The Castle and Grounds

Darien smiled. "Awesome!"
In a moment, he was a wolf, grinning up at Diana.
"Care to race?"

"Sure," Diana said. "To where?"

The wolf leant his head to one side.
"Hm...how about to...the lake?"

"Alright. To the Lake then." Diana transformed back into a hawk and flew as fast as she could to the lake.

Darien hurtled as fast as he could, over the rough terrain towards the lake, keeping one eye on the hawk that soared above him...

((to the lake?))

((Different timeline than above. Going to assume it's probably about Mid-October or so... perhaps on a weekend day, which would explain why he's not in class))


Michael Blackwood strode out onto the grounds, wearing the different components that consisted of his favorite outfit: a tee shirt with a Weird Sisters design on the front, dark denim bell-bottoms, his motorcycle boots, and, finally, his leather jacket. Slung from his right shoulder was an oblong case that clearly held a guitar. No one was following him, or so he thought: this was purely a leisure activity, not necessarily a concert. The Hufflepuff had to laugh at that thought - a concert would require a band, in his opinion, and that was the one thing he didn't have.

Finding a leafy maple tree that still had its turning leaves in various oranges, reds, yellows, and browns still attached; Michael gingerly set down the case, and then followed suit. Sitting cross-legged and pulling the guitar into his lap, he removed the pick from where he generally tucked it between the strings and spent a few minutes tuning the instrument. Before rising to play, he adjusted the nobs just below the strings so that the music wouldn't overpower his voice but could still be heard. Michael did not possess a microphone, and didn't really want to be heard throughout the entire school: without back-up and other accompanying instruments, he wasn't quite that bold.

He made sure the strap was comfortable across his back, so that he wouldn't have to shift around once he started playing. A few practice positions and a brief simulation of picking the strings later, Michael began to do what he felt he did best: play music, and sing along.


((The song is Gotta Be Somebody by Nickelback. Click here for video))

Bella and her best friend, Raven, hide themselves behind a tree.
"Him?" Ravin squeaked. "He's a Hufflepuff, Bella. And a foreigner, besides." Bella glared at her, folding her arms over her chest.
"Do you mind, Raven? I'm listening." The other Slytherin rolled her eyes.
"At least he plays well." she muttered. Another glare silenced her.
Bella listened to the playing and singing intently. She never revealed that she liked anyone until she knew them well enough to not be awkward around them. It was something she was proud of being able to accomplish.
"All right, he's a neat Hufflepuff. But that changes nothing. Half of the Slytherin boys would give up their blood rights to be your boyfriend, why even..." she never finished as Bella covered her friend's mouth with her hand and charmed her lips to stick together.
"I told you to be quiet."

Once the song was finished, Michael gently laid his hand on the strings to silence them. There were two reasons for doing this: one, it was entirely out of habit; and two, he thought he'd heard someone... or something... while he was playing. The American lad looked up from his instrument and glanced around, though found nothing out of the ordinary. A dark eyebrow rose with more than a little curiosity.

"Could've sworn I'd heard something..." he muttered before shrugging and fiddling with the tuning pegs, a few of which squeaked dully but not annoyingly as he twisted them into a different position. A couple of clicking sounds were heard next as he adjusted two of the nobs.

With a sigh and a slight squeal of his guitar as his fingers slid across the fretboard to their next position Michael began yet another song, for the most part unaware that he had listeners. He greatly enjoyed singing this one, and had been rather obsessed with it last year...


((Click here for song. Though... he can't do the background vocals at the same time, lol. The nobs on his guitar magically provide the turntable squeaking noise and clearly synthetic drums. There's probably an official term for the squeaking, but I'm at a loss for what it is at the moment, lol. I love this song, though!))

Bella removed her hand from her friend's mouth as Michael continued with another song.
"He must have heard you." she hissed, so quietly Raven almost didn't hear her. "If you make any more noise. I'll make your lips stick together for the rest of your life. Got it?" Raven nodded, terrified her friend might be mad enough to actually do it. She knew Bella well enough to know that most things she threatened were not idle.

((Lovely song!))

((Thanks!))

When he'd finished with this song, Michael checked his watch. "Oh ****!" he swore loudly, "Hogsmeade!" Carefully and quickly he removed the guitar from around him and knelt to put it back in its case. Lifting the bulky container for the instrument, Michael took the walk to his commonroom briskly; almost breaking into a run. He wasn't going to miss a single weekend in the all-magical village if he could help it!


((Technically he would stop at his common room, deposit the guitar, and then head into Hogsmeade. However, I think I'll just post in Hogsmeade if that's okay? Bella & Raven can continue to "stalk" him if you want, lol. His first stop will be Zonko's... ^_^))

((Yeah, that's fine.))

Bella watched him all but run back toward the castle.
"mmm." she glanced back at Raven who still had her mouth charmed shut.
Reversing the charm, Bella began to walk back toward the castle.
"Are you going to Hogsmeade?" Raven asked, running to keep up with her friend. Raven was a fairly averaged height girl with short brown hair that came to rest right above her shoulders and brown eyes. But when it came to keeping up with the youngest Rosier's long legs, Raven felt like a dwarf.
"Yes, but I'm not taking you with me. You make too much noise and whine the whole time." Raven gasped.
"Oh come on, Bella! I don't want to sit around with nothing to do. I swear I'll behave, okay?" Bella rolled her eyes.
"Fine, but if you so much as squeak..." she evilly let the threat hang on a edge of the unknown. The girl nodded.

((To Hogsmeade...lol))

Nicolas was strolling in the grounds hoping that he might bump into this mate Boris who he had a proposition that he wanted him to consider...

After his incident with Sevastyan and the Hogwarts Headmistress, over a stupid fighting tree, Boris Kaminski decided to take a walk around the grounds of the school. Initially he'd thought about joining Headmaster Orlov but just by the way he stalked onto the ship made Boris have second thoughts.

It thankfully wasn't that populated out here at this time of day. Then again, without a source to vent his slight frustration, perhaps it wasn't such a good thing...

That was about when Boris spotted Nicolas. 'Vell,' thought Boris, 'At least somevone is out here!' Approaching Nick's general vicinity, the Russian student smiled to one of his best friends. "Hey Nicolas," he greeted his friend and 'brother' congenially.

"Boris!" Nicolas replied happily, "I had hoped I'd bump into you."

Boris grinned. "I vos in the neighborhood, so vy not take a valk vhile I'm here, right?" he said good-naturedly, largely kidding around. "Seriously, though, I just came here from the Vomping Villow and Headmaster Orlov didn't look pleased, so..." he trailed off, raising a brow as if to see if Nick understood where he was going with this. Given how alike they were - like brothers, many would claim - it was almost a certainty.

"You have something on your mind, my brother? Vot can this Con-kvees-tador do for his comrade-in-arms?" Boris asked, the mischief in his eyes making it quite plain that he'd mispronounced the name of their clique intentionally... again. The pair practically told each other everything, though, despite how much they teased one-another.


((You know I just had to have him say it! ^_^))

Nicolas grinned in understanding at Boris telling him that his headmaster was not pleased. "Is that man ever pleased with us?"

"Other than the fact that you still can't say con-keys-ta-dors properly," Nicolas said. "I do have a question I'd like to ask you. What do you think of my cousin Diana?"

Boris laughed a kind of wild laughter at such a question. It could have almost, but not quite, passed for the deep roar of a large feline. "He's only gotten vorse, trust me," Boris muttered, adding something like "the crazy old goat" to the end of that statement, though clearly hadn't meant it in play.

"Ah, but you know it sounds better that vay," Boris teased, knowing it full well that the mispronunciation did not sound right. It didn't even sound right to his own ears, but it was fun to predict and observe Nick's reaction to it every time.

When Nicolas began the topic he had wanted to get to, Boris regarded him with a mostly-straight face. At Diana's name, Boris's face split into a grin. "In vot vay do you mean?" he returned, not very enthused by answering a question with an inquiry of his own. So, to make up for it, he decided to give a few of his thoughts off the top of his head to find out what precisely was being asked.

"She is fun to annoy - and pretty. Though, she's even moreso ven she's angry," Boris began, laughing slightly. "I vould like to get to know her better... that is, if I did not scare her off at the pub." Another short laugh followed the first as he thought about how finally getting a chance to catch up on all that happened since Nicolas had left Durmstrang had turned out, including the duel with Darien.

"Vy do you ask?" Boris inquired, curious as to why Nick would mention Diana even though her boyfriend was admittedly... less than satisfactory... for many a Casillas. 'Including Nick,' Boris told himself, thinking he may have just figured out something crucial.

Nicolas nodded as Boris told him his thoughts. "So you think she's pretty?" Nicolas repeated. Well that had definite potential.

"Would you be interested in her..." Nicolas looked straightly at his friend's face. "...romantically?"

It had occurred to Boris seconds before the question was fully out what Nick's question was bound to be. And it was because he'd anticipated the inquiry that made him force the smile that was forming straight down his throat lest Nicolas assume one thing while Boris intended another. It rarely happened, but this was a serious topic so he would try to be just as grave.

"Perhaps..." Boris began, not entirely sure as he'd only just met the girl. "The next thing vould be Vaight. Vould I be correct in assuming you have a plan to split them up?" Boris couldn't help but crack a smile now. Nicolas and his schemes... though, he personally wasn't sure how successful he'd be in attracting Diana's interest, what after the incidents at the Three Broomsticks. It was interesting enough that Diana had more or less shown him her limits in the realm of humor and teasing, but having dueled with her current boyfriend? He was now viewing this as a challenge, and Boris - just like practically every other Kaminski - loved a good challenge!

"Well," Nicolas said with a crooked smile. He put his arm around Boris' shoulders in a brotherly manner. "What I want is for my two favorite people in the world to be happy. If that results in the unhappiness of a certian Darien Vaight than that's a sacrifice I am willing to pay." Nicolas said with mock seriousness. It was good enough to fool any bystander... if there were any. However, there was a glint in his eyes that told the truth in its entirity. Darien Vaight's unhappiness wasn't only a sacrifice but in fact his ultimate motive.

Just as Nick put an arm around his shoulders in a brotherly manner, so too did Boris: it wasn't exactly the same as his hand firmly but not uncomfortably clasped the other lad's shoulder. A grin stretched across Boris' lips at the explanation Nick gave him, detecting the tone he had used almost instantly.

"Vot do you recommend I should do to get her attention? Can you tell me anything about her that I should know?" Boris queried, though left the topic wide open.

"One thing that would help," Nicolas said rather hesitantly. "Is to apologise to her."

This one was rather hard. Nicolas knew because, well he hated apologising to people and before Boris could protest, Nicolas continued. "My cousin... likes those sorts of things. You know, following the rules and what-not. That's why its quite a treat when she doesn't."

Nicolas eyed Boris. "However, before we both proceed with this... endavour, I've got to say," Nicolas' tone went solumn. "Diana is my cousin, she is very much like a sister to me. Though I would be very unwilling to hurt you, I might forget that unwillingness if you hurt her."

Boris started to give Nick a 'like hell I will' look, but stopped before it could fully manifest itself. "I suppose the Pick on the Gryffindor Prefect Day vos a bit much..." he offered reluctantly, but nodded at the quick explanation for such a suggestion. It was no secret that Boris was not the apologetic type, even when he was blatantly in the wrong.

A raven eyebrow rose in curiosity at his best friend's close scrutiny, awaiting what was about to be said. Boris could understand this warning, both as a means of intimidation and as a legitimate promise should he make a misstep. "Of course," Boris replied solemnly, his voice deepening to show his seriousness and understanding of the situation ((I'm thinking Till Lindemann's voice, from the song Du Hast, whenever I hear Boris speak... that's who he'll likely end up looking like once he reaches adulthood)).

"I vould feel the same vay if you vere to start dating vone of my own cousins - Asya or Alyona," he added, specifying the only two girls in their mid to late teens on his family tree. They were more like second or third cousins, but he wasn't exactly keeping that close an eye on family ties.

"Of course," Nicolas said nodding. "Now for your plan of action..."

"Vell, is she available today? Or do you think she vould still be sore vith me?" Boris asked with a small laugh, not quite certain if the solemnity of the situation could be appropriately lightened. "Either vay, I vill take your advice and apologize to her... vhere ve meet vould determine a lot about vot actions are available..."

"Are there any other crucial 'do' and 'don't do's I should be avare of, aside from the general stuff?" Boris questioned, apparently rather keen to make sure he didn't make waves that would surely reach his best friend's ears in the blink of an eye.