Nate saw Ella in the little hallway off the main hallway. "Hey El." he said trying to not show his emotions because on the inside he was freaking out fro how much he missed her and how much that worried him. I mean they had only been back for two weeks and they hadn't talked once.

"Nate!" Ella said, flooding with relief. She hadn't seen him in weeks after their summer vacation. She ran toward him (feeling awfully dramatic) and gave him a nice bear hug. "Where have you been?"

"Studying. Wondering the grounds looking for you. And more studying. I'm actually taking more than 1 class this year!" he said into her hair. She smelled like sugar cookies that his mom used to make when he was little. Mmmmmm....Cookies. "El, you smell more amazing than normal! What's up with that?" Nate HAD to know her secrect. And tell her to keep doing it.

"I see," Ella said with a goofy smile. "Am proud of you. I'm going to try taking a lot more classes this year too." Ella actually was pleased with the pact they had made over the summer: To definitely catch up on the studying at Hogwarts after the reckless summer. She turned back to Nate was that stupid smile still on her face. "I'm not tell-ing!" she teased, beginning to run away from him. Now, she'd play hard-to-get.

Nate chased after her all the way to the Jungle Gym.


OOC: Hint hint!

Crouching by the swamp, her head under the ropes, Wesley wondered how deep it was. There was, of course, only one way to find out. But...the Hufflepuff glanced down at her shoes. She was wearing her pretty felt flats from Muggle Studies, and she really didn't want to get them dirty. Sighing, Wesley rested her chin on her knees, arms propping her up on both sides.

Few things were worse than not knowing.

Elisabeta saw a young Hufflepuff by a swamp and said "Hi what are you thinking about?"

"WAHHH!" Wesley screamed and jolted, caught off guard by the unidentified voice. Too surprised to think, the Hufflepuff tilted, face-first into the swamp.

At this point Allison's hopping had ceased to exist. She was exhausted, flushed, and knew Halloween night had just started. She had decided to skip the feast in order to finish her Charms homework, and now she found herself dragging her belongings to the library. With a pout beginning to form on her lips, Allison opened her candy bag and saw that she still had quite a few.

Not seeing many people by the statues, she flicked her wand and chocolates and candies flew towards those who were in the hallway, the rest she suspended in mid air with the Wingardium Leviosa spell. How she appreciated her mother teaching her that.

Now wishing she also knew and had practiced Aguamenti when her mother had thought her, Allison dragged herself down another floor towards the library. Oh the thirst!!!! Trying to remain true to the costume...Hop. Hop. "PSHT no more hopping!"

Kellen had no where in particular he had to be. Most of his classes didn't have homework due, and he wasn't hungry. So he wandered around the castle with nothing really in mind. He stopped to look at a couple of statues that were quite ugly, but got distracted almost immediately by the swamp sitting off to the side.

"Why would...?" He wandered over and took a look. Ah, so this was what the Weasley twins did, was it? Or at least a section of it. A testament to the strange and eccentric ways of Hogwarts, he'd guess. His old school would clean this up if it took all their magical ability to do it.

Feeling experimental, he cast about for something to throw in.

Neptune had trailed Kellen from the Common Room. She wasn't stalking him, not at all, but she was certainly interested in where he was going. She was REALLY quiet and didn't giggle once!


Well, until he stopped at the swamp.


"I GETCHOOOOOOOO!" Neptune JUMPED out behind him and RAN at Kellen with TICKLE fingers at the ready. She was trying, quite malevolently, to startle Mr. Stern.

Kellen was bending down to pick up a discarded chocolate frog wrapper, with the intent to transfigure it into a rock or something, when he heard Neptune's.... battle cry? What started as a slightly confused glance up turned into a scramble backwards to avoid her tickling fingers.

There was no way he wanted a repeat of the giggling from Hogsmeade, and it didn't look like dodging was going to work, so he stuck his hands forward and laced his fingers through hers. Try to tickle us now, Miss Bott.

"Hello Neptune."

"Hello Kellen," Neptune GIGGLED ridiculously and squeezed her fingers around his. Kellen was HOLDING HER HANDS! EEEEEEE! O.M.M.

GiggleGiggleGiggle. "What are you doing down here?" She swung their hands between them gently, admiring how her fingers disappeared and reappeared in and amongst his fingers.

Yes, it was definitely a good thing that he'd prevented her from tickling him. She was doing more than enough giggling for the both of them. Plus the statues. Plus the swamp. Did swamps giggle?

"I was just walking, really," he glanced down at their hands as she swung them back and forth. How to stop holding hands without enabling her to tickle him again... he'd let her keep swinging them until he figured it out. "I thought I might want to throw something in the Weasley swamp. Or get a stick and poke around for things already there. I'll bet there's all sorts of stuff thrown in there from students with secrets."

"Ohhhhhhhhh," Neptune nodded like she'd never heard anything so intriguing in her short little life. Personally, if she wanted something she'd not go digging in a swamp to get it. But .... "I do so admire your rampant curiosity. You make Ravenclaw look good, Kellen Stern."

Giggle.

GIGGLEGIGGLEGIGGLE.

"I'm going to help you." Yes. Yes she was. Or, more like, watch him work and offer advice and compliments.

"Thank you, Neptune." He made Ravenclaw look good? For wanting to dig around in a swamp? Well, it took all kinds to fill a house!

But helping? "How... exactly... do you plan on helping me?" As he asked he pulled his fingers away from hers and rooted around in his pockets, pulling out a pencil. He tapped it with his wand, transfiguring it into a spoon, and then murmured, "Engorgio."

"I mean, it's great that you're helping, but I wouldn't think you'd want to go digging in that." He nodded at the swamp, "I'm not even going in it. I'm prodding it with this." He tipped his head at the giant spoon.

"Moral support? And, I know you'd never know it by looking at me," Neptune began, starting a slow circle around the periphery of the swamp, "but I can yell REAL loud. If you start drowning or your leg starts getting eaten by an alligator... I'll yell for help. For you. I'd hate to not have your pretty face around the Common Room anymore." Truth!

GIGGLE.

"Yes, well, I'm quite fond of my face and legs too. And I doubt there are alligators in here," he glared at the swamp dubiously. He rolled up his sweater sleeves, not that it mattered since he wasn't going in, and readied his spoon-shovel.

And then he poked the edge of the swamp. It wasn't very dramatic, but just in case there were creatures living in it he certainly didn't want them to leap out at him. No he did not. A few more pokes and he gained enough confidence to take a step closer and jab the digging end of the spoon into the mucky water.

"Maybe it's just dirty water," he speculated, but as soon as he said it the spoon nudged something that definitely wasn't water, dirt, or a rock. "Huh?"

Neptune EASED up behind Kellen, tip-toeing lightly on the stone floor. She wrapped her arms around his middle and poked her head under his arm, all the while watching where he'd FOUND something with his creative spoony-shovel. "What ISSSSS it?" she whispered in that AWED, exaggerated way that Neptune was SO good at.

Kellen's grip on the spoon tightened when Neptune put her arms around him again (every time they met? Really?), but he was too curious about the discovery to attempt to wriggle away. "I don't know. Here, move your head."

He lifted his arms around her to angle the spoon handle properly, and rooted around in the water until he found... whatever it was... again. He lifted the spoon from the water, which was harder than he'd thought it would be since he got a layer of sludge with it, but from where he was standing...

"It looks like a book. A really dirty book."

Neptune simply switched sides when he requested she move her head. "OooOOOooOoo ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Pull it out! Treasure! Kellen found treasure!" And Neptune was SOoOOOooo proud! She gave him an extra SQUEEZE, her little hands wadding up his shirt in her EXCITEMENT for him.

Kellen felt a breeze around his stomach and looked down. Jeez, his stomach was white. If it weren't for the fact he had no arm muscles to speak of he'd walk around outside without a shirt on more often. Because that... that was really white. Most parchment didn't... hmm? Oh right, the treasure.

He pulled the spoon towards him and set it on the floor, taking care to tip the point towards the swamp so the excess water and sludge dribbled back in. He fit his hand between each of Neptune's and his shirt, removing her hands one at a time so he could kneel down and grab the book.

Part of him wanted to toss the dripping thing at her, and he did feign a toss in her direction, but then he took out his wand again and tapped the spine of the book, "Scourgify."

Neptune SQUEEEALED and DUCKED down into a squat, covering her head with her arms. KELLEN WAS THROWING SWAMP AT HER!!! SQUEEEEEEEAL!!!!!!


"Not FUNNY, KELLEN!" Neptune STARTED to HUFF in a BIG WAY at him, but changed her mind and instead patted her hair. "Did.... did you get me?" Cue BIG EYES.

Kellen snickered. He couldn't help it; Neptune ducking and squealing was hilarious. He opened his mouth to say he was sorry and ended up laughing a few syllables before finally managing to say, "I'm... I'm sorry about that..." He wasn't, but hey, isn't it the words that count?

"No, I didn't get you." He pointed at a little spot on the floor a good foot from her, "See? That's the closest it got. Now," he held the cleaned book out to her, "would you like to find out what's in it first?"