As usual Casey found herself in the Astronomy tower at sunset. Naturally her favorite place to be and her favorite time of day. Although, it had actually been a while since Casey had made her way up to the astronomy tower to watch the sun sink below the horizaon. She smiled curling up in the familiar spot on the windowsill. Her long copper hair fell over shoulders, almost covering her back entirely. Her small frame seemed to get impossibly smaller as she curled up, hugging her knees to her chest. Emerald green eyes peered out, watching but not really seeing as her mind began to wander through her mass of thoughts. She smiled, shaking herself out of it and really taking in the sunset for the first time that night. The sun was fast sinking beyond the horizon. The sky was already darkening, but still full of a ray of colors. Sunsets were one thing that Casey always found beautiful and intriguing.

Finn ascended the long staircase to the top of the astronomy tower. The sky was clear, and Finn figured it would be a great evening to watch the stars and the sunset. As he reached the top, he sighed. His favorite place to be alone had been taken. That was before he saw who was upstairs. It was the girl who helped him through a difficult time in his life. Someone who he had an unpayable debt to. It was Casey! "Casey!" Finn yelled ecstatically. He ran over to her and gave her a hug. He hadn't seen her for the longest time, ever since Harshing took back the school... "It's so good to see you!"

Casey turned at the sound of a voice, startled at voice, but once the realization hit her she grinned. It was Finn! She hadn't seen him in ages. "Finn!" She laughed as she jumped up from her spot and ran over to Finn and gave him a hug. "Gosh! I havn't seen you in ages!! How are you?" Casey's words came out fast and excited. She laughed. "I didn't expect to see you here!" Undoubtedly, she was very excited. Finn was practically her best friend. He knew more about her than most people did, and in turn she knew she quite a bit about him. It had been ages since she'd last seen him. It was definitely before Harshing had taken over the school.

Finn smiled at the embrace of his friend. "I'm fine all things considered..." Finn said, he had lost his brother to god knows what... He could have even been alive. Finn was happy that he was no longer under Harshing's thumb. "I'm taking at least another year here... I just don't feel like I've gotten everything I've wanted to out of my education... Because well you know... I've been fearing for my life..." Finn even laughed at his little joke. "It's so good to see you! What have you been up to?"

Casey couldn't help but smile. "Well that's good." In all honesty, she was rather happy to hear that Finn was going to take another year at Hogwarts. It meant that she got to spend at least one more year with him. It was cheesy, but Casey really liked Finn. "You're not still fearing for your life are you?" She laughed, "Crazy times, huh?" She smiled and looked down at her feet. It had been ages since she'd last seen Finn. Things had been crazy with them for a while. "It's great to see you too! I havn't really been up to much really. Just school work and such, you know me. But I've missed you. I can't believe how long it's been since we last saw each other. . . But that seemed like a lifetime ago at this point, with all that's gone on here."

"Things have gotten much better..." Finn said laughing and taking a seat, "I'm glad that things are going great for you..." He paused wondering if he should ask her about her situation... He thought better of it and decided to talk about something else, "I can't believe all the change that has happened. Harshing's gone, Scone's gone... It seems like we can't keep a headmaster..."

"That's great. It's about time things started getting better. They couldn't really get much worse." Casey glanced momentarily out the window. "I can't either. It seems that everything that's happened this year should've happened over a much longer period of time. But, I guess time flies. I'm not gonna complain that Harshing's gone. He was a nutcase. But maybe we'll get lucky this time and have headmaster for more than a year. I bet there's a curse." She laughed, joking at the last part.

Finn smiled, knowing there very well could be a curse, but he rather doubted it. Who would want to jinx something so seemingly meaningless as the Headmaster? Finn looked back on his time at Hogwarts, it definitely seemed too short. "I don't know..." He said, "time only goes fast when you want it to go slow, and goes slow when you want it to go fast..." Harshing's rule seemed to last forever, even though it was only for a few years...

Casey nodded, "that's too true. Funny how time seems to do that, isn't it?" She looked out the window. the sun was almost gone from sight at this point. Yet another example of passing time. "I guess time flies when things are good because we don't take note of the time as often as we would if things weren't so good." She said, turning back to Finn. "Can you believe how much has happened this year though?"

Finn smiled. "Funny how nostalgic seeing an old friend can make one isn't it? I can't believe all the changes this place has undergone... There are so many new teacher..." Finn nearly blushed at the mention of new teachers, "I guess that's necessary when the school was as corrupt as it was... What new teacher do you like the best?"

"Well old friends bring up old memories! So it's only natural" She said, laughing. It was true though, she was very nostalgic at the moment. "There were a lot of things that needed to be changed, Harshing managed to do a lot to this school. I'm kindof glad that there are so many new teachers. . . . As for my favorite, I'm not really sure. I'm not sure I could choose a favorite at the moment. What about you? Do you have a favorite?"

"Well I really like the new potions professor," he said, smiling, "I think she is very knowledgeable in lots of things." Finn didn't dare tell anyone that he was having a relationship with her, as many people would think that to be inappropriate.

Casey nodded, "Yea she does seem quite nice. But I havn't really had much of a chance to mett her, ya know? Still she seems like a good professor." She decided that she didn't feel like standing anymore and went back to the windowsill and perched herself on it.

"She's really in touch with her students," Finn, sitting on one of the benches, "I don't like older teachers... It's almost like they don't understand us anymore... They think that we know nothing and that books are the end all be all of education..." Finn laughed... He didn't mean to go off on education... "I'm sorry," He said still laughing, "Sometimes I'm so tangential..."

Casey raised an eyebrow, Finn sure liked this Potions professor. WEll in any case, she was definitely his favorite, she'd gathered that much. Still he had a good point. "True that. Books are boring, I'd rather be doing the magic, not reading about it in books that don't make sense." She laughed, playing with her hair momentarily. "Hrm, I think you're gonna have to tell me what tangential means. I have no idea." She laughed and looked down at the floor blushing ever so slightly.

Finn smiled, "It means that sometimes, I like to go off on tangents... You know, things that really have little to nothing to do with what we are talking about?" He laughed, "It's no big deal..." Finn was truly happy. For the very first time in his life, everything seemed to be going his way...

Casey nodded, that made sense. "Oooh gothca. Well you're definitely right about that one then" She said, half jokingly, poking her tongue out at him. She laughed and jumped up. "Hey what do you say for going for a walk. I'm beginning to feel kinda restless, and it's nice outside. Of course, if you don't want to go, that's fine!" All of sudden Casey just had this random burst of energy. She didn't really want to sit down any more, and the walls of castle seemed to be closing in on her and outside seemed to be so open and welcoming.

Finn agreed, "I feel restless as well... Do you wanna go walk by the lake? That's probably my second favorite place other than here..." Finn loved most of Hogwarts, but he had a few favorite spots... The oak tree near the shore of the dark lake was growing on him... It was where he kissed his new girlfriend for the first time, and where he watched his old one go away...

Casey nodded. "That sounds great. I love that spot too, but really anywhere outside I'm fine with. I'm just feeling a bit claustrophobic, you know?" She shrugged and headed towards the door. She smiled, the lake sounded nice. She loved it down there, it was nice at night, and sometimes you could see the reflection of the moon on the water. Of course, there was always the giant squid, but she had a tendancy not to worry about that.

((i posted a topic in the lake, it's called late night stroll...))