Slinging his bag over his shoulder as he made his way out of the Great Hall after lunch nodding to a few girls as they passed. The Lestrange name didn't mean much these days between his brother and the rest of his family but he still garnered respect from most others. He for the most part was calm and collected, something Leyton could not pass off on his best day. It was actually rare to find someone that did not like him, surely there was someone but he had no desire to seek them out. That day he had no desire but to relax and enjoy one of the last nice days before winter like weather settled in around him.

Reaching up he loosened his tie with his free hand as he entered the courtyard. There were a few people milling about here and there but none that sparked his fancy. Dropping his bag down he took a seat under one of the eaves on a long bench. The sun was just barely peeking through the clouds and the air just warm enough to make it bearable out.

Digging into his bag he pulled out a leather bound book and cracked it open after undoing the leather tie wrapped around it. Next his fingers searched out a muggle pen, too lazy to deal with a quill and ink. Sometimes the muggles got it right, though he would never admit that on pain of death. With only one free period before his next class he did not feel like trudging all the way up to the music room only to have to come right back down to head out to the greenhouses for Herbology.

Luca honestly had no idea why he was still taking that class but considering he had no idea what he was going to do after graduation it was better to attain as much knowledge as he could on different subjects. He had his music but that was not a suitable career for someone of his status, even that was up in the air as far as he knew. Just another thing for him to worry about when the time really came.

Dragging the pen across the page he tried to release some of his deepest thoughts, trusted to no one but the page before him. The book was bewitched, unreadable to anyone but him. As he wrote he sung softly to himself.


He continued to write until a shadow fell across the page. "Can I help you?"

As Luca spent his time reading that poem of his, Lyra Black had wandered onto the paved grounds to get away from the rush of the students that were occupying the castle. Today was a pleasant day, for once, with the sun shining proudly in the sky instead of there being cold, depressing rain like normal. Not content with just spending all her time in the dungeons, she'd rather take advantage of the sun in the rare moments that it was out so that she could get a bit of tan to her pale cheeks. While not pasty pale, she was still a little too pale in her opinion.

The teenage look-alike of Bellatrix Lestrange took the time to just stand on the pavement of the Grounds, and took some enjoyable breaths of fresh air. Sadly, being in the Dungeons and all, the air wasn't as fresh as she would have liked it to be, especially if you add in the occasions when they had a fire roaring in the Common Room, it made the air just a bit fouler for her tastes. While proud to be a Slytherin herself, she would have liked being in one of the other House Dorms, since they were at least in locations that were above ground and actually had windows for fresh air to circulate into.

Besides, being out of the Slytherin Dungeons meant she could avoid the other Slytherins. She didn't socialize with her peers much in Slytherin, even with the other girls in her year. She was well-known for being a quiet individual that had stayed out of interhouse politics, never taking anyone's side in Slytherin. While growing up with political savvy, she would rather not make enemies while she was in school, as they could potentially sabotage her ability to learn and pass, which is something she'd rather avoid.

She was determined to pass her classes with as high marks as she could get, so that she could graduate with a good record. While not being a Prefect or Head Girl, which would look good on resumes, they were sadly out of her reach, so she had opted instead to study extremely hard so that she could graduate with honors and the praise of her teachers. In her mind, graduating was more important than focusing on politics in school, and was quick to leave areas where such topics were brought up in conversation for fear of being dragged into it.

After taking the time to soak up some of the sun and the fresh air, she had noticed the sound of singing. Curious to know who or what the source of the singing was, she looked around and noticed that there was another Slytherin student out by himself. Raising an eyebrow, she recognized him as Luca Lestrange, one of the males that went to Hogwarts in the same year as Lyra herself did. She knew him in passing, mostly during the Seven Years when they had been assigned partner projects, to which Lyra and Luca were usually paired up together, but aside from that, they never really talked with each other. Neither of them really initiated conversations with each other outside of class-assigned partner projects and homework compare research and notes.

Finding no real harm in talking to him, the girl with knee-length curly black hair sauntered over to him with well-practiced grace and elegance, until she was standing behind him, which Lyra had noticed caused her to cast her shadow over Luca, due to the position of the sun. Luca, having obviously noticed the new shadow above him, turned to her and asked her if he could help her. Hearing this question from Luca, the black-eyed illegitimate child had raised an eyebrow at Luca and offered him a polite, neutral smirk.

"I was a bit surprised to see you here Lestrange, and I just came over to greet you, is all" she said to him in a polite, neutral tone of voice as she looked down at him.