Egbert was just as glad to be at Hogwarts as Aspen. As soon as she found the chance, she brought him down to the dungeons - his favorite place to fly. He'd recently started eating marshmallows, so Aspen was tossing marshmallows this way and that for Egbert to catch.

She might have also been waiting for one little brother to emerge.


And explain himself.

West's emergence wasn't at all slow or cautious as the word implied. Really, he practically HURTLED through the stretch of wall that disguised the Slytherin common room, and somehow managed to chaaarge right into the midst of Aspen and Egbert and snatch a marshmallow with his mouth.

It hadn't actually been intentional but he wouldn't admit that since it looked pretty impressive.

"Ahhheehn!" He tried to speak around the marshmallow. PAUSE. SWALLOW. "WAIT RIGHT THERE!" He turned around, disappeared back into his common room only to reappear a few moments later with his hands behind his back.

...

...

"These are for you!" He thrust his hand out, a sad looking bunch of flowers, still with the roots on, clasped within. They looked a bit like something you might find wilted on a gravestone. It was clear he'd picked them himself. It was also clear it hadn't been all that recent. Truth was he'd done so the morning before and then forgotten and then they'd been knocked about a bit in his room but he HAD made some effort and filched some hair ribbon from someone and tied that around it.

BEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

West's emergence wasn't at all slow or cautious as the word implied. Really, he practically HURTLED through the stretch of wall that disguised the Slytherin common room, and somehow managed to chaaarge right into the midst of Aspen and Egbert and snatch a marshmallow with his mouth.

It hadn't actually been intentional but he wouldn't admit that since it looked pretty impressive.

"Ahhheehn!" He tried to speak around the marshmallow. PAUSE. SWALLOW. "WAIT RIGHT THERE!" He turned around, disappeared back into his common room only to reappear a few moments later with his hands behind his back.

...

...

"These are for you!" He thrust his hand out, a sad looking bunch of flowers, still with the roots on, clasped within. They looked a bit like something you might find wilted on a gravestone. It was clear he'd picked them himself. It was also clear it hadn't been all that recent. Truth was he'd done so the morning before and then forgotten and then they'd been knocked about a bit in his room but he HAD made some effort and filched some hair ribbon from someone and tied that around it.

BEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM.

Aspen put the marshmallows away, deep into the pockets of her robe. Then, slowly, she crossed her arms, one over the other. This was not how Aspen stood when she was pleased.

Or impressed.

Or particularly warm to weeds picked with intentions.

She made him keep holding them for the time being. "Haven't seen much of you..since... oh I don't know, King's Cross." SOUND FAMILIAR?

He waved them at her.

"I know!" He managed to look a bit contrite for a split second. "I got into Slytherin like DAD! Did you see? Do you see?" He waved the sad flowers at his chest, indicating his robes of course. "But SO MUCH IS HAPPENING ALL THE TIME! Did you know that? On the train I met lots of prefects. Cos that is where I sat. And then I investigated things for the way back," That wasn't being elaborated on, but it involved the clearance between train roof and tunnels, "AND then I got to get on these BOATS, or well on one boat, and we came across the lake and it was SO FUNNY cos some people thought they might fall in and get eaten or something and I LAUGHED and then we were in a ROOM and then I was on that STOOL and the hat kept SAYING STUFF, I was there ALL NIGHT," Not really. More than five minutes, less than six.

"And it thought I might be a HUFFLEPUFF, which is funny because I'm a SLYTHERIN and lots of them say mean things about Hufflepuffs but I don't really get why yet or what a duffer is, and then at the feast I LOOKED for you but there were so many people and it was hard to see and then a girl threw a cauldron cake and it hit THEO and he PEED so I put water on my pants too to make it okay, and this other girl gave us cookies that looked like those things that you hit with a stick that have candy in them, and the Head GIRL is SO MEAN, Aspen! She said I wasn't cool and then she called me STRAWBERRY!"

This last part clearly distressed him and West wavered a bit.

"And then I went for a WALK and couldn't figure out how to get back to the castle and stuff but I met the librarian and he was FISHING in the LAKE and intended to EAT the fish and the pipes all empty out into the lake and the sewerage stuff and everything and I tried to explain and he kept saying weird things and didn't know what I meant so he didn't even check to see if they were okay and didn't understand about fishing just for fun or that maybe there was bad things in the fish cos of the poo and I don't think he knows anything much at all and what if I need to find a book?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

He waved them at her.

"I know!" He managed to look a bit contrite for a split second. "I got into Slytherin like DAD! Did you see? Do you see?" He waved the sad flowers at his chest, indicating his robes of course. "But SO MUCH IS HAPPENING ALL THE TIME! Did you know that? On the train I met lots of prefects. Cos that is where I sat. And then I investigated things for the way back," That wasn't being elaborated on, but it involved the clearance between train roof and tunnels, "AND then I got to get on these BOATS, or well on one boat, and we came across the lake and it was SO FUNNY cos some people thought they might fall in and get eaten or something and I LAUGHED and then we were in a ROOM and then I was on that STOOL and the hat kept SAYING STUFF, I was there ALL NIGHT," Not really. More than five minutes, less than six.

"And it thought I might be a HUFFLEPUFF, which is funny because I'm a SLYTHERIN and lots of them say mean things about Hufflepuffs but I don't really get why yet or what a duffer is, and then at the feast I LOOKED for you but there were so many people and it was hard to see and then a girl threw a cauldron cake and it hit THEO and he PEED so I put water on my pants too to make it okay, and this other girl gave us cookies that looked like those things that you hit with a stick that have candy in them, and the Head GIRL is SO MEAN, Aspen! She said I wasn't cool and then she called me STRAWBERRY!"

This last part clearly distressed him and West wavered a bit.

"And then I went for a WALK and couldn't figure out how to get back to the castle and stuff but I met the librarian and he was FISHING in the LAKE and intended to EAT the fish and the pipes all empty out into the lake and the sewerage stuff and everything and I tried to explain and he kept saying weird things and didn't know what I meant so he didn't even check to see if they were okay and didn't understand about fishing just for fun or that maybe there was bad things in the fish cos of the poo and I don't think he knows anything much at all and what if I need to find a book?"

Aspen let him finish. All the way to the end, no interruptions, no sighs, no signs of weariness.

She made a few mental bookmarks, like to explain what a duffer was and why Hufflepuffs weren't duffers and to find out if Theo had bladder issues and make sure the Nurse knew about it. She'd want the story of what made the Head Girl mean exactly.

His comment about the train trip back certainly didn't escape her notice. But that was for another day, another time.

"I did see you get sorted, of course. I would have liked to wish you luck before hand. It would have been nice to see you on the train. Did you know I looked for you? A lot?" And then worried herself sick that she'd left him alone in London?

She was still not taking his flowers.

"Just because you know fish, doesn't mean he doesn't know books. Be fair, West. Dad would say to be fair." Even if everyone knew you shouldn't eat fish out of the lake.

"What would it have done if you'd wished me luck?" West was curious and then slightly panicked. Would he have been put elsewhere? Or had he risked not being sorted at all because he HADN'T been wished luck? "I was going to look for you TOO but then there was a lot happening and cats. There was a chocolate frog and too many cats. They aren't that responsible. Those prefects. With their cats. One licked shoes and another was peeing but Sierra Greingoth was there! She's a prefect for MY house!" That was COOL right? "She didn't recognise me right away though." not a big sort of surprise? "I signed up for Quidditch!" That was unrelated but still important. "I have LOTS of cool friends now TOO." He did! LOTS.

Andandand.

"I was trying to be fair, but you should try talk to him and see what I mean. He doesn't GET stuff! He's not as good at things as our dad. Or explaining things cos he doesn't know the things in the first place to explain! And he told a girl that salmon wasn't orange. Like as if it wasn't ever orange. Or like how some people interpret colours different. But she was right, oranges admit that they are. And he asked if I was a Ravenclaw? And acted like I wasn't saying anything good!"

He breaaaathed and if it were possible, the bunch of flowers wilted even more. Sad flowers. "I looked for YOU at the feast." He repeated. So they'd both done some looking. They had!

He looked up at his sister all big eyed and earnest. "Can I see your room?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"What would it have done if you'd wished me luck?" West was curious and then slightly panicked. Would he have been put elsewhere? Or had he risked not being sorted at all because he HADN'T been wished luck? "I was going to look for you TOO but then there was a lot happening and cats. There was a chocolate frog and too many cats. They aren't that responsible. Those prefects. With their cats. One licked shoes and another was peeing but Sierra Greingoth was there! She's a prefect for MY house!" That was COOL right? "She didn't recognise me right away though." not a big sort of surprise? "I signed up for Quidditch!" That was unrelated but still important. "I have LOTS of cool friends now TOO." He did! LOTS.

Andandand.

"I was trying to be fair, but you should try talk to him and see what I mean. He doesn't GET stuff! He's not as good at things as our dad. Or explaining things cos he doesn't know the things in the first place to explain! And he told a girl that salmon wasn't orange. Like as if it wasn't ever orange. Or like how some people interpret colours different. But she was right, oranges admit that they are. And he asked if I was a Ravenclaw? And acted like I wasn't saying anything good!"

He breaaaathed and if it were possible, the bunch of flowers wilted even more. Sad flowers. "I looked for YOU at the feast." He repeated. So they'd both done some looking. They had!

He looked up at his sister all big eyed and earnest. "Can I see your room?"

"It would have made me feel better," Aspen responded without emotion. It wouldn't have had any effect, just her own peace of mind. Just her having a chance to make sure he knew the process, what to expect, to be able to check his robes and make sure his shoes matched. Aspen wasn't one exactly get her feelings hurt, but it did gnaw at her a little that he had been too busy with cats and prefects to spare a second for her. "How did you even know I made it on the train? Dad's not here." OR anywhere nearby, "we have to watch out for each other." So far, Aspen was doing all the watching and West was making it HARD.

Why was West continually surrounded by people peeing? Aspen had been at Hogwarts for over two years now and had never once come across someone peeing. West had been there...two days? And had two pee stories.

She patiently, again, listened to him explain about the incompetent librarian - according to West. "If you need a book, you can ask me. Remember me? Your big sister?" Aspen didn't have much use for a librarian anyway, and was pretty sure West didn't either - except for someone to TALK at.

Aspen was still making him hold the flowers until she was sure he had thought long enough about how he'd made her FEEL, but she was unthawing a LITTLE. Around the edges. She unfolded her arms and reached out to inspect a spot on his robes. "You cannot see my room. We're in different Houses." Paaaause. "Did you say you signed up for Quidditch?"

...had he asked? They wouldn't let first years on the team, right????

It would have? He thought about that.

"Because you always do everything right." West answered immediately. Of course she'd made it on the train. She was Aspen! But he deflated in an obvious sort of way. Like the flowers. He RESOLVED immediately though, that he WOULD look out for Aspen. He would try his BEST!

"I'll ask you. I want one on Athanasius Kircher."

... but he WANTED to see her room. "So you can't see my room either? Never ever?" West sucked his bottom lip in, something he did to stop it from wibbling like a baby's lip did.

"Yeah I did!" Quidditch yeah!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

It would have? He thought about that.

"Because you always do everything right." West answered immediately. Of course she'd made it on the train. She was Aspen! But he deflated in an obvious sort of way. Like the flowers. He RESOLVED immediately though, that he WOULD look out for Aspen. He would try his BEST!

"I'll ask you. I want one on Athanasius Kircher."

... but he WANTED to see her room. "So you can't see my room either? Never ever?" West sucked his bottom lip in, something he did to stop it from wibbling like a baby's lip did.

"Yeah I did!" Quidditch yeah!

Not everything, but Aspen did finally reach for the flowers. Actually, she reached for both of his hands to inspect them. Was he taking showers?

Eating more than just dessert?

She wanted to see HIS room, too, and be able to visit and check in and see that his clothes were being washed and that he was picking up after himself. She did. She REALLY did. Aspen had thought of little else since West had trotted/bounced/ran/vibrated back to Slytherin table after Sorting.

The flowers got tucked into her pocket, the one Egbert would get put in later when he returned. He kept doing silent flybys, but Aspen always had an eye out for him and noted a few. "Athanasius Kircher is a big topic. You should be learning levitation and perhaps broom safety." Since ... Quidditch was apparently a thing.

She was DEFINITELY going to have to speak with that Slytherin Prefect. Work out some sort of... deal with him. About West.

Of course though, Aspen would find West whatever book he wanted. Perhaps she'd read it first, too. She didn't let the room conversation continue and picked up at something else. "Are you showering everyday? Do you need anything else? Like shoes or food?" Hmmm. "Tell me the whole story of the Head Girl." Aspen reached for him, for hugs, and to sniff him, and to check his robes, and maybe just for extended hugs and hugs and hugs.

"Oh I can learn all of those things." West waved that concern off. Broom safety? Levitation? He'd have to learn that stuff in class and, to make Aspen feel a bit better, the eleven year old added, "I know the theory of that stuff anyway." Like, you know, in theory, it was good to be safe with a broom.

But he HAD read all the books he could find about Quidditch and flying, and even knew that levitation was with that Wingardium Leviosa spell, with a swish and a flick.

He just wasn't so sure about the swish and the flick.

"Its not been enough days to say that I've been showering eeeevery day." West pointed out logically. "But I like the showers! Sometimes the pipes wail!" Shoes? He tried to eye his feet but it was hard with Aspen hugs, which were more a priority for at least a few seconds before he'd start wriggling out of her arms.

Foooood though, he considered.

apples

"No I'm not hungry right now." OH AND THE HEAD GIRL!

"She said my name wasn't COOL ENOUGH," Which obviously, being as their dad gave it to him, it WAS, "And then she started calling me STRAWBERRY! And then she keeps ON calling me STRAWBERRY! I'm not a strawberry! It doesn't even sound like my name!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"Oh I can learn all of those things." West waved that concern off. Broom safety? Levitation? He'd have to learn that stuff in class and, to make Aspen feel a bit better, the eleven year old added, "I know the theory of that stuff anyway." Like, you know, in theory, it was good to be safe with a broom.

But he HAD read all the books he could find about Quidditch and flying, and even knew that levitation was with that Wingardium Leviosa spell, with a swish and a flick.

He just wasn't so sure about the swish and the flick.

"Its not been enough days to say that I've been showering eeeevery day." West pointed out logically. "But I like the showers! Sometimes the pipes wail!" Shoes? He tried to eye his feet but it was hard with Aspen hugs, which were more a priority for at least a few seconds before he'd start wriggling out of her arms.

Foooood though, he considered.

apples

"No I'm not hungry right now." OH AND THE HEAD GIRL!

"She said my name wasn't COOL ENOUGH," Which obviously, being as their dad gave it to him, it WAS, "And then she started calling me STRAWBERRY! And then she keeps ON calling me STRAWBERRY! I'm not a strawberry! It doesn't even sound like my name!"

Aspen didn't doubt for a second that he knew the theories. But... she also knew that he tended to get distracted. It was more important that he focus on learning the fundamentals. With West though, she might as well have been preaching to the dungeons walls. West will be West. She'd find him the book.

"Everyday," Aspen reiterated. "Tomorrow, the day after, and after. Everyday. And if you get holes in your socks, you let me know. Who did you get a bed beside?" Were they going to be GOOD for West? Let him sleep? Hmm.

Those are GARY's

The Head Girl was telling an 11 year old boy his name wasn't "cool" enough?

...

..

That seemed... well, alright. "And what's her name? Cool is relative, you know." ..... "Start calling her Marshmallow." It wasn't exactly sound advice, but West was 11 - he could get away with such things.

Egbert dropped in and performed a rough landing on Aspen's shoulder. "This is his favorite place to fly. I bet he'll come visit you, if you'd like."

"EveryDAY, Aspen." EYEROLL. Gosh. GOSH. Give a kid a BREAK. "Yeah you can fix my socks if they get holes. I don't like it when my toes go through. I got a bed by Theo! Theo is cool." And other kids but THEO was the coolest.

I'm jealous. My apples here, are soft. Legit

"Selena. I called her Lena cos its short for Selena, you know? And she called me STRAWBERRY." West was NOT COOL with this. In general? Seventh years in his house were FAIL. So far at least. "I don't want to call her Marshmallow, I just don't want her to call me Strawberry." He took on a sliiiightly whining tone, that he really only reserved for Aspen since West wasn't by nature a whiner.

"Yeah?" He brightened a bit and reached out one finger to give Egbert a gentle gentle stroke. "He can come visit whenever he wants to."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tegz

"EveryDAY, Aspen." EYEROLL. Gosh. GOSH. Give a kid a BREAK. "Yeah you can fix my socks if they get holes. I don't like it when my toes go through. I got a bed by Theo! Theo is cool." And other kids but THEO was the coolest.

I'm jealous. My apples here, are soft. Legit

"Selena. I called her Lena cos its short for Selena, you know? And she called me STRAWBERRY." West was NOT COOL with this. In general? Seventh years in his house were FAIL. So far at least. "I don't want to call her Marshmallow, I just don't want her to call me Strawberry." He took on a sliiiightly whining tone, that he really only reserved for Aspen since West wasn't by nature a whiner.

"Yeah?" He brightened a bit and reached out one finger to give Egbert a gentle gentle stroke. "He can come visit whenever he wants to."

Aspen laughed and reached over to muss his hair. EveryDAY, then. She was glad to hear it.

I wish I had bought apples at the store today. Sigh.

"Well, maybe she wanted to eat you up. You are the most adorable Odessa to date," Aspen tried to convey that it wasn't a BIG deal. But... she'd tried to investigate, figure out why the Head Girl was chiding her brother with fruit.

Aspen stooped down so that Egbert could jump from her shoulder to West's. "I'm going to go put my flowers in a vase in my room. Send Egbert back before bed, but maybe you could let him fly around some more down here?" ...."Oh and do your homework. And let know if I can help." Pausepausepause. Aspen went to say more... but.... she was probably already saying too much. So she put a little kiss to his forehead and hurried off.

"Oh... one more thing. You can come to Ravenclaw table sometime. Have dinner with your sister."

And... she hurried off, flowers in hand, one less bat than she started with.

Well he wasn't gonna straighten his hair. It could stay mussed. West the anarchist.

"I don't want to be eaten up and I don't want to be a Strawberry." He grumbled, not comforted by that. BUT Egbert did comfort him and he brightened and peeked at the little bat on his shoulder. Yes yes, he got it."More flying. Homework. Ravenclaw table. Bye!"

Instead of staying in the corridor though, he took Egbert into the Slytherin common room, guessing that the bat hadn't seen it yet. Maybe he could find a way to tell Aspen!

Today, João was happy. Because today he was going to Hogsmeade. With in these quite elegant clothes and all, he walked out of the common room and started for the stairs to the Entrance Hall. Not that he had special plans... it was just a nice day.

Louisa woke up early. Got dressed and prepared herself for the weekend. Feeling quite content and determined, she didn't smile all morning. She wasn't going to until her conscience was free. The girl left her common room in her casual clothes she was supposed to wear on her trip to Hogsmeade. However, she had a short visit to someone first.

Louisa had to ruin someone's mood on this lovely day trip.

Upon reaching the dungeon, after fifteen minutes or something, she spotted the someone. And he was quite happy - well, as happy as the someone could ever be. She stared at him and quickened her pace... he was some tens ft away now.. few ft away... only two...aaand she was standing right in front of him.

The Raveclaw's hand shot up on its own accord, instead of doing the punching thing she intended, she slapped him across the face. The sound echoing off the walls and then in Louisa's head, probably multiplied by ten.

"Stay away from me and my friends." The first thing she had ever said on this fine day. Her voice was a bit scratchy, and it trembled from the anger and hurt bottled up in her. She was seeking compromise and friendship. He was seeking win and aggression.

João frowned to himself in wonder when he heard approaching footsteps. He looked up and saw her. His heart did skip a beat when it was obvious she came for him--who else did she know down her--

SLAP!

Grunt.

That hurt.

That hurt a lot.

He frowned and looked lost at her words, hand going to his cheek due to blow. It was as if his cheek was on fire. In fact, he believed it really was. It was burning so hot that he almost didn't feel it.

Only, he felt it to his last cell. It hurt. A lot.

Stay away from her and her friends? But he had been so friendly to Paulie that he even--

Oh. She was talking about the scumbag.

His eyes hardened too when he lowered his hand at last. He figured his heart and brain burnt with her words much more than his physical pain, though he wasn't used to it at all.

"If that is what you really wish," he muttered, calmly but boiling deep inside. "Because I won't apologise for what I did. I can only apologise for the events that led to it." And he had done that, before, for a few times.

"Because you know that he deserved it." Heck, he deserved much more. She should be glad he stopped there.

Louisa's original plan was to slap him, smack him virtually with her words, and then leave. But he spoke and rubbed his cheek, the Ravenclaw continued to stare hard at him without flinching at the red cheek he'd just gotten from her hand. And yes, it was still tingling but Louisa welcomed that feeling. Joao was supposed to be punched, she slapped just for the sake of Paulie's advice and Adam's supposedly-refusal.

... or not.

She was furious now, because she knew Adam didn't deserve anything like that. He did nothing wrong at all maybe in his whole life. He did not deserve this.

Louisa contemplated punching Joao right now and then... her right hand even clutched into a fist. No. She had better thing to do. Something Joao Neves would be really irritated by, his ego crushing down. And his trip to Hogsmeade probably canceled.

She turned around and started leaving, her hand moving toward her bag and slowly fishing her wand out. When she had it safely in hand, the girl calmly turned her head and hand casting a non-verbal jinx at him. A simple one that would cause his face to break out in ugly looking boils if done right.

And Louisa was darn good in Charms so...

The Prefect pondered whether to cast a shielding charm behind her back in case he countered.

....

....

Nah. She still trusted him not to hurt her. Oddly enough. The girl just continued walking on.

João saw her getting her fist ready. He didn't step back though, because he would take almost anything coming from her, and a fist was included, even if he fully believed it was an unjust fist. But then... she simply left. He didn't like this. He wanted her to say something else. Even a fist was bette--

He was HIT again by a girl. He expected to fall, but instead...

His face. HIS FACE! HIS LOVELY FACE WAS IN BOILS!

He didn't shout or do anything, but that was merely because he was too mad and afraid to do anything at all. She just--she just didn't--he was going to--

Turning on the spot, he concealed his face with his hands and almost ran to the common room. He knew how to fix it, it was a nasty trick but at least easy. But his relationship with her? That was unfixable. He recognised Louisa Carter no more.

Blahhh.

Sierra loathed this particular homework assignment. Why? Because she was more reserved than most students here. She was never really loud or obnoxious. True, she could have a sharp tongue, but she never really yelled or called too much attention to herself.

Nevertheless, she was stuck protesting about homework for this stupid History of Magic assignment. She'd been in the Common Room for a good part the afternoon making a banner to hang up around the school. She'd duplicated it several times, so she should have enough to complete the assignment.

As she reached the end of the dungeon level corridor, she looked around to make sure nobody else was watching. Again, she wasn't really looking for an audience. She unrolled the first banner and looked at it. SASH--Students Against So Much Homework. So the letter M wasn't exactly in the SASH abbreviation, but Sierra honestly didn't care. She held the sign up to the wall, stuck it here with a sticking charm, and then left the corridor.

Nigel figured that since he already put up four banners for his HoM homework He might as well put up the last one quickly.

He had no idea why he was in the dungeons. But he was here. He looked around for a good place to put his poster. Then he saw the older Slytherin Prefect just finish put up a poster about the same topic as him. Well he thought why not put his poster right next to hers to reinforce the point of No Homework

Nigel was standing right next to her poster and started to put up his banner as fast as he could to get out of the dungeons. The dungeons were not his favorite place to be.



He quickly left to get out of the dungeons as fast as he could hoping he would not get in trouble for putting the banner up even though it was homework.

Alyssa sighed. She had suspected that she would encounter problems recruiting any Slytherins student to help her hand out her Slytherin Support the Cause Badges, so she decided that she had to resort to Plan B and that was to do it herself.

She first looked around to make sure that there were no Slytherin Prefects lurking, or worse yet, Professor Lafay. When she made sure that no one was around, Alyssa quickly reached into the bag containing the Slytherin Badges and taking one out, she attached it to the wall of Passageway using the Sticking Charm. Then she dug into her bag again and repeated the process until every Slytherin Support the Cause badge that she had made, was stuck onto both sides of the passageway's walls.

Then she quickly took out a piece of parchment paper and wrote on it.



She then stuck it to the wall using the same sticking charm, before picking up her bag and made a quick getaway out of the passageway and back to the safety of her House Common Room.

Aspen was seated in one of the many nooks along the cold, damp dungeon corridor. She was actually a frequent dungeon visitor and with her hood up, she felt quite hidden. There wasn't quite enough light to read comfortably, but she was content to just watch Egbert fly back and forth.

And back and forth.

Since West had been sorted into Slytherin, she'd let Egbert stay down in the dungeons more and more.

So there the Ravenclaw sat, hooded and silent, eyes on the ceiling so she wouldn't miss Egbert's next fly by. The only movement from her was the occasional toss of a cheesy-doodle into the air.

Wrapped up in about a thousand layers of cloth once again, João left the common room cursing under his breath. He still had to do that stupid creatures sanctuary thing. Big deal. Why he had signed up for such a pointless thing, he was still unsure. Though, assignment was assignment, and he just had to do it. In the middle of the winter, with his blood freezing in the vessels.

Before long, he heard a movement in the darker places of the dungeon. He halted, debating whether he wanted to see it or not. After all, he wouldn't want to just interrupt a sick love-scene. He was okay with anything that kept him from going out, though, so... Wand out, he lighted it silently and went to the general direction of the noise, expecting to see a couple or something. Instead, some girl was there, with a hood on and all. Getting closer as he raised his wand, he saw it was her. Aspen. At the direction of his wand again.

"Hi." He should say something if he lit her all up, right? No, he wasn't lowering his wand this time.