Just Keep On Swinging.

[Kath Blackthorn]

Once again Kath had been brought back to Hogwarts and its breathtaking grounds. She’d just done a morning of housework and working down at the pet shop so she had the afternoon off. She had stayed at home for a couple of hours doing a bit of gardening but eventually she gave up as she didn’t particularly have green fingers. Kath often asked her mother to come over and sort out the large garden as she was a little familiar with the whole situation. Attempting to teach Kath how to garden was a bit like teaching a brick wall but Kath had managed to catch on a little bit and could do quite a bit of the garden herself. Kath and the animals loved the overly large garden and Kath had no regrets after buying her house and she certainly had no desire to change it. The house was hers and she loved it. Owning a house had done amazing things for Kath and she had learnt things that she’d never thought she’d learn to do in a million years.

Kath had always been quite independent but she still relied on others for certain things as long as they were willing to help. Looking up into the sky Kath was momentarily blinded by the bright sun that greeted her eyes. Smiling blissfully Kath stepped forward and carried on walking. Kath had always been a fan of summer but winter had always been her favourite season. The sun was stunning but nothing could beat a winter’s day filled with snow. Each season had their advantages and disadvantages Kath had just been taken in by the rarity of snow. She had bugged Luke with her love of snow the poor guy had had it drummed into him like there was no tomorrow.

Turning her attention from seasons to the surrounded areas a playful smile appeared on Kath’s face as she noticed the playground. The place was built for children but many of the Hogwarts professors and adults could be found enjoying themselves. Kath was certainly a regular at the playground even with her having a swing in her own back garden. Kath wanted to get out of the house and do stuff she didn’t want to become a hermit. Closing the gate behind her Kath proceeded to the swings where she took a seat. There plenty of other parts to the playground but the swings had always been the favourite of many. Lifting her petite feet from the ground Kath kicked her legs and allowed herself to swing. Swinging alone wasn’t the most interesting thing to do but it kept her busy for a while and took her mind off the half attended garden she had left back at home. Maybe she’d have to ask someone who was good at Herbology to come and give her a hand.

[Taryn/Open]

[Taryn Connor]

Time to go swing? You bet.

As Taryn made her way out to the grounds once more, she took a deep breath, taking in the fresh summer air. It was one of the nicer days outside today so Taryn was dressed some shorts and a tshirt, trying to soak up as much sun as possible before it disappeared for another long winter. Sure, next year a lot of things would change. She would be teaching next year. Wow. That was an interesting thought. She knew it was coming but it seemed to be approaching faster then she had expected. She wasn't sad about it anymore though. She needed a change and this was exactly it.

As she pushed open the squeaky gate to the playground, she reminisced in her mind of all the times that she had been here in her time at Hogwarts. Most of it was spent on the swings, as that was her favorite thing to do here, swing. As she approached them, she noticed someone swinging alone. Aww, she needed some company. Da da da! Taryn to the rescue! As she rounded the swing set, she noticed that the girl, or woman for that matter, was Kath. Taryn smiled to herself, remembering that time that she transformed into Kath for a Charms assignment. She danced around with the dogs in her shop. Ah, fun times.

"Hey Kath," she said, "Mind if I join you?"

She asked and sat down slowly. Sure, she would leave if Kath didn't want any company but that would be sad now wouldn't it? She moved her feet slowly, not swinging high but just enough to move back and forth. She then turned to Kath once more.

"So are you excited about the start of the term?"

[Kath Blackthorn]

As she swung Kath’s golden hair fluttered lightly with the breeze as she moved backwards and forwards. Some people felt embarrassed to show their childish side but Kath was always happy to do it. It was better to express yourself rather than keeping it locked up inside. With Kath’s petite stature she could probably get away with looking like a child from a distance away but that didn’t really matter. Two of Kath’s sisters had always told her that she should grow up and just because she was the youngest it didn’t mean that she had to prove it. Those two sisters were nice like the rest of the Blackthorn’s but they were just a little more temperamental than the others. They’d always been the black sheep’s of the family if you will.

Kicking her legs a little more Kath helped herself to regain some more height as the swing began to slow down. The slight breeze made the direct sunlight not seem so warming. Kath was pleased that she didn’t burn even with fairly pale skin. The little bit of natural tan that she had was accentuated with the sunlight. Kath had been burnt once after falling asleep in the sun too long and she certainly didn’t want to go back to that. Following the burning she’d had a couple of painful days she was now a lot more careful when it came to spending hours outside on a summers day. Hearing the squeaky gate that entered into the playground Kath hazel green eyes immediately glanced over to it.

Seeing what looked like Taryn enter the playground a playful smile appeared on Kath’s lips. They had some quite fond memories Kath had found it hilarious when Taryn had changed into the shop and gave some of the dogs dancing lessons. Even though Kath knew it was a spell she still found it hard to get her head around the idea of people turning themselves into her. They could easily do anything and blame it on her that was slightly worrying. Luckily enough everyone in the school was somewhat trust worthy and wouldn’t do something like that, hopefully. Seeing Taryn sitting down on the swing next to her Kath stopped kicking her legs and allowed herself and the swing to slow down a little. She’d once tried to have a conversation whilst swinging and it hadn’t been the easiest thing in the world.

”Oh no, feel free the more the merrier” If Kath was honest she was quite thankful for the company. Socialization had been a rarity for her recently. Now that her swinging pace was slowed down a little more she could actually have a conversation without having to speak a couple of words everytime she passed Taryn. ”Yes” Kath grinned ”I am sure it will be a great term or so I hope” Admittedly Kath said that about every term but that was because she had enjoyed them all. The moment that she found teaching not enjoyable anymore would be the time she threw in the towel. ”I saw that you wanted to teach a class this term?” Kath questioned pleased that they might be colleagues for the term, Taryn would make a great professor.

[Taryn Connor]

As Kath said that Taryn could stay, her body relaxed a little more and she made herself comfortable on the seat of the swing. She had spent a lot of time here at the playground in her years as a student and she knew that it wouldn't end now that she was to become a professor. Honestly, she was really excited for the start of term. Now that she had graduated, she felt like she just wanted to start with her new life as soon as possible. She knew that the students probably weren't looking forward to the start of term but she hoped that she would make her class really fun and enjoyable. Kath seemed to feel the same way about the start of the term as she did. Taryn nodded as she replied.

"Yeah I really hope so too. Not only because it'll be my first year teaching, which is kind of stressful already, but mostly because it's the re-opening of the school, with all of the changes and everything."

She said. Taryn had been thinking about this for a while and didn't know what was going to change and stay the same next term. It was interesting to think about what things could be different, both good and bad. Then Kath asked her about herself signing up for a class for next term. Taryn smiled a little as thoughts of next years changes flooded through her mind. Not only was the school changing but also herself was changing. She was no longer a student. She was now responsible for someone else's education, which was kind of difficult to wrap her head around. Before she could get lost in her thoughts, she replied to Kath's question.

"Oh, yes, I signed up to teach Care of Magical Creatures. It was one of my favorite classes as a student so I hope I get a chance to teach it."

Taryn replied as thoughts of her lessons ran through her head. If she were to teach COMC, she hoped that the students would like her ideas. With her first year, she really wanted to make lessons fun and enjoyable for everyone. She had spent a lot of time trying to come up with lessons even before she was given the class. That was probably pretty stupid in retrospect but she was just way too excited to wait. Of course if she was saddled with a different class, she'd do her best to make it the most interesting class that she could but she was really hoping for COMC. She then directed the question back at Kath, even though she pretty much knew what class Kath had signed up to teach.

"So I'm guessing that you signed up to teach Muggle Animals again?"

[Kath Blackthorn]

Kath was indeed looking forward to the term just as much as Taryn was. Since the last term had ended Kath had remained quite quiet while going about her daily business at the pet shop and doing everything else she had to do each day. She needed to get off her feet somewhat and start getting more involved with people and stuff at the school again. Quite a few people had actually remained quiet and contained over the holidays. There had been minimal people around compared to the usually vast number of students and staff that would normally be around. Hopefully the new term would start to bring everyone back together again, like things used to be. Living in the past did no good for you though because you ended up comparing the current time and future to amazing past experiences and most of the time it just wasn’t the same you couldn't relive them.

”I am sure you will do fine with teaching” Kath smiled reassuringly ”Its a bit blah to begin with but after a few lessons you will be in the swing of things and it will come natural to you” That was what Kath had found when it came to teaching but it didn’t necessarily mean that it would happen for Taryn as well. Everybody had their own way of reacting and Taryn’s was probably different than hers. ”Yeah I hope it all works out so that all the hard work pays off” It would of course be nice to see the school back up on its feet again. It held so many memories for a lot of people even those that were new to the school. Hogwarts was extremely good at pulling on your heartstrings as soon as you arrived or at least it had for Kath. She also knew quite a few other people that were attached to the school.

”Care of Magical creatures sounds like a good class I think I took it once or twice as a student” Kath was often quite good at remembering her past but she really couldn’t remember how many times she had taken the class she knew it was at least once. ”I am sure you will do great if it was one of your favourite classes then I am sure you have plenty of ideas” Kath used to have many ideas for Muggle Animals but now that she had taught it for terms upon terms her ideas were slowly depleting. She just needed to sit down and do some thinking that was all. She’d always promised herself that she would plan ahead but most of the time her lessons were a spur of the moment thing. ”You guessed right people will be sick of me soon if their not already” It was just natural for Kath to be teaching Muggle Animals because she had been doing it for so long.