By the lake

Alex walked over to the lake and sat down on the grass close to it. She hoped she would find someone to talk to she hadn't seen any of her frined in a while. She hadn't seen cass for a few days or Alex not since potions anyway. Alex sighed. Taking her book from her bag she opened it ather place and began reading.

"Yo Sandy! 'Sup girl! Have not seen you since the Potions class, everything 'kay?" Alex said as she dropped down beside the said girl, not bothering to ask for permission, but then remembered her manners and asked, in a very sweet and polite tone, mock, of course,

"May I please have the pleasure of sharing the same space as you, miss Lovegood?" she asked, throwing in a curtsy for good measure.

Alex heard light foot steps on the grass behind wher she was sitting she turned aound to see andy pandy coming her way she smiled to her as she dropped down next to her"of course you may darling Alexandria" Alex laughed "yeah everythings good" she said smiling at her "what going on with you?" she asked

"Other than trying to figure out whatever clue that, that dratted Charms professor gave us, and than almost dying trying to figure out what is the difference between a banshee and mandrake, nothing much. And you? Do you like the new teachers?" Alex asked as she turned to smile at Sandy.

"sounds fun andy pandy really glad I didn't take charms!" she smiled "not much has happened with me it's been kind of quiet in my world" she told her "i've done nothing in the past like two days but owl my brother he's really excited about coming to hogwarts and has had me tell him evey single detail about everything. It driving me mad"

"Tell me about your brother." Alex said in a soft voice. She then proceeded to take of her shoes and socks, dipping her feet in the water, "Sometimes I wonder what it is like to have an actual family, tell me about yours?" she continued, in that same, uncharacteristically soft voice.

Alex took off her shoes and socks too and dipped them into the lake. "you have no brothers or sister then?" she asked her "I have two brothers and a sister" she smiled "Calum is the one coming to hogwarts next yer he smart and really crazy he always seems forgotten my younger brother Kyle gets all the attention because he's cute Calum's lost his cutness. My sister Emily and I don't always get on she always finds something to argue about but we've decide we should be friends like we were when we were little" she told the girl

"Nope no brothers and sisters! And even though it is great that I never have to wait to get my problems solved or have to share stuff or even the money spent on gifts, it does get boring after a while! I mean how long can a girl be amused by two forty something adults?" Alex said as she grimaced.

"So you are the oldest? I mean no offense but your family sibling history sounds like a war film!"

"Hola, amigos," said Cass as she sat down, leaning against the brittle bark. "Lovegood, Andy Pandy, well well well. How is stuff going? Got any detentinos? I love that word. Infact, adding 'ino' to the end of any wordino makes me grin."

She shook her head, smiling to herself as she opened up a Cauliflower Pureé platter, with trees of Cauliflower to dip.

"Heya Pecan! Wouldn't you share?" Alex asked in a sing song voice holding her hand out.
Then, addressing the girls previous question, she said,

"Actually no! I am trying to keep my rep clean so I can get on the team! What about you?" in a very preppy, happy voice.

"I would love nothing better than to share," said Cass quietly, duplicating her spoon. "I have the left side, you have the right. Cos I add extra pepper and cheese on the left side just in case."

Cass handed her the bowl for a spell, while she closed her bag. She re-plaited her hair: it being the first time since beginning Hogwarts that she'd tied it back in plaits.

"thank you!: Alex said politely as she took the spoon and bowl Pecan handed out to her. She watched with something akin to fascination as she watched the suns rays light up the lake, making it glisten like diamonds.

She had always loved water.

"Don't you find it cool that the Black Lake's not related to you, Alex?" asked Cass, trying to keep a serious voice, "Apparantly it's because the water's black. Sorry, that made me laugh. I can't believe we have so many of the Black family this year."

She turned to Lovegood, her fellow Raven, who had become suddenly silent. "Whatchu reading, Goodlove?"

"Very funny!" Alex said sarcastically, trying hard to keep the bitterness out of her voice.

In the muggle world, no one asked me twice about my biological parents. Here everybody finds it some sort of an amusing thing! I DO NOT want to know about the stupid Black family and their 'apparent' relation with me! Hell! I do not even want to know about my parents! Why cannot people get that!

Cat surfaced from the lake with a mighty roar and a large splash, grinning madly. A piece of kelp was slopped haphazardly over one ear, her eyes were as wide as her maniacal grin and she clutched in her arms a large, mud-coloured trout that was thrashing wildly.

"I CAUGHT ONE!!!" She yelled. Cat then noticed the three people and tried, rather unsuccessfully to hide the fish behind her back. "Oh, um, right, er... hi?" She said weakly.

Alex burst out laughing and for five minutes could do nothing else.

"Hi!" she said, after five minutes, biting her lip to contain her laughter, "Would you share?" she asked mock sweetly and suddenly, it was too much for her.

She fell down in the Lake, she was laughing so damn hard!

Cat took stock of her situation and gave a sheepish grin, looking at Alex in the water next to her. She lugged the huge fish to the shore, falling backwards into the water next to the 'Puff, shaking with laughter.

"Sure I'll share." She said, grin more honest this time, "Who wants to help me set up a barbecue?"

"Ooh! I will! I will! Pick me! Pick me!" Alex said, raising her hand and bouncing with enthusiasm. Before giving a mock glare to cat and saying, "You better be careful, girl, you just made me spoil my uniform! And I always get my revenge." she ended, giving Cat an evil look.

Cat gave a cheery grin in response to Alex's threat of revenge. "I'll cope. Besides, it's not a true Hogwarts experience without a dunk in the lake." She pulled herself out of the water and began to collect stary branches, frowning at the twitching fish thoughtfully as she did so.

"Oh but who said it would just be a dunk?" Alex asked as she joined Cat in collecting stray branches. "So do you like fishing? Like that? Do you have other hobbies? Do you cook? Can you cook? Do you like to eat food? ever gone camping? Liked it? Play computer games?"

"I didn't say that. I implied that the revenge would be worth my committing the act to complete your Hogwarts experience." She gave a half mocking bow, smiling. "You can thank me later. I think I like fishing like that- it's the first time I've really, really tried. I have lots of hobbies. Yes I cook, yes I can cook, kind of. I adore eating food camping is fun depending on the company and I do like computer games. Answer those questions yourself?" She asked, piling the sticks and patting her robes for the gladbag she'd put her 'survival kit' in.

"Whatever!" Alex said as she rolled her eyes.

"Save your breath much? Fine by me. I will go! lets see, I have never tried it but it looks fun. Tech me sometime? Same here, I like a lot of stuff too. I cannot cook. I LOVE eating food, camping is cool, irrespective of company. I LOVE/ am ADDICTED to computer games."

Cat found the plastic bag and pulled it out. "Of course I saved my breath. It's a shortcut. Shortcuts are cool." She quirked an eyebrow. Ah, the wonders of obscure paraphrasing. "Camping is cool, but not so much when you've got seventy kids out for your blood because you wouldn't stop singing bottles of beer, the song that never ends and the peanut song 'cause you got bored on the five hour bus trip and someone gave you sugar." She paused, hand in the bag, "Although I think it was just me in that position."

She fumbled and upended the bag, matches, pocketknife, strapping tape, rosemary, thyme and a compass falling out. "Ever play Counterstrike?" she asked.

"Noooooooooooo! But it sounds cool! Teach me?" Alex said as she dropped down on the ground, looking out at the lake. humming the Fame as she did so. She really missed her computer and mom's cookies. A lot.

"Wonder what would have been different if I had lived up on the streets?" she muttered softly.

"I can't not without a computer and my copy." Cat said absently, hacking open the fish with the blunt pocketknife. She grimaced as the organs spilled out and restuffed it with the rosemary and thyme.

"What was that?" she asked, wrapping the fish securely in the tape like a parcel and surrounding it with the branches.