the adults are talking open Closed

Unable to resist the call of the sun shining in the sky, but not wanting to go all the way to the Great Lake to study, Lydia had decided to settle down by the fountain in the Courtyard, sitting with her back against one of the Gargoyles that adorned the water feature. Lately she had given less and less time to her homework and studies, and if she was being honest with herself, that scared her quite a lot. After all, her parents were most definitely already upset with her for the whole Easter Holiday thing, and she didn't want to add her getting bad grades to that.

But of course, the red headed girl couldn't concentrate, no matter how many times she read over and over the same page, not a single word of was written in ink was actually being registered by her brain. Perhaps it was because of all the thoughts concerning the upcoming Ball, or maybe it was the prospect of spending her summer stuck in London with her Grandmother, or most likely it was the fact that in the last couple of weeks she hadn't managed to get a proper night of sleep.

Lydia closed her book with a groan and she let her left hand caress the surface of the water, the coolness feeling extremely nice against her skin, as she left her eyes wander around the Courtyard. She had never spent much time there, preferring to enjoy the company of the water by the lake rather than the paved ground, but lately she had found it easier to just stay within the castle limits during the week, since she had been going back and forth between her dorm, the Room of Requirement and her classes.

As she looked around, her eyes stopped on a boy that she thought she had seen around; he had long, dark hair that were somehow familiar. Was he a first year as well, and that's why she felt like she had seen him before? Lydia quickly looked away from him, not wanting to intrude or anything, but being the curios girl that she was, she couldn't help but let her eyes wander toward the kind-of-familiar-face boy again.

@Gem Stuart

The Courtyard had become Gem's safe haven, since the beginning of his life at Hogwarts. A lot of things happened on it, bad things, good things, lots of thinking to himself, but the point was that he felt comfortable there - there was no specific reason why, he just felt like he'd belonged there.

He'd been leaning over the ledge, his elbows pressing into the cold concrete, his chin in his palms. He could admire the scenery forever, and he would, if he hadn't been so busy all the time. But now, he was free to do whatever he wanted until curfew, and he intended on taking his damn time soaking in everything he'd missed so dearly, he swore he got more pale being cooped up in that stupid house all the time.

When he got bored of looking at the same tree for too long, he stood up straight and turned around, meeting eyes with a redhead in a fair distance from himself. He wasn't sure if he should wave, or even try to talk to her, but she kept looking up at him like she was trying to figure him out or something, and it was making him feel a bit weird - albeit the fact he'd done that to a couple of people at this school before... maybe that was why he got such weird stares sometimes. Hesitantly, he lifted a hand to wave at her and figured he'd say something to try and throw her off guard a bit.

"Aye, miss, you lost or somefin'?" He tilted his chin up at her, his hands sunken deep into his pockets. "I don't reckon you know me from somewhere, do ya?" He didn't know very many Hufflepuffs, and truth be told, they never got along very well, unless it was Asteria. They were nice, sure, maybe a bit overbearing, but... nice.

Apr 21st, 2020xxx
interacts with Tiger, @Gem Stuart & @Lydia Cooperxxx

Alan was on his way outside, ready to spend some time with Tiger his little companion and best friend on the four pawed side. The day had been quiet and he was sure people were busy making plans for the ball that George had told him about. Not only told, but he had invited him to go together and Alan was looking forward to spend some time with a friend. For now Tiger was the one he intended to spend time with as the feline followed his every footstep probably smelling the boiled chicken he had stolen from the great hall.

Sitting down on a bench not far from a dark haired lad and strawberry blonde girl, he patted the wood to encourage his cat to jump on top of it. As soon as the Bengal had joined him, the third year took the napkin from the pocket of his hoodie and unwrapped it to reveal pieces of chicken that he proceeded to slowly feed to his cat. He would always steal bits of food from the table at every meal he went to, so that his cat would have the best food he could find in a medieval castle.

As soon as the chicken was eaten, the Bengal would look around nearby, exploring the area before heading straight towards the couple of students close-by. His meowing caught Alan's attention and the Gryffindor turned to look what his cat was up to, when he saw the little beast paw at the dark haired boys shoes the third year jumped up in surprise. "S-Sorry! I j-just fed him a-and he might j-just think y-you got more food-", he yelped in oddly calm manner as he walked towards the pair and picked up his cat. "I h-hope I didn't interrupt a-anything..", he muttered a bit embarasssed by all this.

Interacting with @Gem Stuart and @Alan Vanes

Completely caught by surprise, Lydia's whole face turned red when the other boy waved at her. She hesitantly raised her hand and waved back, before she registered his words. Well, she definitely wasn't lost, and as she heard him talk she realised that she did not know him, but that she had just probably seen him around the castle; she should really stop this habit of just staring at people.

Not really being the kind of person to scream or talk too loudly, Lydia got up from the fountain and, after she had collected all of her stuff and placed it back inside her bag, she made her way over to the other boy. "I'm sorry, I thought you looked familiar," she said once she reached him, a small, an embarrassed smile on her lips. "I have the bad habit of being curious, and staring at people. I'm Lydia, by the way," Not even Lydia was sure about how many times both her mother and her grandmother had told her not to stare at people, because it might make them uncomfortable or upset, but there she was, doing that again.

A sudden meow got the red headed girl's attention and she looked down, only to find a lovely bengal cat all caught up in begging for attention, and probably some cuddles or food. She was tempted to just reach down to let the lovely feline sniff at her hand, but then a familiar voice made her turn around, only to find Alan coming their way. "Hey Alan!" she greeted him, her usual smile on her lips. "Don't worry, you only saved me from further embarrassment. Who is this lovely cat?"she added as she offered the back of her hand to the cat in Alan's arms to sniff at. Lydia had always loved cats, since she was little; back home she had her lovely cat waiting for her, and if there was something that she wished she would have been able to bring with her, it was definitely him.

Slightly strumming her guitar, Lizzie picked up her quill and quickly scribbled down a few Chords she was using for her next big break trough. Or that is what the Ravenclaw called it except by the end of the week it probably would be in the bin.

"What do you see? On the horizon." She hummed to herself while remembering the lyrics to a song she had heard while watching a muggle film with her Uncle, "Why do the white gulls call? Across the sea. A pale moon rises."

She looked up to notice three people interacting across the courtyard. "The ships have come to carry you home." She then turned back to her parchment and stuffed it in her bag. Her fingers lightly picking the strings in a random order while she watching a cat walk around the three people.

Lizzie smiled and moved some hair behind her ears while continuing to hum, "And all will turn. To silver glass." The girl placed her guitar on the bench and straightened her back while facing the students yet again. "A light on the water. All souls pass."

She moved the guitar into its makeshift case. She had begged her mum to send her the proper case but Lillian Verdine has refused since the owl would have never been able to carry it all. Lizzie had died while not seeing her guitar for at least a week while her mum 'prepared' it.

"Hope fades." She slowly stopped. Lizzie put her bag on her shoulder and grabbed her case while standing up. She walked over to the group with a small skip in her step and a smile plastered on her face.

interacting with @Alan Vanes | @Lydia Cooper & @Lizzie Verdine

"Oh, right, I understand - I have a bit of a staring problem too, except usually I get knocked 'round cos of it, guess that's just life," Gem said, an airy laugh following shortly after. "I'm Gem, pleasure ta meet you." He'd already begun the walk closer to her so he wouldn't have to shout, but a small cat had made its way into his peripheral vision, crying for whatever reason. Just as he was about to crouch down and scoop it up, a familiar face stepped into his line of sight.

"Oh, what a shame. I'd give him some snacks if I 'ad any, seems like a lovely fella..." He smiled down at the cat, turning his attention back to who he soon knew as Alan. "My cat, Basil, he's one ov e' fattest tubs of lard I've ever seen, I don't even know where he gets all that extra food from, but he's... a hefty lad, I'll say that much." He crossed his arms, looking between the two with an eased expression on his face. New people were always a relief, especially when they were friendly - it was hard to come across bearable students here anymore, though it had been a few months... he missed out on so much more than he'd wished for. "Gem," He stuck his hand out to greet Alan, "pleasure."

"It's quite nice out, innit?" He craned his neck a bit, letting the warm air hit his neck in such a way that gave him goosebumps. "I fink me favorite part of summer is when the sun's going down, not too hot, not too cold, just good enough ta relax." But again, his attention was grabbed from him when another young girl had made her way into their little trio, she was pretty. "Aye, come to join our commune? We have refreshments. And a cat." He gestured down at the Bengal cat in Alan's arms, another small smile overtaking his expression, though it was more friendly than calm this time around.

Interacting with: @Gem Stuart| @Lydia Cooper | @Alan Vanes| @Lizzie Verdine

@Lydia Cooper, @Lizzie Verdine, @Gem Stuart, @Maria Dee

The third year gave Lydia a toothy smile, only now recognizing her as the girl from her own birthday party and hoped that it wasn't all too bad that he struggled with her name for a bit. "I'm s-sure you d-did just fine, oh- th-this is Tiger!", he muttered as he introduced his cat. He watched as she held out his hand to the tomcat who curiously sniffed at the offered hand before pressing his temple against the fingers of the girl, begging for cuddles. The familiar image made Alan snort before his attention shifted back onto the boy.

"Oh, I'm s-sure he can f-find something eventually, a f-few kitchen elves u-usually have mercy", he explained with a chuckle. When he saw the extended hand, his eyes widened only slightly as he quickly shifted his weight so that he could hold Tiger on his left arm only. He proceeded to take the other boy's hand, shaking it firmly yet gently before withdrawing it to scratch Tiger behind the ear. "Alan. Th-The pleasure is a-all mine-", he introduced himself with a gentle smile. "I w-would love to m-meet Basil sometime, m-maybe he and T-Tiger would get a-along well?", he offered for them to meet up at a later time right away, hoping that he wouldn't make the other boy uncomfortable with this offer to hang out sometime even though they barely knew another.

His further interactions or any chance to greet the girl he didn't know were cut short when yet another girl arrived, running right through him and dropping some of her stuff. He staggered a bit, before he caught his footing, Tiger giving a whiny meow to complain at the sudden movement, making Alan roll his eyes. "Y-Yeah, no worries, M-Mulan, wasn't it?", he asked the new arrival he has met only the day prior. This had been the name she was called by Rafael during the game, so he assumed that it must have been her actual name. He would have offered to pick up her stuff, if his arms weren't full already.

Lizzie smiled at the nice gesture and nodded her head. She placed her guitar on the ground while pushing yet again another strand of hair from her face. "Yes. I have. I was quite lonely over there by myself and I seem to have got a bit of writers block."

The Ravenclaw looked around at the students noticing the boy who was being nice to her was a fellow Ravenclaw like her. Knowing Lizzie, she probably had seen him before but was to immersed in what she was doing or what Blake was saying to her at that moment in time.

She extended her hand, "I'm Lizzie." She looked around for the cat and saw it in another boys arms. She grinned and gave it a small wave. She quickly realized that another girl had tripped and her stuff had fallen on the floor.

"Here. Let me help you. Lizzie smiled and bent down to start picking up what what scattered on the floor. Her delicate hands slowly picking up parchment and all sorts of things. The blonde girl hoisted her bag onto her shoulder and stood up again to pass what she picked up to the other girl.

Lizzie turned back to the beautiful cat, "Your amazing. Your cat is very lovely." She said looking up at the brown-haired boy (who she had heard while walking over to be called Alan), "I want to have cats when I grow older. It's probably because my Idol loved cats and had around 20 in his life time."

She smiled. He really did have that many cats when he was alive. A few being named, Delilah, Goliath and Oscar. There were many more extravagant names as well. "I hope I am not disturbing you. You three just looked like you need some company from an amazing person like me" She said while laughing and wiped her skirt since some dirt had got on it from kneeling down.

@Gem Stuart | @Lydia Cooper | @Alan Vanes | @Maria Dee

Abilities:

Charmer
You are just distracting. Distracting to look at perhaps. Maybe it is your wit or your charm, your grace or something else about you that is intangible but absolutely present.