Strolling

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alexander walked through the halls of the castle heading onto the Great Lawn, the entire castle was so interesting to him and he was so excited to be here. It was mountains better then what it had been like back at home and with his parents, it was so exciting for him to be here with and be able to relish in all of the things that Hogwarts stood for and all of the people here who were all magical and would be able to talk to him and help him through it! It was all so cool and so exciting, and he couldn't wait until classes started so he could learn everything that was available for him!

He finally got out to the lawn, and immediately laid down onto the comfortable grass. It was so nice outside of the castle and he could really get used to being here. It was all so laid back and he loved that about it. He smiled to himself, and closed his eyes as he laid there and he felt the sun hitting him. It was a beautiful day.

 

[Ellington Hayes]

Stupid sun, stupid sky, stupid grass. To say that Ellie was having a bad day would be an understatement. The semester had only just started and already the houses were in negative points. Of course she didn't care about the others, it was all about Gryffindor now. She'd been happy when Gryffindor had won the house cup last year, but she doubted that they would this year. Despite being the Editor of Hogwarts Monthly, Ellie really hated almost everything else about being here. She always had to hide, ducking in and out of the Howling Caverns to ensure that she didn't accidentally kill anyone. Even on a hot day she had to cover herself up like a nun in order to prevent anyone from getting a glimpse at her arms, or her neck or (merlin forbid) her chest. Last year had been a really crappy year and she honestly didn't see it picking up any now. She had very few friends and not really anyone she could talk to. She was stuck like this for the rest of her life. She and Lucas both. It was always strange waking up in her human form after a long night. There really wasn't much privacy in those caves and to be honest, Ellie was starting to think that she was just completely put off of bodies all together. No-one looked very good after a night of being a werewolf.

Stalking across the lawns, heading down to the Howling Cavern, Ellie stopped when she noted that there was a student precariously close to the entrance to the Gardens. Almost no one went in there and she wasn't sure she wanted anyone to see her going in there either. How would she explain this? She was way over dressed for this kind of weather and she had a bag slung over her shoulder, which given a look inside, would confuse a lot of people. A water bottle and a box of snacks were not genuinely things that one lugged around given that the school provided food all day round. Ellie tried to creep away, but kicked a rock with her foot and hissed in pain. There was no way that had gone unheard. She licked her lips slowly and turned around, looking at the boy. "Hi."
​

 

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alex looked up as someone seemed to speak to him. He hadn't been paying a lot of attention, in truth he had been drifting off. It was such a nice day outside and he was enjoying every last moment of it before he would have to buckle down and study hard for classes. In truth, he was a little worried that things wouldn't exactly go the way he had wanted them to go, after all he wasn't even that good at magic and he was scared that he would try spells and they would just fizzle out and die. He was barely able to muster first year magic at the best of times and he just sighed to himself.

Turning his attention to the girl instead of his problems, which he would more then likely sort out as soon as term started and he attended his first class, he gave her a smile. "Hey! I'm Alex!" He said, being quite forthcoming. They were all in the same school, and would more then likely find out each others name sooner or later. He just gave her a smile, and, glanced at her bag. "Were you going somewhere?" Alex asked. He took a good look at her, and noticed that she looked terrible! Though he never would have said that to her, he wondered if something was wrong with her. He hoped not!

 

[Ellington Hayes]

Damn. To be honest, Ellie had kind of hoped that this boy would just ignore her like most other students. Ellie wasn't exactly the most approachable person after all. She sighed and leaned against the tree dropping her bag to the ground with a thud. He introduced himself as Alex and Ellie nodded at him. "Yeah, nice to meet you." Did she mean that? She honestly had no idea, but she was just so annoyed. Well, there was a full moon soon which likely counted for her foul mood. She always got like this during this particular time of the month, but she wasn't really much friendlier during the rest of it either. Did everyone have to be so peppy these days? Why couldn't people just be in their own world like they used to be. Ellie liked those types of people, they never noticed her and she didn't have to watch what she said or did around them.

Ellie shrugged as she was asked if she was going somewhere. Just to my werewolf house. She thought as she glanced down at her bag. "Not really." She adjusted her cloak and turned to him. "I suppose I should tell you my name then." Though she wasn't exactly forthcoming about it and waited several seconds before revealing it. "I'm Ellie. I'm the editor of Hogwarts Monthly."

Goodness I'm sorry about this post.
​

 

[Amy Rosemary]

Amy had had a wonderful day, she was currently humming to herself. She looked around her to see where she had ended up. The Grounds? Amy wondered how on earth she had ended up here. She shrugged her shoulders and decided to lie down on the grass. It was soft. She smiled. After a couple of minutes of the silence, she could hear voices; muffled at first, but once she opened an eye to see who was speaking she could see that they were older students. Confused, she opened both of her eyes fully until she could see them properly. She raised an eyebrow when she saw the girl. Not the best of days for her, is it, she thought to herself not wanting to attract attention just yet. The other student was a boy who looked about the girl's age; they were definitely older students.

It couldn't hurt to make new friends, and with that thought the young Hufflepuff skipped over to them. She noticed that the boy was smiling, which made her smile even more. She loved it when people were happy. It made her happy. "Hello!" she chirped happily, not noticing that the girl wasn't exactly in the best of moods. Amy always overlooked that and didn't think much of it. It was probably why she got sorted into Hufflepuff. Well, that and her honesty. She loved it in her house! "Mind if I join you? I've always loved meeting new people," she babbled wanting to make new friends already. She grinned at both of them. This day could turn out even better for Amy if she tried; if she was just herself around these two older students.

 

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alex smiled even more when a newcomer joined the two of them, but he didn't think his friend would be as happy as he was. She didn't seem to like company anywhere near as much as he did, in fact, she seemed like she would have wanted to be anywhere but the place that she was at now. He frowned a little bit at the thought of this, he couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't wanna be around others! Friends were great, and he knew that if he didn't have friends he wouldn't be anywhere near as happy as he was. "Hey! I'm Alex!" He said, turning to the newcomer. She seemed like a nice enough person, and he hoped that she would be more welcoming then the other person who seemed like she wanted to be anywhere but here.

Alex turned to the other girl. "If you have somewhere else to be I won't keep you.." He said with a slight frown, he didn't wanna believe that he was annoying her but if she was getting annoyed by him then he would let her go without asking any questions. He turned to the other girl, "Of course you can join me! I love meeting new people too! Friends are fantastic, you can never have enough." Alex said with a huge smile. He knew if he had been standing up right now he probably would have tripped over something or someone, he was just that kind of person.

 

[Amy Rosemary]

That last sentence really made me laugh

---

Amy was happy. Really happy. Tomorrow they'd be starting lessons and Amy couldn't wait to start learning. It was just one more day of freedom, not that she minded learning of course - quite the opposite. But before all the workload would start piling up in stacks in front of the first years the Hufflepuff wanted to make as many friends as possible during this last day. She wanted to get to know as many people as she could. Of course, Amy hoped to make friends that would last a lifetime; not at all like the muggle children back at home whom Amy disliked. She didn't dislike almost everyone, which was saying something about those kids who were always on Amy's back about her honesty and that she was different - naturally it never got so bad that they found out she was a witch, but it was bad enough. And being honest wasn't such a bad thing, people should try it sometimes, it could get them out of trouble. She shook her head to clear it and smiled at the boy, he was being really nice to her. People here at Hogwarts were basically the opposite of muggle kids, they were a lot more considerate and happy to meet her. Amy always thought a lot. It was for that reason that she wondered what house he was in. Actually, sometimes she thought too much.

"Hey Alex, I'm Amy." She frowned slightly when he addressed the other girl and said he wouldn't want to keep her here if she had somewhere else to go. Amy couldn't figure out what that other girl was like, but she shrugged it off; it was none of her business. She knew a situation like this when it happened, if the girl wasn't having the best of days, it was better to leave her alone. She knew enough about what to do when it came to someone having a bad day and she didn't want to get involved. Not any more than she had to at least. "It was nice meeting you," she said politely, this time addressing the older girl. Just in case she wanted to leave, Amy didn't want to sound uncouth. She turned back to Alex. "I totally agree, friends are the best!" Another thought occurred to her. "What house are you in? I'm a first year and just recently got sorted into Hufflepuff." She spoke to both of them this time, if the older girl wanted to talk with them, that would be great, if not Amy understood. She was used to it. She sat down on the grass next to Alex. Hopefully he'll become her friend. She would most probably need someone a little older than her if she encountered mean children any time soon. Amy prayed that she wouldn't have to get involved in any fight during her education at Hogwarts, she was here yes to learn and to have graduated in good standing, but also to have the seven best years of her life before she had to get a job. Seven years was a long time, but it would still be possible for her to not get into any trouble. Especially with her brother around almost all the time, and maybe Alex too.

 

[Ellington Hayes]

Ellie seriously didn't know whether to grumble or shout. She couldn't just leave if these two were being so nice to her. Who was nice these days?! They were being weird and as much as Ellie wanted to continue on her way, she couldn't. She sighed then and looked at the boy. It was obvious that the girl was a firstie and regardless of if she joined in or not, they seemed like they were just going to carry on having their conversation like two old friends at a bar. No respect for anything these days. Shaking her head, Ellie shrugged. "No point now." She couldn't risk them asking questions. No one could know about her condition. It was bad enough that she looked horrible and her dress code only stemmed to make all of this so much worse. It was a hot day for pity's sake. How long was she supposed to keep this up for?

The girl at least, seemed harmless. What had she said her name was? Ellie couldn't recall and she didn't much care. Maybe she would be better off asking her dad to let her be homeschooled. Despite his being busy she was sure he would say yes. He understood her need for secrecy as much as she understood his. He might have been a little rough around the edges, but at least Austiin always supported them. He was really good like that. Running her hand along her brow for a moment, as she was getting hot, Ellie stepped back and under some shade. She didn't want to die of heat stroke this early into the semester. How rude would that be? She didn't bother answering the girls questioning of her house, as her robes were enough to tell her that she was a Gryffindor. She did allow herself to concede on her year, however. "Fifth year." It didn't take a genius to work that out after all.
​

 

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alex didn't understand this older girl, and he was starting to wonder how somebody like her could ever be head of a school newspaper, or in charge of any kind of group. If she was so rude and distant to them, how did she act around her 'staff'? He had no idea how it worked, and it was kind of funny to think of it like that. He could only imagine, what if she was actually some really cool girl who was open to everyone but them. In that case, he had to wonder if he had done something wrong to her. He doubted it. He shrugged at her when she mentioned it was too late to leave, the offer was there if she had something better to do. She smiled at the other girl, who was thankfully a lot nicer then the other one who seemed like she was the crankiest person in the world and Alex had basically just said hello to her! "I'm a fourth year but this is only my first year here." He said, hoping that made sense.

Alex wondered how Victoire would react when she found out that he was actually a Hufflepuff, and her prediction about him being a Gryffindor had been wrong. He had wanted to be a Gryffindor after she had mentioned that he would have made a good Gryffindor in her opinion, and the fact that it was her house also made it a pretty cool thing. But he was a Hufflepuff now, completely seperate from her, and she was a whole year infront of him! She would have to track her down soon and let her know where he ended up. "I'm a Hufflepuff!" He said with a smile at the younger girl, Amy, she said her name was. She was pretty cool for a first year.

 

[Amy Rosemary]

Some people's smiles and laughs were contagious, Amy couldn't help but smile at her new friend, thankfully he was a lot nicer than the older girl. Amy wanted to make anyone's day better - or at least anyone that she could. She never liked it when people weren't nice, it always made her think they didn't like her. She didn't think the older girl would want to stay with them all that much, especially not after leaving Amy's question unanswered about which house she was in. Then the young Hufflepuff noticed what gave away her house. There was something that distinguished her from Alex and Amy, something like her clothes or the colour or something... Oh, that was it - her clothes. She had red robes! That proved it. She was a Gryffindor. Amy frowned ever so little at that fact, who would've thought a Gryffindor could have that sort of attitude she used with others. Amy didn't like to be moody around others, but if she had to she would be, especially if it made the whole situation more bearable. Maybe that was why the Gryffindor girl was acting like that. Amy had her suspicions; although she was a Gryffindor, the other girl didn't have to act as the stereotypical Gryffindor that everyone always thinks Gryffindors are. A person is what a person is. Amy couldn't change that so she simply shrugged the thought away.

"Wait, did you say it's your first time here as well? How are you a fourth year then? Did you transfer?" The Rosemary twins had heard from their father that students transferred to Hogwarts all the time, so she wasn't surprised. Still, Alex seemed pretty chilled to be at the school for the first time. It probably wasn't easy. She smiled at him as a thought popped into her head. "We'll be firsties together. As ridiculous as that sounds," she added the last part as an afterthought.

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had been made a prefect, she had been so overjoyed by this fact, but she had been made a prefect with Jean, and this complicated things slightly, because despite her break, the time she had spent in New Zealand rather than back home, or with her family really, and she had cast him out of her mind almost entirely, no more feelings, no matter how small, it wasn't like she wanted to deal with his brother at all, and so she had tried to spend the time just getting somewhat small crush she'd had for him, and just it had worked until she'd been graced with his sight and knowing they would maybe have to spend extra time together. Just perfect, and the thing was that as much as Victoire was annoyed about it, she really wasn't. She liked Jean, they were friends and she wanted to spend together, it was just complicated. They hadn't even dealt with the Superlatives, she hadn't spoken much to him since then, and it just wasn't a good thing, but one thing was good about this semester, and that was Alex, her co-worker at Ollivanders had been accepted as a transfer, not in Gryffindor, but she had been happy to just have him in the school.

In her Gryffindor uniform the girl had headed outside, since that was where she had first headed as a student and she had felt it was a fairly safe bet as a place he might end up in. It was a gamble, but it wasn't like looking in any place in Hogwarts was a guarantee, and she was sure this was a good place to start. Her shoulder length blonde hair, sat in loose wavy curls, moving slowly in the light wind, she hadn't gained much colour what with it being winter, and her pale skin contrasting with the pale blue of her eyes. She was looking around the great lawn, and then when she spotted a small clump of people, she walked towards them, she intended to give all the grounds a quick once over before checking out the library and then the student lounge. Those were the other places she could see him being, but it appeared as though she was in luck, when the group seemed to have him at the centre of it, there was a young girl she didn't know, and a girl who was in her year and house, Ellington or something to that effect, "Roi Soleil!" she called out to him, with a smile clear in her words and on her face, she sprinted the rest of the distance, "I can't believe you're here, and a Hufflepuff!" she said to him, resisting the urge to just hug him, "I am so happy to see you," for the moment ignoring the others, just focusing on her friend, "Bonjour, I'm Victoire," she added quickly, looking between the two girls.
​

 

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alex turned around when he heard a familiar accent calling out his name, and he was greeted by the sight of Victoire! His smile grew bigger as she sprinted down to them, and he hugged her tightly as soon as she got closer! He hoped she didn't mind, but he had missed his friend! It had been nice hanging out with her in the holidays when he had gotten lost and she had helped him out and he really appreciated that she had tried to help him when she had, and he had paid back the favour by making sure that she had gotten home safely. They had both ended up safe, and that was good! He smiled as she introduced herself to his friend, and whatever the other girl was. She probably would be even less happy that a third person had shown up and she could understand that, but the least that she could be was happy for the sake of having friends. Alex just shrugged, and turned his attention to Victoire. "Hey you! Yeah, I'm a Hufflepuff! How exciting, right?" He said with a grin.

Alex was so happy to be at the school, and he already made a new friend and that was just so cool! He was happy to know that there was so many nice people at the school and not all of them were as forthcoming as the other Gryffindor that was here with them - but that could just be seen as a challenge to get them to open up and be friendly! He turned to the others, "Victoire, this is Amy and Ellington, first year and fifth year." He said with a smile. Ellington seemed to be a lot more held back and probably wouldn't appreciate him introducing her, but he didn't care, he wanted to make friends with her and he knew that Victoire would probably be interested in it as well. It was turning out to be a great day, already!

 

[Amy Rosemary]

Amy smiled at Victoire, the girl that had just introduced herself to them. She grinned at Alex when he confirmed that he was definitely a Hufflepuff, Amy was glad - now she had a friend in her own house. "Nice to meet you, Victoire," she said beaming at Alex's other friend. She assumed they had met before as the older Gryffindor girl had walked towards them and greeted Alex as if they were already friends. She was happy for her new friend, at least he wasn't totally lost before coming to Hogwarts and hopefully someone older who knew the castle a lot better than Amy did would be helpful to have around; someone like that would be more reliable. Then she remembered the other Gryffindor girl and wondered if she would stay, Ellington she thought she had heard her name was, or something. No one was indeed forcing her to stay, so Amy stayed quiet on the matter just in case she spoke honestly - too honestly. She wouldn't want to go down that road again. It could potentially ruin her life. It had done so in the past and the young girl had no intention of repeating that part of her life. She came to Hogwarts hoping for a new change, a new start, and that was that. Although silently she suspected that Ellington wasn't in the mood for making new friends and Amy understood, she respected that fact. "Hogwarts is great so far! Don't you think?" she spoke to no one in particular. "It's awesome being here." She smiled brightly.

 

[Ellington Hayes]

As more people joined the group, Ellie thought it was high time she leave. With the addition of Victoire whom she remembered spending some time with in first year, Ellie thought she just might be able to slip away. She needed to get these supplies to the Cavern before she was missed and she had to get back to the Monthly anyway. She scrambled to her feet, making sure to keep her arm covered as she did so and bent to pick up her bag. She would have said goodbye to them, but she didn't really want them to notice her going, considering she was heading to the Howling Cavern. They weren't allowed there anyway, but she didn't think that Lucas would be happy with her for exposing all of this in the first place. It was best to play it safe. As they continued their conversation, Ellie headed off as quietly as she could, slipping into the gardens hoping she hadn't been seen. She felt bad about being rude, but she was in a bad mood and staying wouldn't really have done them or herself any favours anyway.
​

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire couldn't believe that he was here with her, she had been so pleased that he had come to Hogwarts it would always be good to continue their friendship here at school. The teen grinned happily at him, even more so when he returned the hug, pulling away she mocked annoyance, "Yeah, but you were supposed to be a Gryffindor with me," she didn't mean what she said, she was happy no matter what house he got into, but it would've been nice for him to have been with her in Gryffindor. She glanced at him and then the other two people he had been with, the younger of them, Amy as he introduced and she smiled happily at the younger girl, and then Ellington who she knew a little better, but she didn't know the girl all that well, just someone whose face she knew from classes and house but didn't know much else about. She smiled warmly at them both, glad to have run into Alex and then also glad to have met other people.

When the younger girl started speaking, Victoire couldn't help but grin widely, she nodded at her, "Hogwarts is the best school ever," her voice was lightly accented, not as heavily as in other years since she'd spent so much time in New Zealand over the holidays and barely any time speaking french, "Have you gotten the hang of any spells yet?" she asked the younger girl, sitting down on the grass beside her, glancing back up at Alex briefly before motioning for him to sit with them, but it was at this time that Ellington seemed to silent excuse herself, she gave the girl a small wave, and decided that perhaps she had said something, did the girl have a crush on Ellington and feel weird with Victoire there too? The Gryffindor didn't have a clue but decided to cast it away and instead of that, focus on the two people she had in front of her, "I can show you a spell you'll be able to do if you haven't already?"
​

 

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alex chuckled when she said that he was meant to be a Gryffindor with her, if he had his way he would have been a Gryffindor but life rarely turned out the way that you wanted it too, and he was okay with Hufflepuff. Though he would rather be in the same house as Victoire, who was basically his best friend, since she was interesting to him and it meant that they could see each other more often; but at the same time, it was still good that they went to the same school together and he had friends at his new school, which was something that he was always looking forward too. He had friends now, it was hard to believe, but he was happy. He enjoyed that he was able to have friends, and that people actually wanted to be friends with him! Now he had two of them, and he couldn't be happier about it.

Alex smiled at Victoire as she asked the girl if she had gotten the hang of any of the spells that they had been taught around the school yet, truth be told Alex probably hadn't even gotten the hang of half of the spells that she would be taught in the next two years of her life at the school. He struggled, a lot, because of his parents teaching he was basically a fourth year with the knowledge of a first year and it really sucked sometimes. He would have to work so much harder then any of the other people in his year if he wanted to pass his OWLs next year. "Maybe you could show me some as well?" He asked. Hopefully she could help him, he knew he would need all of the help he could get if he was to learn; and that meant that he would need more then the teachers to help him.

 

[Amy Rosemary]

Amy saw the other Gryffindor girl Ellington leave, but wasn't exactly fazed by it, if she had her reasons to leave then Amy wouldn't be so pushy as to try make her stay. Instead, she focused on her new friends, hopefully the older girl would become sort of like a helping hand for both her and Alex, the younger girl had no idea how far Alex's education had been before he came to Hogwarts but it probably wasn't as good as Victoire's. Amy knew from personal experience that moving from place to place wasn't easy at all. She had to move schools quite often when she and Daniel were still toddlers. Not that she minded; change was good in her opinion - especially if you needed to get away from muggles. As soon as Victoire mentioned she could teach her a spell that she hadn't learnt just yet, as she hadn't learnt any spells really, she nodded and smiled widely at the older Gryffindor girl. "I'd love to learn a new spell. I haven't really gotten the hang of any just yet, I'm still new to anything and everything." She gestured around her at the castle grounds. Amy looked at Alex. "I think teaching spells to others is sort of a method to remind yourself about those spells that you've known for so long; there could be some things about those spells that you could've forgotten. It's basically like teaching yourself all over again. Not that I think you've forgotten anything, quite the opposite," she added as she smiled at Victoire. "Extra help is always a good start."

 

[Victoire Fontaine]

Victoire had always found new students to the school loved learning spells, it was why people came to Hogwarts, of course they would be keen to learn magic, so she was more than happy to show them both a little bit of magic, which she knew that they both be able to get, although, Victoire wondered if perhaps Alex would want to learn something a little bit more complex than what she would likely show them so that they could both do it. The teen grinned slightly at them both, pulling out her wand from her pocket and holding it out in front of her, "This one you should be able to get Amy, it's simple, although we might not see the spell that well, because of the light around us," Victoire told them both, though addressing Amy a little bit more than she was addressing Alex, "Lumos" she said clearly, and though it was light and difficult to see, it was clear that the end of her wand had been lit up. A small light being produced by the end of it, "Nox" she then said, "Simple really," She shrugged at her, before turning to Alex.

"I want you to try something else, reparo, it's an easy enough spell, you'll be able to get it," she told him, before reaching into her pockets and pulling out a bit of paper and tearing it into pieces, she then pointed her wand at it and then said calmly, "Reparo" the little bits of paper seemed to shudder slightly and then reform themselves into the paper, she grinned at him, "The spells are simple enough imagine what you want them to do before you do the spell and it should work, you'll be able to get this Roi Soleil, don't worry," the gryffindor assured him, before motioning for them to both give the respective spells a try. This was something she loved being able to do, it had been great when Perseas had shown her when she'd first arrived, now it was for her to show others.
​

 

[Alexander Fontaine]

Alex smiled as Victoire began tutoring both Amy and himself, she was such a nice person with a beautiful soul. She was always willing to help people out, and Alex really appreciated that about her. It was nice of her to want to help people, and he really enjoyed that part of her. Alex wanted to help people when he was older, it was his goal when he left Hogwarts to be able to help people who had been wrongly treated, and he enjoyed that, he enjoyed knowing that one day he was going to make a difference in the world. At least, that was the plan, and he hadn't told anyone about it yet, because then he would have to tell them all of the rest, including the reason why, and he wasn't ready for that yet. He didn't know if he would ever be ready for that.

Alex took out his wand, and watched how Victoire did the spell. It looked simple enough, and he hoped that he would be able to get it to work, but he wasn't overly confident at the same time. He wasn't the smartest person so he knew that he would probably have some trouble with it, he took out a scroll and tore it in off. He pointed his wand at it, and, said, "Reparo!" Nothing happened, he turned to Victoire and frowned.