicer version of her usually confident self and it would all be absolutely perfect.

She laughed lightly when he said she looked quite determined. Despite the knots in her stomach, she was still managed to act as she would if this were any other boy. That was the goal after all since when she acted like that, it tended to drive boys crazy. "Just for pleasure. The weather is just so lovely, I could hardly stay inside," she said breezily. She couldn't exactly tell him that she had been planning this the entire day. And anyway, the weather was in fact nice enough to drag the indoorsy Gryffindor out of the library. "It's delightful to see you by the way."

When he mentioned he had gotten the letter, Ana inhaled. He was smiling, which had to be a good sign. Everything was going perfectly according to plan. She arched an eyebrow as though she was curious about his reply but hadn't been thinking about it all day (which in fact, she most definitely had). Then, a red-headed girl that she didn't know walking up and latched on to Scott with a vice-like grip.

OH SHIT

Was she Scott's girlfriend? Was Scott really one of those weirdos who even had a girlfriend this young? Rafael had already had a boyfriend, and he was younger than Ana, so it wasn't completely out of the question. He hadn't said anything about it to her. Although, he couldn't have exactly said: "by the way, I have a girlfriend" when she was dumping coffee on him or faceplanting or rambling about death or being a criminal. Still, Scott didn't seem like he had been about to tell Ana that he had a girlfriend.

She smiled tensely as the ginger. The way she was leaning on Scott's shoulder really couldn't have been very comfortable for Scott's arm. Normally, Ana would have made a snarky reply to the weird American calling her a "little kid", but seeing as this girl was clearly at least friends with Scott, and also seeing as Ana could barely function like a normal human much less her normal snarky self around Scott, she just made a face. The odd girl couldn't have been much older than her. Sure, she was a bit taller, but Anastasia had just grown several inches and knew that she was overdue to grow a bit more. She made a mental note to sleep more so that this crazy lady couldn't call her a little kid again.

"Oh, I'm Anastasia Beckett. And you are?" Anastasia said brightly, holding out her hand to shake. Partly because she was trying to be polite since she still wanted Scott to accept her invitation, and partly because she was mildly concerned that the strange American's elbow was going to make Scott's arm fall off. That honestly didn't look comfortable, and, although Ana wasn't willing to admit it, something about the crazy American sounding girl's elbow hanging out on Scott's shoulder like that just didn't sit right with her. It also occurred to her that, even if she wasn't Scott's girlfriend per se, she might have been his date for the ball, which made Ana feel a bit awkward. If that did turn out to be the case, Ana would just have to drop out of school and fake her death. No other options.

"Just for pleasure. The weather is just so lovely, I could hardly stay inside. It's delightful to see you by the way."

Scott chuckled, hopefully not so obviously in disbelief, at the significant change in her voice from the last time they spoke. She sounded now like, well, like the girls in his family did. Articulate and prepared. Well prepared. Was Anastasia just never the same person two days in a row? He wouldn't necessarily call it a bad thing if that was the case, since she'd certainly made more than one impression on him. Though it had lead to the slight surprise he'd felt at reading her letter earlier... like she was someone you were only supposed to meet on accident. In her prime.

Though he kept in mind that Anastasia might not have considered that her prime herself...

"Ah, I suppose we were forced outside by the same instincts then. I haven't spent a minute inside between classes since the sun decided to return. And it's good to-"

"Hey!"

Ami, returning briskly with the mischievous Leo pressed tightly against her chest, was striding towards them with a strange expression on her face, interchanging its direction from himself and to Anastasia. She eventually let her cat land on the grass again, leaned against Scott with her elbow on his shoulder, and asked eccentrically for him to introduce his fellow Gryffindor. More than happy to do so, Scott opened his mouth formally.

"Oh, I'm Anastasia Beckett. And you are?"

"Aye. Yes. That she is. Anastasia Beckett, like she said." Scott coughed silently, but straightened his back anyway since he wasn't one to give up a chance on introducing people for nothing. "-Perhaps the most jinxed girl at Hogwarts, actually. By fate, not, uh, pupils... And this," Scott looked to Anastasia next with a wide smile and gestured towards the Hufflepuff so close next to him. "Is Ami Procoppio. Not Amy. Very important... More of a jinxer than a jinxée, perhaps. Vegan. Working on her accent..."

Scott looked at his friend as if to say let's see... what else? but only smiled in endearment. That's when he noticed something else about the Hufflepuff's expression... She was looking at Anastasia, of course, but with much less curiosity, and more hostility, in her eyes than he'd first realised. Then, when he looked at Anastasia, she seemed to him to be sharing some of that coolness herself.

If Scott hadn't just introduced them, he'd have guessed that they didn't quite like each other. Surely though, that was impossible. You can't dislike someone you've just met. That's ridiculous.

"The letter," Scott smiled, and turned to Ami. "was one that I received earlier today. Which is very exciting, mind you, because I rarely ever get post from anybody but my family... Anastasia was only wondering about the ball thing happening, weren't you? Or well, not happening..."

Scott looked at the two girls with mock gravity, and made an embarrassing wink. He was a prefect after all, and officially, there was no ball.

"And whether I wanted to spend time."

Oh, I'm Anastasia Beckett. And you are?

... And this is Ami Procoppio. Not Amy. Very important...

Huh. Anastasia Beckett. She even sounded like a pretentious little prick. Ami would have to remember that for... well, she assumed next time because clearly, the little squirt had decided to strike up a rapport with her best friend. And since she could only assume that Ana was into guys by the puppy dog expression that had been dancing around her face before Ami showed up, she was into him. He wasn't supposed to get a girlfriend before her! They'd agreed upon this. Ami had no choice but to immediately hate Anastasia. Of course, Scott would never quite understand it, but she just knew that Anastasia was up to no good.

Well, perhaps it was a little more complex than that, but to Ami, it was just that cut and clear. Everything was black and white for her, and in this situation? She hated Anastasia with every fiber in her body. Straightening up and removing her elbow from Scott's shoulder, she folded her arms across her chest and continued to stare Ana down. 100% hate, no love at all.

"Yeah, that's me. Ami, third-year Hufflepuff." She was tempted to add, Scott's one and only best friend, but she felt that even that was a little overkill for her. Eh, who was she kidding? Nothing was "overkill" for her, and she probably would've actually said it out loud if it weren't for Scott standing there. She had no problem telling people what she felt about them... with two exceptions. First was obviously whenever Scott was present- he hated whenever she was excessively rude to people, but that was just because he was a nice guy, all-around.

The other exception was Alexx, of course. Ami always found herself tongue-tied around the blonde Slytherin, and she never seemed to be able to function properly whenever the two had a conversation. If only she had had the guts to ask her to the ball this year, like Ana was foolishly doing with Scott now.

Anyways...

"The letter was one that I received earlier today... Anastasia was only wondering about the ball thing happening, weren't you? Or well, not happening... and whether I wanted to spend time."

"Oh, I see..." Ami said quietly, raising an eyebrow at Anastasia. You're going to regret this, the action said, although she didn't dare say a word in front of Scott. "We're going to the ball, Scott?" she asked, an innocent expression upon her face as she turned to look at him. There was no way that she was going to let Ana get Scott alone for a whole night- who knew what kind of wily womanly charms she'd try to use on him? "Well, then, I guess I should go and find myself an outfit for this stinking ball."

Did she just invite herself along to a ball, like the jerk in a romcom inviting themselves along on a date? ... Well, yes, but it was for a good reason! Obviously, she didn't want to date Scott, that would be really weird. She wasn't jealous in that sense. But no, she wouldn't let Scott be swept into a relationship at the tender age of 14, and especially considering that Ami hadn't yet gotten a chance to dive into the dangerous world of dating. They'd agreed that she would go ahead and explore the perils of dating first before Scott did, and she was going to hold him to that promise, whether that stupid little Gryffindor was here or not.

Bending down, she gathered Leo into her arms and gave Lady a gentle pet on her head, before straightening back up again. "Well, we should head back to the castle, then, Scott, if we're done here. We have homework to do, and plans for the ball can wait. It's still days away, and it's just a stupid little ball. No big deal. Come on, let's go." Pausing, Ami grimaced and turned to Ana. "I guess I'll see you at the ball, then, Beckett."

And with that, Ami was stormed back to the castle carrying Leo, fuming. This ball... this ball definitely wasn't going to go well.

Exit Ami & Leo.