"Oh, thank you!" She replied at the compliment to her outfit "I was beginning to think the mermaids were having a joke on me when they said everyone wore this little at the beach." She paused, struggling to put a name to the face, she knew she had met this boy on an outing last semester. "Magnus? Right?" She smiled "So what is this sunscreen or sun-block I hear everyone talking about?" She looked up and laughed as she waved back at Millie.

Jona immediatel regretted playing the prank on Zoe, seeing her truly frightened reaction when she came underwater. She smiled, but he knew it still startled her. As they came out of the water to join the group above, he whispered a sorry to her. "I thought it'd be funny. My bad."

He caught the tail end of Millie saying something about wearing another suit and he turned her way to smile ever-so-brightly at her. "I'm sure you'd look gorgeous in every swimsuit you put on." Then he wondered internally why girls were always worried about how they looked, forgetting the fact that he himself was also still wear his shirt unlike all the other boy present.

To Callista's question, Jona flipped his hair back with his hand and said in the most dramatic way possible, "Why, of course, dahling. Can't have this face running away on me."

Remembering that it had been a while since she last saw Toru and being prompted by Callista's question, Sauvage searched the horizon for any bobbing heads or feet to make sure they were alright. She laughed at Millie's comment about the swimsuit and said aloud, "You know, I was just sinking zat I should 'ave worn my bikini! All ze ozer girls seem to 'ave worn two pieces." She folded her arms, feeling weirdly overdressed and out of fashion at the same time.

((OOC - - you're good. I thought I saw you mention Toru was off diving))

Millie smiled and blushed when both Callista () and Jona () mentioned how nice she looked, "thank you, both. I was starting to feel self conscious."

"You always look perfect, Sauvage. Even in your robes. I always wish I had worn a one piece when I wear a bikini and a bikini when I wear a one piece. I'm really indecisive"

She noticed Toru had been gone for a while and looked out at the water. "I hope Toru is okay. I'm sure she is"

"Thank you," Sauvage said. She then smiled like she had a secret to tell and whispered to Millie so no one else would hear. "Eet eez weird, right? Eet feels like almost everyone 'ere eez eyeing someone else. And zen 'ere we are, both in- " She hesitated only for a moment and then giggle, feeling giddy at what she was about to say: "relationships."

Millie nodded at Sauvage () "it is weird" she whispered back. "Like, I get they don't look at us the same but it's still nice to feel admired. By the way, where's Fade?"

"Oh, well," Sauvage blushed, hoping her next words did not sound narcisistic. "I am not worried about being admired. Actually, what I meant was zat eet feels weird to not be one of ze people flirting and, um...what eez ze word? Like, when a boy peacock uses eet's feazers to get ze attention of lady peacocks?" She fanned her fingers out and wiggled them to visually describe the movement. "And Fade eez...well, to be 'onest, I am not sure. I 'ave not seen 'im seence breakfast a few days ago. I told 'im zat we do not 'ave to spend every day togezer and now I am worried zat 'e sinks I am seeck of 'im."

“Oh yes, please! I’d love to learn more about potions in general and especially ones to help change my hair color,” Flora answered Sauvage. Then with everyone asking about going in the water, Flora nodded eagerly and slipped out of her shorts and breezy top, revealing her bathing suit and one eleven year old who was ready to swim. “Come on, Lena!” she said, tugging gently at the older girl as she started for the water along with the others.

Responding to Sauvage, Drew said, “The break was great for me. I got to work at a riding club part time. Sorry about your grandmother being sick, but I’m glad she’s better and that you and Fade got a chance to spend time together.”

Drew smiled at Magnus and called, “Hey, Mags. I’ll join you in a bit.” He watched as the others got ready, knowing flora would be excited about swimming. His younger cousin had a shy side at times, but now wasn’t one of them it seemed, Drew thought to himself as he watched Flora with the older girls.

Hearing his name in a familiar voice, Drew smiled and waved. “Millie, good to see you,” he called and headed toward the edge of the sand where the waves were lapping. “I’ve been good. A bit busy, but you know how it is at the beginning of a new term. We have to start off being diligent, right?” He winked. “How have you been? You’re looking good.” He flushed slightly in case she thought he was being forward and hurriedly added, “And how’s Emmett?”

As everyone hit the water, Drew lagged behind slightly. He’d left his shirt back with Flora and Lena’s things, planning to get them and a bite to eat together later. He’d already put on sunblock before they left the castle so no problem there. Still, it was fun to just walk the water’s edge and watch for a bit. He spotted Lenore () and a boy he didn’t really know talking and smiled. His co-prefect was looking as lovely and posh as ever. He gave her a little wave as he passed near. The thought of lovely Slytherins made Drew a bit wistful. He missed seeing Poppy around this term, but hoped that they might stay in touch even though she had left Hogwarts now.

The buffet had calmed a bit but Drew saw two Slytherin girls and debated going over. He knew and liked Liz,() but he hadn’t really spent much time with the new girl, Parker.() As he hesitated, Drew heard laughter that made him turn his head away from the buffet table. A grin spread as he watched Mallowsweet () prance and play in the edge of the surf. She looked so happy and the shell and netting suit suited her just right to Drew’s way of thinking. It was a part of nature just as the young centaur was and without truly thinking about it, he started over to her. He had really enjoyed getting to meet her and starting a friendship last term. “Having fun?” he asked as he approached Mallowsweet.

((ooc: trying to play catch up before bed. I hope I got everyone and sorry the responses are late and things have moved on. Stupid real life doesn't allow as much playtime as I want))

Kiara grinned as the cat moved towards her and started to sniff her. She saw Callista move into the surf and glance back, but since she didn't seem to mind or be concerned, Kiara reached out her hand carefully and scratched the cat behind the ears. The purr that that released was the most amazing sound she'd ever heard. She ran her fingers over the cats long back, and admired the pattern of it's fur as the bright sun glanced off of it. She kinda of wanted a serval now... she wasn't sure that her cat would appreciate that though!

When she was done petting the cat, she stood up and brushed the sand off her knees. She said goodbye to the cat, and ran into the water until the water became too heavy against her legs and she tripped and tumbled into the surf with a breathless shriek and laugh.

Paddy's jaw dropped, "you didn't have to do that!" she said to Magnus, "er of course I also meant to say 'thank you'!" She followed Magnus from the store and towards the water, eager to experience the sea. She stood for a moment, letting the waves break gently over her feet, before taking a few steps deeper into the water. Stepping forwards, she must have stepping in a pit someone had dug previously, as she went flying and landed flat in the water. "Well that proves the wetsuit works," she said with a laugh as she stood up and shook the water from her head.

Niamh looked around and realised Blade had taken a while to catch up. "Diving I can do, but I've never tried surfing before," she admitted before casting a bubble head charm on herself and diving beneath the waves to see what fish she could spot.

(OOC: That was a lot to catch up on! and everyone else - I'm not ignoring any of you, Niamh is just a little preoccupied with Blade, and Paddy's still a bit too excited at the thought of being on a beach for the first time to have paid much attention to anything else until now :P)

With their head cleared and anxiety eased, Toru said goodbye to his new fish friends and promised to visit again if it didn't get to late. They gently unclogged themself from the coral nest they had made and kicked off toward the shore, completely unaware of their extended audience (). The air in their bubble-head charm was starting to get stale, not unbreathable but it should definately be refreshed. They padded onto the beach and saw almost everybody was about to go diving. They gently waved at them. "I-I found some l-lovely diving spots i-if y-you want to see?" So long as they refreshed the clear bubble around their head, Toru could swim forever - at least that's what they thought anyway.

Mallowsweet smiled happily at seeing another familiar face "Oh yes!" she exclaimed "This is my first time seeing the Ocean. It's amazing!"

((I hope I didn’t miss anything but I’m sure I did lol.))

Zoe nodded. “Aye. Oh its nee ye. I’m freaking out with the NEWTS and leaving soon…” she replied to Callista.

“Yes we do cos sun is damaging,” Magnus replied. “I ain’t seen anything yet but I ‘ope too shortly.”

Zoe waved to Millie as she continued to calm down.

Magnus gave Callista a strange look. “Do girls really do that?” he asked with innocence as well as stunned curiosity. “Charm their make up at the beach?”

Magnus gave a sly smile to Mallowsweet. “No, I think they got it right. That’s what they wear after all and I think it works really well for you. The shells really work perfectly with your fur tones.” He nodded. “Yep name’s Magnus and your Mallowsweet.”

Zoe just hugged Jona. “I was afraid I’d lost ye,” she said softly. Afraid she would lose him too but that part she was keeping to herself.

“K, Drew,” Magnus said. “’Ave fun!”

Magnus gave Paddy a smirk. “Nope I didn’t but hey I want you to be able to swim wherever you want. And now you can.” He giggled as Paddy landed in the water. “Yep, works well. Let’s see if we can find anything cool.”

“Well then, it’s time you learned. So I’ll show you later,” Blade said with a bit of bravado. If his parents knew he engaged in a muggle activity like surfing… He shrugged of the thought and put his bubblehead charm on. “Let’s explore,” he said with a full smile flashing a few teeth too. It was the biggest smile he’d had since he arrived at Hogwarts.

"Aw, don't worry. I'll be here for a while." Jona said as he hugged Zoe back. When he noticed the new comers, Jona got really excited. "PEOPLE MY AGE!!!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, then before running over he said to Zoe, "I'll be quick, promise." He bolted over to the two girls and bombarded them with questions: "Hi, I'm Jona! Have we met? I don't think we have. I'm so excited to see other first and second years! Not that I don't like who I hang out with already." He looked back at Zoe, "I just think I'll be lonely when they leave." After he said it, Jona grew concerned and kept his eyes on Zoe, afraid he might set her off into another hyper-emotional state.

Kiara's ears perked up at the word "diving." "Diving spots?" she asked Toru, struggling to her feet. "I love diving!" She peered around when she heard Jona yelling, and saw Zoe, who she recognized from her common room, and waved hello.

Outfit Not Found

Callista was really confused. That one girl had said that 'all the other girls' had worn bikinis, but Callista hadn't. And she wasn't sure what they meant about the way people were looking at each other. Sure, she looked at Wayland (but not too much) and she had looked at Blade because you couldn't not look at those muscles...but she wasn't looking at everyone, the way the other girl had said.

And she wasn't not looking at people, or was she? But maybe people weren't looking at her, except for Wayland and Blade, which was okay with her, she supposed. But she liked to be noticed. And she was also good at not being noticed--but inadvertently so! Sometimes people didn't notice her even when she wore her frilliest outfits, maybe because she was always so careful about what she said in groups.

Camilla--one of her Italian cousins--had told her that it was an advantage: when people weren't paying attention to you, you could learn all sorts of things about them. And that was true, but she wanted to be noticed anyway.

Magnus' comment surprised her. "Sure we do," she told him, "or maybe it's just me and my sisters. The rules against using magic outside of school are so much more restrictive in Britain, but we've been doing it since we were old enough to wear makeup at all. Otherwise why wear makeup on the beach at all? Nobody looks great with mascara running down their face."

She smiled at Zoe. "I don't think NEWTs are as dire as the faculty want us to think."

She wanted to tell Zoe that as long as she could get work modelling and singing, she had options that no Hogwarts professor would mention. Callista had seen people walk right out of Hogwarts into Ministry jobs or Auror training and get married right away to someone they started dating in fourth year, and the prospect frankly horrified her--why should they lock themselves down like that when they were so young?

But then a strange thought occurred to her. She remembered from the previous term how Zoe had used to run around looking like a mess because she was afraid of ruining her nice things, because her family didn't have much money and she didn't know how to protect and maintain the nicest things she owned, so she kept them only for special occasions.

Perhaps if you weren't a Zabini, and you didn't have summer houses on multiple continents, and you couldn't just nip off to a Muggle university after Hogwarts like her sister Fiammetta had done to study technology, or use connections to get you into a fashion house for a while...perhaps it felt safe to have everything all settled at 17.

Boring, maybe, but safe: a guaranteed income, decent if not fantastic, and job security as long as the government didn't get taken over by crazies again and you kept your head down, and a romantic partner you knew and could trust, and security for your children.

It occurred to Callista for the first time that maybe the reason she questioned so many things in the world was that she could, because she was afraid of being laughed at or going unnoticed, but not of not having a place to live or enough to eat.

But at the same time, she just felt more determined, because it seemed to her that everyone ought to be able to question things like wizard/muggle apartheid, and technophobia, and the widespread usage of Obliviate. And everyone ought to be able to do what they wanted to do with their lives, regardless of who their parents were or where they were starting from.

Perhaps she shouldn't just gleefully tell Zoe that it didn't matter if she got a job right out of school, even though Zoe could model and support herself and was obviously doing better than she'd been before vacation. But she wanted to say something.

"Sure, Toru," she found herself saying. "I want to see the pretty things you've found."

She glanced back at the shore. Sabrina had been playing with another girl, and now she was chasing something in the shallow water at the edge of the shore--maybe she'd caught something there she could eat. Oh yes, she had some sort of small crab.

Callista grinned. That would keep Sabrina occupied for a while, so she could go diving with Toru.

"Let's go, kouhai!"

(and everyone)

() Drew grinned at Mallowsweet’s response. “I’m glad you’re enjoying your first time seeing all this,” he said, waving his arm slightly to include the area. “I haven’t been very many times myself. My family tends to visit the mountains and camp in the forest more than go to the beach. The water especially and the overall view are amazing, but I’m not so keen on the heat and the possibility of getting sunburned. Thankfully I remembered to put on sunblock today, but I’m sure the ice pops I spotted at the buffet will taste divine later due to the heat. Maybe we could get one together later if you want,” Drew offered with a shy smile. He wiggled his bare toes in the wet sand as a wave washed over his feet and said, “The times I have gone to a beach before it’s been fun to walk the edge of the surf like you’re doing and look for shells. We could do that and maybe find some for you to take back to Hogwarts. I’m not sure that we’ll find any as pretty as the ones you’re already wearing, but we can look anyway.”

Flora trotted over the sand with Lena, the two girls following the others. As they reached the water’s edge, Flora stopped, now a bit nervous at the large group that was congregating to go diving. She glanced at Lena wondering if she would seem like a baby if she just swam the normal way and didn’t dive. ()

( ) As she hesitated, Flora was a bit startled to hear a shout and suddenly a boy was running at them. “Um…no, I don’t think we’ve met,” she said, quickly going through names that Drew might have mentioned to her in his stories from school. She vaguely recalled him mentioning a Jona as ‘an annoying, mop headed little kid’. Well, this boy was younger, but his hair was far from mop-like. In fact there was very little of it. “My name is Flora McGovern,” the eleven year old said, keeping her thoughts to herself. “I’m in Slytherin and first year, but Lena’s older. She’s in my cousin Drew’s year.” Following Jona’s glance at the girl with blue hair, Flora grinned and asked, “Oh! Is that Zoe? Drew said she had lovely blue hair that I would love!”

Millie frowned when Sauvage () mentioned spending some time apart from Fade. She whispered back, "try not to worry. I've been friends with Emmett forever. Like 10 years and our families go on holiday together a lot and even we need our time apart. Some people think they need to spend every waking moment with their partner. Emmett and I would probably start dueling. To be honest, I'm getting kind of nervous about him moving to London then us traveling as curse breakers together... What if we get on each others nerves all the time. Like, what if I can't stand the way he snores? Or the way he clips his toe nails?" She started to giggle at herself. She shook her head. "Give it a few days. Some space is good. You don't want to move too fast and make it uncomfortable"

She smiled at Drew () "Thanks! You're looking pretty good yourself" she said, blushing. "Emmett is good. He'll be finishing his 7th year at Durmstrang soon."

She heard Zoe () mention her NEWTS. "Oh no, please don't mention NEWTS. I've been studying my butt off for my OWLS. Even the thought of NEWTS makes my stomach hurt. Getting ready for my OWLS is stressful enough..."She looked out towards to sea and started feeling better.

"So... Who wants to go diving soon?"

“Aye,” Zoe said vaguely. She worried about the length of that but did want to make things strained. Then Jona screamed people his age and she nodded so he would go to see them. It was inevitable that he would become friends with ones younger than she was. And while she couldn’t blame him for wanting that. She did a little swimming as she tried to calm down. Maybe she shouldn’t have come?

Zoe waved to her fellow Ravenclaw.

“I never thought girls would do that,” Magnus admitted. “It’s neat. But I didn’t think girls did wear makeup at the beach.”

“Maybe not,” Zoe said, “but if I do nee know what to do, I need Es or Os on everything. I’ll try to relax.” Of course knowing she was leaving didn’t help her at all. She finally had friends and the girl was terrified of losing them and indeed of all the changes that were coming.

Zoe was not watching Jona, afraid of looking like a jealous freak or ruining her best friend’s chances at making more friends. Friends who would be closer to his own age and she did want that for him.

"Sorry Millie," Zoe said, "I'm trying not to stress about 'em."

Outfit Not Found

"Zoe, you've got options like modelling and music already," Callista finally said, since people were apparently not ready to dive yet. "You know you can support yourself regardless of how things end up here at school. So...you do have time to figure out what you like, and if there's a subject you're really not good at or interested in, that's probably not what you want to do anyway, right?"

Jona pouted, feeling like he'd been cast aside by Flora for someone more interesting like Zoe. He supposed he should be used to it, though; he was only twelve and Zoe was older and just plain cooler. Jona kicked at the dirt and silently walked back over to stand by Zoe. The act made him feel weirdly like a groupie, especially now that Zoe was a supermodel.

His thoughts continued to beat Jona down and he became more quiet and complacent with the setting with each passing thought. The conversation began turning to what Zoe would do after she left school, which just made Jona feel even more alone. He didn't want to be the baby second year in the group that complained about life happening, so he kept his mouth shut. Instead, he began slowly pacing around with his head down, hoping people wouldn't think much on it, maybe he saw some cool shells in the water.

Sauvage touched Millie on the shoulder and gave a squeeze. "Sank you, Meellie. Zat really 'elps calm my nerves. Knowing for 'ow long you and Emmett 'ave been togezer, I assumed zat you would 'ave it all figured out, but - pardon my words - eet eez reassuring to know zat eve you two 'ave ze same problems." [edit] Sauvage glanced up during her private conversation and noticed Callista for the first time. Perhaps the only other girl in a one piece; Sauvage felt better about that and finally unfolded her arms to show off her suit. "You 'ave beautiful 'air, Callista. I rarely see eet down, I sink."