April had decided she was bold enough to go into the off limits forest at the edge of the grounds. she was in the mood for a bit of exploring, and anyways, there was nothing better to do other than study. April wasn't in the mood for studying. So she grabbed her wand and a cloak, a bit of food, and headed into the woods.

It wasn't too dark, being early afternoon, but she knew the trees would get dense very quickly. It wasn't too hot out at all, with a nice breeze, but the hiking through the forest and its rocks and bracnhes tired her easily. She looked straight ahead and marched out without a thought.

Moments later, she heard a sound from behind her. She turned around quickly, peering into the dark forest and saw a figure approaching her. She grabbed her wand and whipped it out, ready to curse whoever was there if necessary,

"Whose there?" she called out, trying to stay calm and keep her voice steady. She backed against the tree i ncae she was surrounded.

AJ was treating himself to some peace and quiet in the Forbidden Forest as he usually does when he wants to get away. Over his six years at Hogwarts he has never run across anyone this deep into the woods. He heard a noise and a girl ask, "Whose there?"

"Lumos" he said, needing a little light to see in the distance. He saw a girl with brown hair and glasses.

"Hullo!" he yelled from a few yards away. "A little past the normal limits of 'rebels' who stay within a jump of the woods."

He noticed she dropped some food and went to pick them up. He leant over as she did they bumped heads.

"Oh sorry!" he laughed.

OOC: Zeke decided not to join because he's going away... so it'll justg be us, I guess.

IC:

April rubbed her head gingerly, but the boy handed back her food. She was laughing a bit, and rubbing his head also. April blushed shyly and pocketed the food she had dropped. She felt a bit more at ease, knowing there wasn't going to be any sort of attack on her. She felt silly for thinking so. She put her wand away before he noticed.

"A little past the normal limits of 'rebels' who stay within a jump of the woods,"the boys said. April shrugged, privately agreeing.

"I was doing a bit of exploring... you sort of scared me. What are you doing so deep in the wood anyways? It's forbidden, you know."

He noticed the wind breezing, making her hair flow away from her head.

"I come here to relax. You know, no one comes this far in, it's nice to get away. Not that I need to try to be alone."

He looked around noticing she was alone. "I'm in Ravenclaw, year 6." He noticed her Slytherin robes, "Oh Slytherin eh? What year?"

He quickly added, "Are you okay with muggleborns?"

OOC: Sorry for the short respond, just got home from work and grabbing a bite to eat. Next one will be longer. :D

OOC: No problem.

IC:

April laughed a bit, her heart finally going the correct speed again. This boy talked a lot. He had a lot of questions too, and he talked quickly, not giving her time to speak. She liked it; it was very quirky.

"Yes, I'm in Slytherin. Ravenclaw, huh? Interesting. I'm in year 5, a bit younger than you I suppose. Only 16."

She paused for a second. He didn't seem like he was a mugleborn, although he must be or he wouldn't have asked. She didn't have an issue either way. She had a few muggleborn friends anyways.

"No problems with muggleborns here, mate." She smiled quickly. she was tired but there didn't seem to be a place to rest that wasn't mossy or wet with dew.

"So, are you in here often? sorry to have disturbed you..."

"I come here quite a bit." He said relaxing a bit. "I'm sixteen as well, I have a late birthday compared to most."

He started walking further into the woods. He turned back and noticed she just stood there.

"Come on," he said nodding his head, turning back to take her by the hand. "Ill show you my favourite place in the woods.

He led her through the thick woods until they came to an opening. It was half the size of a common room but homey enough for a few to meet.

"I found it in my first year."

The area had no trees but was covered from the brances surrouding the area. He looked up and noticed how high the trees really were.

"It may not be much, but it's private"

He smiled.

April smiled. She really did enjoy this little place, and the boy was nice. She could feel the warmth of his hand around hers. It was different. Hadn't expierenced that in a while, she realized. She looked up atthe surroundings. It looked safe to sit on the ground, so she did.

"It's very nice here. I never would have found it, so, kudos to you," she said, smiling at him once again. "Sit." It wasn't a command, but rather a nice gesture.

"So I never got your name," April said, smirking.

"Oi. I'm Andrej, Friends call me AJ."

He laid back onto the ground trying to peer through the trees to the sky. It was impossible. He enjoyed his relaxation and wasn't angry about showing April his little place. He closed his eyes and started day dreaming about things.

'Only one more year' he thought to himself. He realized how he had no clue on what he wanted to do after Hogwarts.

Andrej looked over at April and smiled. 'This is nice' he thought.

"So...uh, what do you normally do around the castle? Do you have a certain group of friends?"

"I like the name AJ," she responded, laying down next to him. It was really relaxing, and she could tell AJ felt the same way. She couldn't help but wonder if she would be able to enjoy this if she was alone. Probably not, she'd be a little too scared.

"So...uh, what do you normally do around the castle? Do you have a certain group of friends?"

"Normally, I play quidditch, or just lay around and read or study. I have some friends, but they're all from different houses, so usually not together. I tend to hang out outside on the grounds with a few different people. I'm sort of new, so I've been meeting a bunch of new people."

She realized already that she was talking too much. She sighed.

"What about you? What do you... enjoy at Hogwarts?"

"Well though I miss football and rugby a lot, Quidditch is enjoyable." He thought of scoring all of those goals as a child playing striker and almost giggled.

"I've met some nice people, but very little friendships. It's nice though. I like my peace and quite."

The sky was churning and clouds were rolling in. AJ loved the rain, but it didn't seem like rain yet. Just a dark sky. He heard the usual Forbidden Forest sounds: twigs breaking, animals howling, wind whistling. The quiet was nice. He was starting to get a little cold and shifted closer to April.

"Starting to get cold out tonight, eh?"

April felt AJ move closer. She wasn't sure if this was out of warmth or other reasons, but she didn't move. It really was a bit chilly. She watched the clouds roll in; perhaps it was going to rain. Great, she thought bitterly.

"Yes, it is pretty cold. Thankfully, I brought my cloak." She wrapped it around her, hoping it could block out the chill of the wind, which whistled right through the tree branches and made an eerie noise.

"What's rugby? And...football? I'm not much into Muggle sports, so you'll excuse my lack of knowledge. Were you good at these sports?" she asked, feeling a bit stupid. Her lack of Muggle knowledge always pointed her out to be the Slytherin that she was true at heart.

He forgot not everyone knows muggle stuff. "Both are like Quidditch. One you use your feet, the other your hands."

He didn't go any further figuring it wasn't worth it. He started to feel a connection with April, but wasn't sure if she was feeling the same way.

"How do you like the Forest now, not so scary, eh?"

As he said that he noticed a noise come from the distance.

April shivered, and not because of the cold. She didn't really like the noises the forest made very much. She moved closer to AJ again, trying to decide if whatever had made the noise was going to strike.

"How do you like the Forest now, not so scary, eh?"Aj asked.

April looked at him. "Did you hear that noise? What is it?" she asked. She gripped her wand again. Perhaps there was danger in the forest.

He didn't want to leave this position, but knew he needed to act. He jumped up pulling his wand out.

"Come on!" he said taking her hand.

He began to walk towards the sound, which most people would think is crazy, but AJ had been injured before, he wasn't like most students.

They passed a huge tree and saw what had made the noise. It was a big wolflike creature who was staring at them. "Stupefy!" He yelled and they turned and ran.

For minutes they were running as fast as possible with the creature nowhere in sight. But it had caught up with them. There was a tree with low branches.

"Climb it," he told her.

He helped lift her up out of harms way, the creature lunged at him.

April had no choice but to climb the tree, since Aj lifted he up into it. She didn't really like the idea of being put out of the action, but she climbed to a higher branch. The creature, whatever it was, lunged for Aj, missing him by inches. It didn't seem to have a strategy but to just rip with it's teeth. That didn't make April feel any better however.

"Stupefy!" she screamed, copying Aj's attack. She had never used the spell before. It missed the creature, but he saw it. He turned and ran towards the tree.

"Damn," she muttered. The creature grabbed the trunk of the tree and shook. April swung off balance but held on. It wouldn't be a good time to fall.

"Uh... help!" she screamed, losing hold with her feet and she began to slip. She climbed higher quickly, so the creature couldn't grab hold of her ankle.

AJ didnt know what to do. He remembered the jelly legs curse which made the victim not able to run for a while, this would be perfect. He did a silent curse and pointed his wand at the creature. The thing fell onto its belly and AJ looked up at April.

"Jump, I'll catch you,"

She listened, as he held her in his armes he noticed her eyes sparkle.

"Er, lets get away before the spell wears off!"

April felt safe in Aj's arms, which was a good thing, of course. She also felt temporarily safe from the creature, another good thing. She wanted out of this forest, and quickly. Before that curse wore off. Whcih she knew it would.

She jumped down and grabbed Aj's hand, forcing him to run away from thr creature and in the direction she believed was out of the forest.

"Now lonng," she huffed, "until that thing wakes up, or whatever?"

Her question was answered by the crunching of twigs behind them. she looked and saw it zooming towards them.

"Not long," she whimpered.

They were almost out of the forest, a few more steps. Frantically running, AJ turned back and noticed the creature stop.

He looked around and realized they were safe now. Huffing and puffing he was glad they were safe but hoped he didn't look like a sissy in front of April.

"well, that rarely happens," he lied not wanting her to know the real dangers of the forest. "What now?"

He laughed nervously.

"well, that rarely happens. What now?" AJ asked, but April could tell he was lying. She definately wanted out of the forest. She was panting from running and her hand was sweaty around the wand she was gripping with white knuckles.

"Well, I definately don't want to go back in there. I can see why we're not allowed now," she said simply, a bit annoyed that she hadn't listened to the Headmaster's warnings.

"Want to just relax on the grounds? I know a nice tree we can sit under," she said, pointing to a tree beyond the lake. No one was siting there today.

"That sounds great. I love the lake. I love swimming in it even though its freezing. Some crazy things in there."

He notice her flinch, "But safe!" He added.

They walked over towards the tree she had pointed out the lake was one of AJ's favourite places, but he could never relax due to the crowds of people.

He looked at April staring out at the lake, then shifted to the lake, and back to her.

"Beautiful."

April smiled but wasn't sure if he was talking about the lake, or her. she blushed anyways. She tended to get embarassed easily when complimented, even though she wasn't sure if he was or not. The lake itself was beautiful however. She loved this spot.

"It really is. I've never been swimming in it. Looks too cold... and there's a giant... squid, isn't there?" She asked. She had seen the giant creature trying to attack students once. Or maybe it had been playing. She didn't really know.

He wasn;t sure if she knew he was complimenting her or not.

"Well, I've never seen the squid, so how big could it be right?" he joked.

"I usually stay a bit into summer to enjoy a good swim, usually all alone. It's nice."

They sat there watching the lake shimmer from the sun.

April smiled at him shyly. She didn't know that students normally stayed over the summer, so that was an interesting fact. She did know that this year, there would be a tournament, so people would definately be here.

"I didn't know students could stay over the summer. You won't be alone this year, though. Did you sign up for the tournament? I bet you'd get in... being older than a lot of the students and everything. And you're quite handy with the wand so... I'msure you'd be able to play."

"I'm staying to watch," she added, winking at him.

"Well I don't stay as much as go into Hogsmeade and skip out on the train ride. I usually get caught by a professor and sent home."

He had no clue what tournament she was talking about talking about, "What tournament? I must live under a rock, I don't know about anything."

OOC: What tournament, I'm new and haven't read much.

OOC: Tetrawizard Tournament. Look under announcements or in the Spring Formal for details :)

IC:

"You really must! There's going to be a Tetrawizard tournament. I suppose if you didn't go to the Spring formal you wouldn't have heard. The Headmaster announced it then."

April took a breath, trying to remember the details.

"There's going to be four contestants, and they have to go through a serious of obstacles and tasks and such. And it's going on during the summer. A lot of people are excited. You could probably still enter!"

"Well I don't do dances." He told her. He thought about the tournament and grew excited. "That sounds great. i should go figure out how to sign up."

"He sat there thinking about being in a competition. He loved to win something in the wizarding world.

"Are you planning on staying to watch?"

April had had a feeling that dancing wasn't so much Aj's thing. She smiled a bit, and laughed inside her head. that was one difference they had, definately.

"Too bad you didn't go to the dance. I'm quite the dancer," April said, smirking at him. "And you can sign up by putting your name in the goblet, somewhere i nthe entrance hall I believe."

She looked at the lake for a moment while he spoke.

"Are you planning on staying to watch?" he asked, seeming a little excited.

"Yes, I'll be here to watch. I'm going away with a friend for the summer after that, but I'm definately going to be around for awhile. I'd want to congratulate the winner, of course." She smirked knowingly.

"Well maybe if I knew you, I would have been at the dance, but alas, we just met."

He pictured himself winning the tournament. He wanted desperatly to enter.

"I'd want to congratulate the winner, of course." she said with a smirk.

He grew curious, "How exactly?"

"How exactly?" he responded. April had a good feeling he was flirting with her, which was a new thing since she had been at Hogwarts. Most of the boys were very polite and uptight almost, like they had something to lose if they flirted with a girl. It was much different than what she was used to, back home.

April decided that she was in the mood to flirt back, of course. She normally wasn't like this, but coming to Hogwarts had opened her up a bit and she was a lot nicer and friendly with everyone. She believed it was a good thing, after all. She couldn't stayed closed up and horribly sarcastic her whole life.

"Well, the winner, whomever he may be," she replied, hinting that it was him by looking into his eyes, "would probably get some praise. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he may just get a kiss or two."

She leaned close to him but pulled away quickly, smiling and staring at him with her bright blue eyes.

He couldn't even respond. Thoughts rushed through his mind.

"Well, I better win now!" he joked.

He stared into her eyes, "You're such a tease you know that?"

he smiled bigger than he ever had before.

April smiled widely as she watched Aj's face spread into a wide grin, like something she had done had really amused him. She giggled and blushed. She loved flirting and teasing, it was so much fun.

"You're such a tease you know that?" he asked her, and she giggled even more. She knew that, yes.

"Yes, I did know that. Whatare you going to do about it?" she asked seriously, trying not to laugh at his expression. He was staring into her eyes, which she found very cute.

He didn't know if she was flirting or just being a goofball. He had grown into cute a man flirt himself.

"What do you want me to do about?" He asked, twisting her question into another question. "Because teasing isn't fun." he smiled.

He loved the way that they didn't notice anybody around them but eachother.

"Actually, I feel that teasing you is fun. Although, I can think of something else that may be fun too, as an alternative."

April was sick of teasing him now, and he usually enjoyed taking control. Right now, she didn't notice anything going on around them, but she could only see AJ. She put her arm casually around his shoulder onto the nape of his neck, massaging it gently.

Ever so slowly, she leaned forward, inches away from his face now. In one breath, she took up all her courage, and kissed him gently, not trying to be too forceful. she wasn't exactly sure how he was going to respond.

When she said, "Actually, I feel that teasing you is fun. Although, I can think of something else that may be fun too, as an alternative." he wasn't sure what was going through her mind. She put her hand on his neck and leaned in for a kiss.

He responded by kissing gently putting his hand on her side. It was electric. The kissing became more heavy until he pulled away and whispered in her ear: "Wow" he looked at her a smiled.

April smiled, her cheeks a little flushed, but not from embarassment. Her whole body was feeling charged, and that was a feeling that she had missed. She was happy that he had kissed back, not sure if she had been too forward for his liking, but apparently, she had not been. It had worked out perfectly, according to her.

"Wow," he whispered, and he was smiling at her. April didn't know what to say, except wow at him back for a moment. It all seemed frozen in time for her.

"Well," she murmered, "that's what the winner may get. And then some, perhaps." She knew she was hinting at bigger things, but she would let him think all he wanted. She wasn't sure what would happen at that time, but she knew she had liked kissing him and would be perfectly okay with it happening again.

He wanted to kiss her more but was afraid she was still just teasing. The kiss was magnificent, he still had his hand resting on her side. The two snuggled closer under the tree by the lake. He enjoyed holding her in his arms.

"Well perhaps we could do that again," he said in a low voice.

He would like nothing more than to kiss her as much as possible, maybe more.

He added one word: "Soon."

April smiled, and leaned into him. He smelled really nice, but she couldn't place what it was. Cologne, or maybe a mix of the detergent used for washing and the smell of the woods. She breathed it in.

He held her tightly, close to him, and she enjoyed the warmth. It wasn't too dark, but the scene was very nice and romantic to her. She looked up at him as he spoke, not sure what his words really meant, behind all his composure. She could see a smile spread over his boyish features.

"Well perhaps we could do that again... Soon." April sighed, moving in again.

"How soon?" she whispered. "I'm very impatient," she added, flirting with him heavily.

Without saying a word he responded to her by moving in for another kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and pinned her against the tree. The sun was falling and students were heading back into the castle. Her mouth opened slightly letting him explore her mouth.

Soon no one would be around and it would be the two of them near the lake in the dark.

He pulled away for a second, "Soon enough?"

April giggled, now blushing completely. She knew she was being a bit fast, but it didn't really bother her in the least in this situation. She liked the feel of his lips on hers, and even his tongue inside exploring. At least, she compromised, he was a nice guy, and she enjoyed his company definately.

"That was certaintly what I was hoping for. Definately soon enough," she whispered into his ear, giving him the shivers. She let her fingers trail over his arm gently, making a little circle pattern. He was smiling at her.

"Perhaps, when we're more alone, it won't be so awkward," she extended, looking around. A few younger students were glaring at them obnoxious. April chucked them the finger. "So impolite," she commented.

"Oi!" he yelled at the students. Maybe he should have paid more attention to his surroundings.

He wanted to get out of there, but didn't really know what time it was or what was going on.

"Kids...ruin everything" he said getting up.

"Wanna get outta here?"