Out in the gardens....

It was Saturday at last. Before confining himself in his Common Room to deal with the pile of homework he had for the following week, James decided to take a stroll in the gardens. It was crawling with students, who were taking advantage of the pleasant weather and the fact that the weekend had started. Walking away from the crowds, he managed to find a quiet part that seemed to be deserted, except for a girl silently sitting on the grass and eating chocolate. "Hi Shah" James said, recognizing his classmate.

Keith had managed to finish most of his homework, and was quite happy with that. Thinking about what he would do with the rest, he took a small stroll through the gardens. While walking through, he noticed Shah and James nearby, having a conversation. Not sure if he should jump in or not, he decided to walk over to them anyway. "Hey Shah. Hey James." He said, smiling.

Ella was walking with Ellie, showing her around and trying to be a comforting big sister like she had tried to be for the past 11 years. Ellie still seemed very frightened by everything that's happened and the huge castle. "Has everything been going okay? You seem different." Ella glanced at Ellie.

Ella was showing her around the school. She was always trying to be therefor Ellie. She had been the one Ellie ran to for the past 11 years and now there were people like Wade, Lucy and Professor Vega who had been there for Ella and actually care about us and would do anything they could to help us out. "Has everything been going okay? You seem different." Ella said as she gave her a side glance.

"Yea," Ellie lied," everything's been fine. Ella, I know what happened to mom! I need to talk to you in private ASAP." Ellie looked serious. Her eyes were wide and they were noticeably filled with sorrow, hurt and anger. As they were walking Ellie saw a group of students over in the gardens and grabbing Ella's arm, she walked over to them.

"So, how are you both?" Shah inquired with a smile after the two boys had joined her. "A bit tired, but fine. You?" James responded. However, before she could reply, two girls approached. "Hi" James greeted them, recognizing Ella, but he had never seen the other one before, though there was a visible resemblance between her and Ella, and the similarity was so striking that he was sure they were closely related.

The boy with the Ravenclaw crest on his robe said, "Hi." Ellie held out her hand and replied," Hello, I'm Ellie. Ellie Fontayne."

"Hey James." Ella smiled. "How're you? Oh, this is my little sister. She just turned 11 and there was an... erm, tragedy in our family and she had to come to Hogwarts a little late. I was just showing her around." Ella finished. Noting Ellie's outgoing-ness you could swear that nothing bad had ever happened in our family. She really and truly admired that about Ellie. She was occasionally shy but not as much as Ella was. Ella smiled a little at her sister's attempt in making friends.

"I'm fine." Keith said in return to Shah's questions. "Overwhelmed by homework, hopefully it's not just me." He added, smiling.

"Hello, I'm Ellie. Ellie Fontayne." the girl told him when her and Ella had approached. "I'm James. Nice to meet you." he replied with a smile, shaking her hand. "Oh, this is my little sister. She just turned 11 and there was an... erm, tragedy in our family and she had to come to Hogwarts a little late. I was just showing her around." Ella explained. "I'm sorry to hear about your family." James said in a comforting tone. "And welcome to Hogwarts, Ellie."

"I'm sorry to hear about your family." James said in a comfortingly. Ella smiled a sad smiled and replied, "Thanks. What are you guys up to?" she asked changing the subject.

"I'm sorry to hear about your family." James said. "And welcome to Hogwarts, Ellie." "Thanks." Ellie replied joyfully.Then she heard Ella reply, "Thanks. What are you guys up to?" Instantly, she knew Ella was trying the change the subject. When she looked over to Ella, she could clearly see the hurt in her eyes, even if no one else could. Reaching over, she grabbed he arm in a comforting manner.

Wade walked peacefully by the gardens when he noticed a group of his classmates; Shah, Ella, Ellie, Keith and James. Deciding that it would be rude to not stop by and say hi, he approached them.
"Hello everyone." he said, smiling and in that same confident manner he always spoke in, but later added "Sorry if I interrupted." as he realized they might have been having a conversation of their own.

Keith looked up to see Wade walking over to them. "Hello everyone." He said in a confident manner than Keith remembered from when they had first met. "Hey Wade." Keith replied with a smile. "Sorry if I interrupted." Wade then added. "Oh, no you're fine." Keith replied, slightly laughing.

"Oh, no you're fine." Keith replied laughing. Wade smiled back at him.
"So, what's up?" he asked him.

Wade smiled back at him. "So, what's up?" He asked. "Not much really. We're just having a simple conversation." Keith replied. "Don't worry, you haven't missed out on anything yet." He joked.

"Hey Wade. How's it going?" Ella replied as Wade walked up to them.

"How about we eat some chocolates? I have loads of it in my dormitory." Shah suggested once Wade had joined the group. Confused, James watched her take out her wand and utter "Accio chocolates." For a moment, nothing happened, until a small object flew towards them and landed right in front of Shah.

"Dig in guys!" she cheerfully instructed, while James was still stunned by what she had just done. He had never heard of the spell he had cast, but he was certain that it was a quite advanced one. After waiting for the others to take some chocolate, he glanced in the trunk and selected a small hexagonal blue box. "Thanks" he said to Shah, examining it. Honeyduke's Chocolate Frog, 70% Finest Croakoa was written on the package in elegant golden letters. He suddenly remembered seeing these on the trolley during his ride in the Hogwarts Express. However, being too nervous to eat anything, he didn't taste any of the magical sweets it offered.

Carefully opening the box, he found a large brown frog, but before he could take a closer look, the chocolate animal jumped from the package. Reflexively, he grabbed it while it was still in mid-air. "Is this supposed to happen?" he asked the others in a surprised tone.

"Hey Wade. How's it going?" Ella asked him.
"Hey Ella. It's great." he responded quickly and turned to Shah who had begun talking.
"So, I was thinking, since we all are here. How about we eat some chocolates? I have loads of it in my dormitory." She smiled and pulled out her wand. "Accio chocolates!" She said and after a few seconds a small trunk came flying toward them. James seemed somewhat confused by the spell, but Wade had heard it before from Uncle Phoenix. Opening the box, Shah exclaimed, "Dig in guys!" Wade was surprised that a girl could love chocolate as much as she did, and that made him smile.
"Yup. I'm the chocolate girl!" Shah exclaimed, smiling at her candy, and Wade chuckled and waited for his turn.
Looking inside, he took out a chocolate frog, as did James.
"Thanks Shah." Wade smiled.
As he walked back to his place, he saw a brown frog jump out but failed to escape as James caught it in his hands.
"Nice catch." Wade said to him.
"Is this supposed to happen?" James asked in surprise, clearly unaware of Wade's comment.
"I-I don't think that's supposed to happen James." Shah answered, but was later interrupted by her white owl. Ignoring the bird, Wade spoke to James.
"Actually, it happens very often. But it's not the chocolate that matters." he said, opening his and ignoring the frog. Wade watched as the frog jumped out and into a brightly green bush.
"It's the card that matters." He said, holding out the card that was inside the package. "It's the portrait of a famous wizard. You're supposed to trade them, but I just collect them and throw the repeats away." After taking out his card, Wade said "I got Salazar Slytherin." he put it up for James to see. "I've got five of these at home." he said, putting it in his pocket.
"Who'd you get?" he asked James.

Before the frog could jump again, James swiftly put it in his mouth and chewed. The chocolate was truly delicious, even though it was a funny sensation to feel it still moving. "Actually, it happens very often. But it's not the chocolate that matters." Wade explained, opening his own package. "It's the card that matters. It's the portrait of a famous wizard. You're supposed to trade them, but I just collect them and throw the repeats away." he added, showing James a blue card with the picture of a bald wizard with a long beard that James recognized from History of Magic. "I got Salazar Slytherin." Wade affirmed. "I've got five of these at home. Who'd you get?" he asked James.

James glanced at the package he was still holding in his hand and took out a card similar to Wade's, except for the portrait. It depicted a particularly pretty young woman, with long brown hair and brown eyes, who kind of reminded him of Kim, even if she was quite older than her. Under the image, one could read the name Hermione Granger. James had no idea who she was, until he found a description on the other side of the card. Hermione Granger is mostly famous for aiding Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in their attempt to destroy the Horcruxes and the subsequent defeat of Voldemort. Also, she enabled the eradication of many pro-pureblood laws at the Ministry of Magic and is a fervent campaigner for the rights of non-human beings such as house-elves. Usually given the title of "brightest witch of her age." "I got Hermione Granger" he announced, showing Wade the card.

After waking up, Kim immediately strode off the common room and went out of the castle. She didn't know much of the castle's outside but she still was very excited to go and explore new things.

She decided to go to the gardens upon hearing that it was very beautiful there and certain plants will let you be astonished. As she was entering the place, she noticed a group whom Kim was pretty sure she recognized. She went towards them and saw a lot of chocolates on the ground. "Hello everyone. Sorry to interrupt your conversation."

Hearing the excited chatter from the gardens, Aurora rounded a corner to investigate. At least five of her classmates were sitting on the ground eating chocolates or just talking. Kim apparently had just come from the other side of the garden as Aurora, and seemed worried about entering such a large group. "Hi!' Aurora said, sitting down next to Shah, who was stroking a beautiful snowy owl.