Frolicking (Aoife, Blake, The VanDerbergs)

As if it wasn't bad enough that Jack was the only normal child in a family of weirdos, his brother had thought it would be a grand idea to bring two more along for the holiday! Though in all honesty, the Blake kid that Hunter had invited over was pretty cool. He wasn't as much of a git as Hunter, and that was something that Jack and Blake had in common at least. Because as much as he enjoyed hanging out with his brother, he was definitely a conceited git. Jack was just as loud, of course, but he was much better than Hunter.

Then, the girl showed up. And Jack didn't have a clue what he was supposed to think of her. Aoife O'Donnell was this crazy red-headed Irish girl who had literally spent every waking moment that she could hanging out with the sheep. And Jack had a slight feeling the others may have spent some time convincing her not to sleep outside with them as well. It was weird. But other than the obsession with sheep, she was actually rather fun to be around. She was a lot like Lyra, really, so Jack had a hard time not liking her. At first, Jack had assumed she was a friend of the twins since she was a girl. But when she arrived, it was apparent that she was actually a friend of Hunter's. Interesting.

Anyway, both of them had been on the farm for a few days now, and they were both alright. It was about lunchtime, and just as Jack was getting hungry his mother turned up with an oversized basket and instructed him to take everyone for a picnic - how convenient! "Thanks mum!" Jack said, taking it from her. After debating for a bit about running to a secluded spot and eating the basket's entire contents himself, he sighed and went off to find his brother. Picnics were a bit dull, but it was best not to argue with his mother. It didn't take him long - Hunter and Blake were glued to the television playing a video game.

"Mum wants us to go have a picnic," he said loudly - as he figured, the mention of food caught his brother's attention. Before Jack could say anything else, Hunter had risen from his spot and snatched the basket from Jack's hands. Jack raised an eyebrow at his brother and followed him and Blake into the bedroom where he found Hunter hurriedly stashing bottles into the basket. "What's that?" Jack asked curiously. "Butterbeer," Hunter replied simply. Butterbeer? What was that? Well, it didn't really matter as long as Hunter brought along one for Jack.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Jack asked casually, smirking at Hunter. He couldn't help but laugh at how fast Hunter looked up at him. "She's not my girlfriend." Jack was fairly sure that Hunter actually meant that when he said it. But he was also fairly sure that his brother just hadn't figured out yet that he so obviously liked his red headed friend as more than a friend. He'd never seen his brother enjoy spending time with anyone so much before. Not to mention the girl wasn't bad looking, even if she was pretty weird. "Just go get her," Jack said, giving his brother a knowing look. "And the twins. We'll meet you in the far field."

So Jack and Blake made their way to their meeting spot, and it wasn't long before the others joined them. Hunter was walking next to Aoife who was... leading a sheep? She was really leading a sheep. What was with that girl? Hunter didn't seem to find the slightest thing strange about the situation, and was talking animatedly to her. The twins merrily frolicked through the field in front of them, and it only took another moment for them all to meet up. "You brought a sheep..." Jack said slowly, giving the girl a strange look. "Okay then. I was thinking we could head down to the river. By our rope swing."

That way, when the picnic thing got really boring - which would happen as soon as the food was gone - they would have something to do. They could swing into the river, or swim, or climb trees. Or do anything besides just sit there and enjoy each others' company. Because who wanted to do that?

"YES!" Blake exclaimed, jumping off the floor as the final result flashed up on the television screen. He had just trashed Hunter at Fifa and wondering what sort of forfeit he was going to make him do when Jack entered the room. Blake's eyes immediately drifted towards the basket he was holding and he held back a laugh. The basket definitely took away from his manliness, but then Hunter grabbed it and everything was right with the world again. Blake followed the brother's into their room as he finally figured where Hunter had been hiding his stash of butterbeer. It must be nearly gone at the rate they were going through it, he mused. He laughed at Jack's expression at the bottles. "Don't worry, it's nothing alcoholic." He said in a knowing voice, patting Jack on the shoulder. For once he was the one with the superior knowledge.

Blake looked up in Jack's direction, disgust on his face. Aoife, Hunter's girlfriend? What a joke, and a horrible one at that. Blake ignored the comment, and was pleased to see Hunter squashing the idea ferociously. Blake thought Aoife was bad enough an influence on Hunter as his best friend, but throw girlfriend into the fray and he'd probably become a sheep lover too and die his hair red or something. Now that was unimaginable and would definitely be unbearable. Blake suppressed a shudder as he followed on in silence, trying his best to forget the idea.

He squinted as he entered the yard, with Jack and they walked towards their meeting point. "I don't know why you trusted Hunter with the basket of food." He joked, to the older boy. Blake could see where Hunter got his personality from and had liked Jack's loud and funny personality the minute they had met. He kind of felt bad for the guy being surrounded by a bunch of witches and wizards, but he seemed to fit right in. Blake's eyes were aggravated by the sun as he had been staring at a television screen for too long and he began rubbing them.

Blake thought there was actually something wrong with his eyes as when he looked up Aoife was leading a sheep towards them, like it was her pet or something. "That is not eating with us, is it?" Blake asked, not trying to hide the disgust from his voice. Ever since they had arrived Aoife had been in her element, dancing around with the sheep all day. And Blake didn't mind, in fact he preferred it that way. The more time she spent with sheep the less he had to spend in her company. But he was putting his foot down with having to share a picnic with the girl and a sheep.

Blake just left them to their own devices and settled in between the twins who were looking pretty pleased with themselves. They looked like they were having a good time in the fields, but Blake was too cool for 'frolicking.' "Hey, how are my favourite twins?" Blake was allowed to say that, since he didn't really know any twins that well. He was pretty sure that Nina was a twin but since he didn't actually know her sister it didn't count. At least it appeared that they hadn't brought their own pet with them to enjoy the feast too. Blake soon realised that they had an ultimate obsession with animals, especially Lyn. But at least they were normal animals and it varied. And it was funny the way Lyn had named them all. He wondered if she could tell all the chickens apart. "So have you named any of your animals after me?" Blake said, turning to the quieter of the two girls as they made their way down to the river. He was beginning to feel his stomach rumbling and couldn't remember when he last ate. It was official, he had to stop playing Fifa. Even if he was unnaturally gifted at it.

So far, staying with the VanDerbergs had been awesome. Even though Blake was there too, she didn't have to talk to or spend much time with him. Jack was cool, much better than her brothers, and it was funny to see him tease Hunter. Their parents were nice and cooked awesome food. And there were SHEEP! So many sheep! Not quite as many as at home, but they'd do. Aoife had just been outside with the twins, frolicking around with the sheep and chickens.

When Hunter came along with food, she leapt up from the spot in the grass where she'd been making daisy chains. Then she grabbed the first sheep she saw and tied a lead around it, making sure he was okay and it wasn't choking him. "What's this one called?" she asked, turning to Lyn and Lyra. She saw Lyra shrug and shook her head sadly because the girl didn't know the name of every animal on the farm.

Unfortunately, Blake was also invited, but at least Hunter was walking with her instead of the boy he'd been unhealthily playing video games with for hours. "Jack, you grew up on a farm, you should know what a sheep is," Aoife sighed sarcastically when he asked if she was bringing a sheep. Of course, Blake had to butt in and she glared at him. "He's not eating the picnic, just coming along."

She looked back to maybe say something else to Blake, but he'd already started a conversation with the twins. Why the two of them actually liked him, she didn't understand. Maybe she could get Lyra on her side to hate him. probably not, since she seemed to be beaming, perfectly content with her present company.

It still surprised Lyn how so many kids could fit into their house. As if it wasn't full and loud enough with the four of them in the family, Hunter had brought along two more. So, basically, six kids in the cottage. It was a wonder that their parents hadn't gone mad already. But Blake and Aoife didn't bother mum and dad as much as she, Lyra, Jack and Hunter did. In fact, Aoife was with the sheep from dawn to dusk, and Blake never left Hunter's side, playing that football game on the telly. Meanwhile, Lyn played outside with Lyra and the animals as usual, while Jack sulked around. She was convinced that their older brother felt left out of the wizard things, and sometimes she felt sorry for him. But he never accepted her offers to play piggy-in-the-middle with the pigs or fetch with Kay. Jack still thought she was mad.

At least he hadn't eaten Toby over the school term.

The day was bright and sunny, like it always was on the farm, and Lyn was teaching Kay some new tricks while Lyra fed the chickens. It hadn't been that bad since they came back from school, and nothing had really changed. Apart from the fact about the two new members of the house, but they were just like an extra Lyra and Hunter. As she was thinking about it, Hunter came up to them and told them they'd be going on a picnic. Lyn beamed and jumped up from where she was sitting. He said something about meeting the others in the far field, and then left to go find Aoife. "She'll be with the sheep!" Lyn shouted after him. Then she and Lyra started frolicking towards the others, with Kay following behind. She felt more comfortable in her summer clothes than the Hogwarts uniform had been, and she was very merry. When they reached the others, the first thing Lyn saw was Aoife leading a sheep.

Aoife asked them what it's name was called, and Lyra shrugged. But Lyn immediately replied, "Seren." Of course, she knew every animal on the farm by name, and it didn't take her long to recognize that sheep she named after another one of Hunter's girlfriends. She would've been Hunter's one true love if it wasn't for Aoife, but Lyn wasn't arguing. The red-head was really cool. And then she heard Blake asking if the sheep would be eating with them, and Lyn turned to him to see the disgust on his face. "Don't be mean!" she exclaimed. "Seren has as much feelings as you do, you know! If you were a farm animal, would you like it if others looked at you with disgust if you were going to eat with normal people? Would you?" That was the most she'd ever spoken in front of people who weren't family.

She looked back at Jack as their brother was announcing their picnic place. Lyn quickly nodded, she loved going on the rope swing! It was one of her favourite things to do on the farm, besides playing with Kay. Motioning to Kay to follow them, she followed the others, walking beside her sister. Hunter, Aoife and Jack were probably having a conversation of their own, and Lyra didn't seem to be in the mood to talk. At one point, Lyn picked up her dog and carried her in her arms. Suddenly she heard a voice next to her and turned to see Blake talking to her and Lyra. Lyn, holding Kay a bit tightly, just said, "Fine." and looked down. She started to regret snapping at him earlier. It was for a good reason, he was being rude to Seren, she thought to herself. But still, it was a bit rude to treat a house guest like that, wasn't it? "Sorry," she mumbled, her voice barely audible, looking at her feet.

Then Blake was asking her if she'd named any animals after him. Lyn smiled as she looked back at Blake and answered, "Oh yeah, he's Aidan Turner's best friend!"

Damn it! Since when was Blake way better than Hunter at video games? Well, Hunter had never played video games with Blake before, since they couldn't at Hogwarts, but he'd always had this preconceived notion that if they ever did get a chance to play a game of FIFA, he'd destroy his friend. Apparently that wasn't the case, though - Blake had crushed him! "You only won because you had the better team," Hunter said, rolling his eyes. It was a complete lie, of course. Hunter had actually picked the better team. But he couldn't just admit to such a humiliating defeat. Luckily, he didn't have to endure another torturous game because Jack had showed up with food.

Why was his brother so obnoxious? As Hunter stormed off to find the girls, he tried to come up with ways to humiliate Jack the way his brother often humiliated him. Why did everyone keep calling Aoife his girlfriend? Lyn and Jack and everyone. It was getting really old. He didn't like Aoife like that - they were just friends! Really good friends, but still just friends. Sure, he spent a lot of time with her and had a ton of fun being with her, but that didn't mean anything. Everyone needed to stop going on about it.

Anyway, it took him no time at all to locate all three girls. Hunter didn't even question Aoife when she decided to bring one of the sheep along. As they headed out to meet Jack and Blake, Hunter whistled for rex and grinned as the dog appeared within moments. "Good boy," Hunter said brightly as the shepherd trotted along in front of him. As they walked, Aoife questioned the twins about the sheep's name.

Lyn told her that she'd named the sheep Seren. What the hell? "You named it Seren?" Hunter asked her incredulously. Oh, why couldn't his siblings just all keep their mouths shut? Was Lyn just determined to ruin his life completely? Why would his sister have named one of the sheep Seren? Hunter risked a look at Aoife to see her reaction - just hearing the name Seren might make her explode. She wasn't very predictable to begin with.

Hunter tried to push his irritation at Lyn aside as they reached Blake and Jack. He watched on in amusement as Blake displayed his disgust concerning the sheep and Lyn told him off. Actually, Hunter was a bit surprised that Lyn had spoken up so readily in front of people who weren't family. She was usually so shy.

As they headed down to the river spot, Hunter noticed Blake fall in line with the twins. He was pretty sure it was because Hunter was walking with Aoife. Hunter had kind of hoped that the summer would force Blake and Aoife to get along, but it hadn't done any such thing. Looking over at Aoife, he said, "I had nothing to do with the sheep's name, I swear." Still, he braced himself for Aoife to hit him. At least it never really hurt.

It didn't take long to reach the spot by the rope swing, and Hunter wasted no time in leaning against a tree and digging into the basket. He emerged with a sandwich and a butterbeer, and started eating without offering to pass out food to anyone else. "Some host you are," Jack said, smacking his brother on the side of the head before taking the initiative to pass sandwiches around. "What is this stuff, anyway?" Jack asked, looking at the Butterbeer.

"Just try it," Hunter said through a mouthful of food. He grinned as his brother skeptically popped the bottle open and raised it to his lips. The look on Jack's face once he'd tasted it was priceless. "Pretty good, huh?" Hunter said, taking a swig of his own. Really, he couldn't wait to be done eating so that he could use the swing. It had been way too long since he'd done anything fun at the farm. He hoped that Blake and Aoife could swim. It would be unfortunate if they couldn't.

Blake looked up surprised at Lyn’s sudden outburst. He had been getting on quite well with the girl and now all of a sudden she was talking the most he'd ever heard in one go and defending sheep of all things. He had actually got on quite well with all the Vanderberg siblings, especially with Jack. At first he was kind of intimidated by the older guy, with his surliness and tendency to wind up his siblings but it turned out he was pretty much a carbon copy of Hunter when it came to personality. Plus their brotherly exchanges were hard not to laugh at. The overall experience had been pretty enjoyable seeing as Lyra had not appeared to have been corrupted by Aoife, which he was pleased about. Aoife probably did not have time since he had barely encountered her, only at meal times, but he could see the pair becoming close since their personalities were pretty similar. Lyra was easier to like though, a lot easier.

Blake contemplated what Lyn had said to him, trying to figure out why she had used such a harsh tone. He knew she was obsessed with animals, and that love probably extended as far as ugly creatures too so he should not have been too surprised by her comments. He was still slightly taken aback though and he scowled, opting to stay silent when Aoife replied as well. It still did not stop him from rolling his eyes as he imagined the type of havoc a sheep was prone to wreak at the picnic, but as long as his share of the food was safe he would be happy.

Blake still approached the twins even though he figured he was now in Lyn’s bad books. It was the better alternative to approaching Aoife and her sheep, which apparently was named Seren. Interesting. Blake smirked to himself at the trouble that was bound to cause and presumed Lyn inadvertently named the sheep after one of Hunter’s friend, unknowing that Aoife hated the girl as she had caused some strife between Hunter and Aoife.

A smile formed on Blake’s lips at the thought of the girl. She was  was probably unlikable to most people, but Blake liked her and her sense of humour. Plus she also hated Aoife, and was pretty audible on the matter and she deserved a medal for that in his books. He was looking forward to returning to Hogwarts and seeing the girl again. Maybe he could mention the whole taking the sheep for a walk incident to Seren. That would surely go down well with her. He also could not wait to see Ariel, Kynan, Victoria and his other friends again. But before that he had to return to the orphanage. Blake’s mood was at a risk of turning sour at the thought, so he quickly marched on, refusing to stoop into a stupor.

Blake decided to move the subject on, acting nonchalant to the fact that he was chided by the younger Vanderberg sibling and he also couldn't be angry with the girl that had called the sheep Seren. Even if it was accidental. As he walked between the twins, he kept an eye on the sheep, making sure it was keeping a safe enough distance. Blake was also eyeing up Hunter walking beside Aoife, being his usual cheery self and he realised Jack’s earlier comment about Aoife being his girlfriend still nagged him. That would surely affect their relationship if it were to ever happen. But, no Hunter did not like Aoife. He would have said something to him if he did. Or maybe not since he knew how much he hated the red haired girl. He wondered if the comment was still on Hunter’s mind.

Blake averted his gaze back to the twins and eyed the dog in Lyn’s arms. “Why don’t you let him run about?” He asked, rubbing the dog affectionately behind the ears. He used to have a dog when he was younger; he barely remembered it as he was so young. But the dog was the closest thing he had as a friend, not that he would openly admit the fact. "It's fine." Blake shrugged, already over it. Should he apologize for hurting the sheep's feelings? It went against every fibre in his body but seeing as he really did seem to upset Lyn and she was his host he quickly muttered under his breath so Aoife would not overhear. "I'm sorry too, you know for hurting the sheep's or Seren's feelings or whatever." There, he tried. He hoped he wasn't expected to apologise to the sheep too. That was too far for him. “What’s his name?” He asked, as he still cooed over the dog. Now this was a normal pet.

"Please don’t tell me I’m another sheep?” He asked, slightly horrified. Although he did fake an over the top reaction due to their earlier exchange. He wondered what  Lyra thought of the whole naming animals business, since she did not seem to know who Seren was. Maybe it was just a talent of Lyn’s. He certainly would not be able to tell one sheep apart from the next. The first time he had seen Lyn feeding the chickens at breakfast the morning after they had arrived he found it comical as she spoke each of their names, but it seemed like it meant a lot to the girl. It was actually quite sweet he thought.

Blake sat on the grass, next to Hunter and eagerly accepted a sandwich off Jack. He scoffed his sandwich and followed it quickly with a bottle of butterbeer. He then proceeded to rest his elbows on the grass beneath him as he realised how tired he was. He really had to stop playing so much Fifa. But the sun was too bright and there was too much fun to be had to take time out and have a nap. Plus he was pretty sure Hunter would not allow that and he'd probably be woken with a pile of water on his face. "So what's there to do for fun around here?" He asked, as he eyed up the rope swing and the nearby river. Surely living on a farm didn't just involve frolicking merrily through fields.

Seren. The sheep's name was Seren. Poor, poor Seren. The sheep, not the evil brat. Who named her? Instinctively, Aoife stamped on Hunter's foot. She was wearing big heavy boots so hopefully it would hurt. Trying not to shout abuse at the VanDerbergs, she took a deep breath. "Hunter. Why... did... you... name the sheep SEREN? I hate you!" He knew exactly how much she hated that girl. Was this some sort of cruel joke?

When Lyra started talking, Aoife turned around bitterly. "Hunter didn't name her! Lyn did! She has this stupid theory where- oh wait, nevermind. I'm going to call the next baby Aoife." Lyn named the sheep. Sweet, innocent little Lyn. She glared at the younger girls and then Blake, just because he deserved it anyway. What was the theory? Involving Seren? She'd get it out of Lyra later.

But for now, she took a deep breath and tried to carry on normally as though nothing had happened. They should rename the poor thing. Anything would be better than Seren. How about Bill or Gryffindoggy? She just looked down as she walked, not wanting to talk and get angry.

"Blake's a cockerel!" Lyra chirped. "Bit of an evil git, to be honest. You're much nicer!" Then Lyn and Blake were talking about other stuff, so she shut up. It would be a bit too interfere-y and then the two of them might hate them.

Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to name that sheep Seren, Lyn realized. Hunter was immediately apologizing to his Irish friend, and Aoife stamped on Hunter's foot in anger and started complaining. Then Lyra was saying that it hadn't been Hunter who had named the sheep, but Lyn. And Blake was smiling in the background. The small girl tried to back away, as far as she could from Aoife and the sheep, and ended up walking at the back of the group. She ignored Blake's scowling when she'd defended poor Seren and decided to stay quiet for the rest of the trip. I shouldn't have spoken at all, she thought.

At least Kay wasn't mad at her, right? Lyn walked on, feeling excited to be going by the rope swing. She hadn't had much chance to go play by the river with Lyra since the holidays had started, due to the number of chores that Jack threw on them and Hunter avoided. She remembered how much they used to enjoy going down there, the four of them. Lyn and Lyra would take turns pushing each other until Hunter and Jack complained about not having a turn, she remembered. And she remembered one time, when it was a really hot summer, they went out for a swim with Kay and Rex and their dogs had reached the other side of the river. We should've gotten some towels to dry off with, she thought. No doubt some of them would be going swimming. Kay obviously would. She wondered where Rex was, but decided not to ask.

Lyn looked up again when Blake asked her why she didn't let Kay run about. Well, she was actually holding her dog for her- she didn't want to feel alone and hated because of the whole sheep mix-up. But she didn't want Blake to think of her as a wimp. Especially since loads of people thought Hufflepuffs were wimps. Lyn still hadn't gotten over the whole not-being-put-in-Gryffindor thing either. She hesitated for a bit and lied, "She likes chasing the sheep, and she might bite Seren's tail off. It wouldn't be the first time if she tried." It wasn't exactly a lie. Kay did try to bite a sheep once. To not get Blake to start complaining about her dog too, Lyn set Kay down, who immediately started running in circles around Blake and yapping.

"It's okay," Lyn replied when Blake apologized about Seren. Maybe he just didn't like sheep. She could respect that. Then Blake asked for her dog's name, and Lyn said, "Her name's Kay." She was trying to point out the fact that Kay was a she and not a he. And then they were back to discussing animal-naming. "Of course you're not a sheep, don't be sill-" Lyn was about to say when Lyra jumped in and said that Blake was a cockerel. She giggled when Lyra said that Blake was an evil git and put in, "Nah, I don't see the difference between the two!" It was really a joke, because Blake was nicer than his cockerel version, and she smiled at Blake to show him that she didn't mean it.

They finally reached their destination, and everyone sat down on the grass. Hunter immediately started eating, but Jack started to pass everything around. Lyn spotted Blake sit next to Hunter so she accepted a sandwich from Jack and decided to go next to Blake and make up for her rude-ness earlier. Lyra was probably discussing sheep with Aoife anyway. She sat down with her back against the tree and took a bite. As soon as she did, Kay jumped on top of her legs and looked at her with a face that obviously said, 'I want a bite!' Smiling, she took another bite of her own. She didn't say anything to Blake, though, in case she might annoy him. Hunter was already eyeing the rope swing, and so was Blake, she realized. Then Blake asked what they usually did around the farm, and Lyn thought that the question was meant for her. So, naturally, she answered.

"Whatever you want, I suppose," she said slowly. Then she started listing a bunch of things they did, "Swim in the lake, swing on that rope, sometimes we play games like skip-the-rope, or tug-of-war or stuff like piggy in the middle... or fetch!" Smiling again, she took out a big chunk out of her sandwich and threw it away on the ground- not far, but not close either. Immediately, Kay jumped down from her lap and sprinted towards the piece of bread. She didn't bring it back, though, but gobbled it up right there and then. Lyn laughed. Then she decided to shut up. She must've bothered him enough already.

"OW!" Hunter exclaimed loudly as a searing pain suddenly shot through his foot. "I didn't name it!" he repeated, hopping on one foot for a few strides to try to shake out the pain. "And could you just stick to hitting me from now on? It's much more pleasant." Eyeing Aoife's heavy boots, Hunter made a point to walk a few strides further away from her.

Then Lyra started going on about some theory Lyn had, and Hunter had the feeling that any theory Lyn had concerning Seren would only get him into more trouble. So while he was curious about this probably stupid theory, he knew better than to ask. Chances were he didn't want the answer spoken aloud in front of Aoife. He wasn't exactly in the mood to be stamped on again.

Apparently Hunter didn't keep up with the twins' animal naming thing enough. Because apparently they'd named one of the Cockerel's Blake. He gave Blake an amused look, and realized that Lyn was talking rather openly with him. What was bringing that on? He'd never seen her open up with anyone but her siblings before. "I wonder what that's all about," he muttered to Aoife under his breath. "She usually doesn't talk to anyone." But since it was Blake, and not some stupid git like Ryan, that his sister was talking to, then it was fine. But it was still a little weird that Lyn actually chose to sit next to Blake as well and not Lyra.

The food was gone very quickly, and Hunter leaned back on his hands, looking around in boredom, as he waited for the others to finish. Blake finished just as quickly and asked what there was to do for fun. "Besides FIFA, you mean?" Hunter chimed in, listening to Lyn's list of activities. Piggie in the middle? What the hell was that?

More boredom was slowly setting in, and Hunter got to his feet so that he could at least walk around a bit. Everyone looked far too relaxed. Jack was inhaling another butterbeer, Lyn and Blake were still lounging by the tree and Blake looked like he was about to fall asleep. Aoife was a short distance away, letting the sheep she'd brought play around in the shallow part of the river. Well, Aoife definitely presented the most entertainment, then.

She was in a perfect location for Hunter to push her into the water! She deserved it, after all, after stepping on his foot. Hunter casually walked up to stand beside her, feigning innocence. When he was a few feet away, he made a sudden dive in her direction, tackling her into the river! He got soaked too, of course, but it was worth it! He laughed as he found his feet and stood up, and shook his head hard to get some of the water from his hair. Hopefully she wouldn't step on his foot again - but as he looked toward the bank he realized that she might do far more than step on his foot. He just managed to catch a glimpse of the sheep disappearing through the trees. He'd scared it away with his attack! Oh, Aoife was going to kill him. And Lyn was probably going to cry. And Jack would probably laugh at the whole thing. "Damn it," he swore to himself, turning unwillingly to face the redhead and her probable wrath.

"Sounds fun." Blake responded, contemplating getting up and doing something. But the grass was so soft and the sun so warm all he managed to do was shift into a more comfortable position. "Why the name Kay?" He asked, thinking it probably had some significance seeing as Lyn seemed to name all her animals after people she knew. Also Kay sounded like a guy's name, but he didn't argue. He was starting to learn how passionate Lyn was when it came to her animals.

Blake eyed Hunter suspiciously out of the corner of his eyes. He looked bored and was probably looking for someone to pester. Blake could see it coming as he crept up on poor unsuspecting Aoife by the river. He did not attempt to try and hide his humour in the situation, laughing loudly at Aoife’s miserable state. He quickly shot to his feet though, dragging Lyn with him, not wanting to be her next target and get drowned in water. Blake doubted if Aoife had even heard him guffawing seeing as it was Hunter who had actually pushed her in. She probably did not have a chance though, seeing as Hunter was a good deal taller. He began backing up though, just in case and gestured to Lyn that she should follow suit if she did not want to endure Aoife’s terror. Although knowing innocent Lyn she probably did not see Aoife’s evil side, just like her sibling Hunter.

"Want to do something else?" Blake turned towards Lyn knowing how things were going to play out between Hunter and Aoife.  And he did not really feel like staying around to watch.

Aoife had just been sitting happily, stroking the unfortunately named sheep and nibbling on a sandwich. There was really no good reason for what Hunter did next, the evil git. Was this revenge for stamping on his foot? Because he definitely deserved that.

The icy cold water hit her and she glared at Hunter as she stood up. "I hate you," she murmured angrily, waiting until they got out properly to stamp on his foot or whatever. Then she saw the worst bit.

"UNFORTUNATELY NAMED SHEEP!" Aoife yelled, still not going to say Seren. "HUNTER YOU GIT COME ON WE HAVE TO GO AND FIND HER!" She made sure to stamp on his foot as she glared at him more and waited for him to say something stupid about how the couldn't go.

Lyn had noticed Hunter looking at her weirdly a few times but she ignored it. When Blake said that her list of games sounded fun, she decided that he may have gotten bored. She watched as Kay came back to her, hoping for another piece of sandwich. Although he had eaten about half of it already, Lyn dumped the other piece on the ground next to her and Kay immediately went over to eat it. Just when that happened, Blake asked her why she named her dog Kay. She looked back at Blake and checked whether anyone else was there. Lyra was next to Jack, who was drinking yet more butterbeer, while Hunter was walking around aimlessly. Looking back up at Blake, she started her story, "Well, Lyra used to have this friend when we were young, and they were like, super best best best friends. Sometimes she even used to ditch me just to hang out with her friend. And her name was Kay." She scratched her hair a bit, the sunshine was getting to her. "Er, anyway, and at one point Kay had moved out and we never saw her again."

"So, basically, about a year later, I found Kay here," Lyn said, pointing to her pet dog. "And I named her that." She remembered how crushed Lyra was when her friend Kay had moved out. They were really young back then, but it affected them both. After that, though, Lyra started acting as though everything was fine and started doing everything with Lyn again. She watched Kay as her dog then jumped onto her lap again, so Lyn reached out behind her and found a fat twig. Aiming lazily, she threw it at a distance so Kay would go fetch it. Just as Kay had sprinted away, Blake was suddenly pulling Lyn to her feet. She stumbled a little, because Blake was practically dragging her away by her arm. She felt her face redden, but she had no idea why.

Surprised, she looked around wildly only to see that Hunter had jumped Aoife and dunked her into the water. Unfortunately, though, Seren had run away into the nearby forest, and Lyn let out a cry of despair. "HUNTER!" she yelled loudly. Aoife was yelling too, and was saying that the two of them would have to go and find the sheep. And then suddenly Blake was asking her if they wanted to do something else. Lyn was torn for a bit, then decided to leave the sheep. If Aoife was yelling at Hunter to go find it, then she knew that the red-head would stop at nothing to find Seren. Then she looked at Lyra and Jack, who were now talking and laughing. And then she looked back at Blake. "Sure," Lyn said. "What do you want to do?"

Since Lyra had abandoned her to spend time with her new best friend, she turned to talk to Jack as she stuffed her face with sandwiches. "These are good," she commented. "Did you help mum make them? Probably not." She stuck her tongue out at him. They were too good to be of her brother's making. Before she filled herself up with lots of sandwiches, she rustled through the basket to find the rest of the good stuff. "Cupcakes!" she grinned, taking out one with pink icing. "Delicious." Her mum was the greatest cook ever!

Her head snapped up in surprise when Lyn started talking about Kay. The person, not the dog. Didn't they agree not to talk about her anymore? Both twins had been very good friends with her and she was sure the Hufflepuff had been just as upset when she moved away. So why would she talk about her? Lyra glared at her twin, hurt clear in her eyes. But she didn't say anything because they were in front of everyone. She'd confront her later, when it was just them. And Aoife, she supposed.

Things suddenly started happening then. Hunter shoved Aoife in a lake, Seren ran away and Lyn started talking happily to Blake. She felt like a... fifth wheel. But Jack was a sixth wheel. So it was okay. Still, she felt awkward. "Come on, let's go back to the house," she said quietly. Then, as they were walking back, she looked up at him. "Why did Lyn talk about Kay? They were best friends! Did she do it deliberately to make me sad?" That didn't sound like her sister, but nothing was impossible.

Lyn was being quite chatty with this friend of Hunter's. She didn't talk to anyone, let alone some random friend that Hunter brought to the house. A quick glance at Hunter told Jack that his brother was too busy with his lovely female friend to notice his other friend clearly attempting to seduce their innocent little sister. Blake was lucky he was so cool, or Jack would have broken their little party up already. Instead, he was content to happily stalk them without interfering.

The picnic turned out to be pretty dull. They ate their food and sat around for a bit. The only time any action happened was when Hunter couldn't stand being away from the red-headed love of his life any longer and went and tackled her. At the very least, this resulted in a quite humorous situation in which the sheep ran off, causing Aoife to stomp on Hunter's foot and yell at him. Jack laughed at the sight of Hunter sighing defeatedly and taking off into the woods after Aoife and the sheep.

Then things were boring again, so Jack leaned back against a tree and creepily listened to every word Lyn and Blake were saying. Lyn started talking about Kay, the twins' old friend, and Lyra got all moody and wanted to leave. Jack was actually quite enjoying his new stalking hobby, but he couldn't just let his favorite sister be sad so he agreed to go with her. "No, I'm sure she didn't do it on purpose," Jack said when Lyra asked if Lyn had brought up Kay on purpose. "It was just because Blake asked why she named the dog Kay." Why did Jack know this? Because he was listening intently to their entire conversation. "Hey, cheer up. Hunter told me wizards can actually teleport when the get old enough. You could just teleport to Kay's house then and see her again!" Hopefully he'd managed to cheer Lyra up a bit. "Want a ride?" he asked her with a grin, offering to give her a piggy back ride back to the house.

Blake looked around, chewing on his lip. There was not really much to do in his opinion. He was used to hanging out in the city and that involved loitering in playgrounds. He did not really know what you’d do in the country. Use your imagination, he figured. Well since Lyn had suggested the rope swing that seemed a viable option. Blake looked back to the others, about to ask Lyra is she wanted to join them but he got distracted by Aoife's screaming match with Hunter. It wasn't much of a match seeing as Aoife did all the screaming and stomping. And then the sheep ran off. He looked behind him, giving Hunter a sympathetic look at having to leave the group to chase after Aoife who had characteristically decided to chase after the stupid sheep. Well, maybe it wasn’t actually stupid, maybe it was just trying to run away from Aoife. Well in that case he could not blame it, poor sheep.

"What’s up with everyone?” Blake said muttered, after Jack and Lyra went off without another word. Maybe Blake was just imagining it, but it appeared as if Jack was shooting him warning signals as he traipsed off. What was that about? “Well I suppose its just us. How about we have a go on that rope swing?”

It seemed a much better idea than going for a swim. He made his way over, testing the sturdiness of the rope. He wasn’t too confident in its ability to hold him. “How about you go first and I’ll push?” He asked. "I promise I won't swing you too hard." He added with a grin. He proceeded to get ready to push, hoping she’d be up for it. "So why did you call the sheep Seren?" Blake questioned wondering if there was an ulterior motive behind the idea and hoping it wasn't too sensitive to bring it up since Aoife had just attacked Hunter over it. "And why was Lyra upset?" At you, he added in his head. It was hard to ignore the glares that were aimed at her and it was also hard to imagine what Lyn had done in such a short space of time to annoy her.

Since she had been conversational today he decided to take advantage and pressed on with the conversation. He never knew when she was going to be so again. “So how was first year, looking forward to going back? I hope getting lost didn't become a recurrent thing.”  Blake hadn’t seen Lyn much seeing as they were in different years and houses but she seemed to have her own set of Hufflepuff friends and anytime they were together she hung out with Lyra. It must be nice to have siblings he imagined. It certainly seemed that way from observing the Vanderberg's who all seemed close.

After a while, it seemed like everyone had left. Hunter and Aoife left to go find that missing sheep, and Lyra clambered off with Jack looking sour. Blake actually looked confused. Lyn couldn't blame him, but she folded her arms uncomfortably and watched Lyra disappear into the distance. She knew that her sister was mad at her for talking about Kay. After all, the two had agreed to never talk about her again. So why did she? Why did she, out of all people, decide to tell that story to Blake? Did she trust him that much? Why? Now Lyn was the confused one. She hadn't hesitated when he had asked her about Kay, even though she had promised her sister to not talk about Kay. When Blake asked what was up with everyone, she had been too lost in her mind to answer, and didn't say anything when he suggested the rope swing. But she followed him anyway.

Lyn decided to ignore the Lyra thing and talk to her sister later. She watched as Blake tried out the rope swing, but he seemed to not trust that rope. "We've played on that thing a billion times, I don't think it's going to rip apart just now," she joked as Blake asked if she wanted to go first instead. "But okay." If anything, she loved swinging on the rope swing more than anything. It was a rope swing, so there was a big knot which they sat on, and Lyn immediately jumped on it and held on. "I hope you don't!" Lyn grinned at Blake's comment. "Hunter tried it once, and I ended up flying back only to kick him, so beware!" She stuck her tongue. Although she knew how to swing by herself, she didn't mind Blake's offer to push her.

Then Blake came to ask her why she had named the sheep Seren. "Well, Lyra and I believe that Hunter has two big-loves-of-his-life," Lyn said, as she started swinging. "Lyra thinks that Hunter loves Aoife, while I route for Hunter and Seren. I still think that Hunter and Aoife are awesome but Seren sounds cool. I've never met her, though." She reached out her legs as she swung forward. When she was young, she always thought that if she swung high and far enough, she could kick the sky. As she was swinging, Lyn heard Blake ask her something again. She wasn't paying much attention, but she had heard the question. She slowed down a bit and twisted the swing around to look at Blake. At first she was tempted to make up a silly excuse, but then found it a bit stupid.

In fact, Lyn blurted out, "Because I talked about Kay." She bit her lip, turned around quickly and then started swinging again. She was talking herself into not speaking about it again, when Blake was asking something yet again. "You're very curious!" Lyn exclaimed loudly as she swung farther away. She didn't know how to answer that question, really. She had been really upset about not being put in Gryffindor with the rest of her siblings and their friends. But by the end of her first year, she had decided that moping around about being a Hufflepuff wasn't about to make her a Gryffindor, so she was now working on appreciating her house. So she could say that she wasn't dreading going back to school. Then, as she continued swinging back and forth, she said, "It did, and I met Mister Nick a few times again. He was really cool! I met the Fat Friar at Halloween as well, but I think being nearly headless was scarier than threatening to eat our food."

After a while, she got the rope swing to swing slower and slower, until it was low enough for her to jump off. She did that, and then turned to Blake, holding the rope swing with one hand. "Do you want a try now?" Lyn asked.