It was almost immediate. Cutty Mordaunt didn't want to be wasting no time and so right after his classes ended that day, the twerp stopped by the Potions laboratory on the way to his common room for some practice brewing. He knew he could do that. Lafay had shown him. Not that the arrogant little cuss ever doubted it. With his classes out of the way, he could literally brew all evening if he wanted to or at least until he scored beard on Lafay's aging potion. He thought it came out rather well last term, given that it was the first time he'd brewed it, but he really could've used a beard at the Hog's Head.

Cutty reached into his pocket for a quill and filled out the notebook giving his fictitious name; Elrod Wrigglefree, the date and the hour.

The lab was entirely empty. He had it all to himself. Might as well chose the best seat and for Cutty that was the one nearest the store. He took a seat and opened his bag, pushing his messy hair away from his forehead. Time to get to work, he pulled out his Potions text book and began searching the table of contents.

Independant potions brewing? .... Might as well get a lot of practice done, right? Right.

This was something Alec hadn't ever done before apart from during his Potions OWL, that one class last year and that one other time he came in here, years ago, to practice brewing. Back when Selina was still at Hogwarts. Trying not to think about that particular day, the seventh year headed over towards the laboratory, his bag swinging by his side as he went.

Notebook? Sure, he could sign that. The boy reached into his robes and took out a quill, his grey-blue eyes still on the notebook and the words written there. Elrod Wrigglefree? And he had signed in not that long ago? ... This was interesting to know.

After signing in his name, the date and hour, Alec headed in to the lab and took a quick look around. It... looked te same as ever; same size, same workstations and same location. A couple of things were different, one of them being the younger looking boy sitting close to the storeroom. So this was Elrod, yeah? Good to know. He smiled at the boy as he headed over towards an empty workstation quite close to the boy and set his bag down. Elrod had chosen well. Elrod seemed to be working. But, and most importantly, Elrod was messing with something this hair-enthusiast was all too obsessed about.

"Nice hair," ... Pause. "Elrod." More smiles.

Elrod????

Oh. Elrod. In his concentrated focus, Cutty had almost forgotten he'd signed in under an alias. Though, unbeknownst to him it was probably in his favour as Headboy could've been amongst the student echelon to have heard of Sophie's little rumour involving him and swarm of billywigs. Cutty looked up and saw a tall boy, an older boy, a badged boy. The latter two details factoring greatly in Cutty's reaction for he did not like being disturbed whilst he studied. Or at any time, really. Unless it was for profit. If one put enough money behind it, one could get Cutty to do just about anything. Thus was his lust for the mighty gold galleon.

"Huh? Yeah? Thanks." He did not want to talk about hair said the serious expression. Just thinking about hair made him think of Tempus. But that was a clue as to where he'd seen this boy before. "You played quidditch last term? I think that's where I've seen you." Ridiculous. He'd been to every Hufflepuff game.

Had he disturbed the boy? Probably. He was just making a comment, though. About hair. Because hair was important, especially to this hair ruffler. And speaking of hair ruffles, he wanted to lean over and ruffle the boy's hair. But that would be a bit creepy, yeah? So, instead, he gave the boy a smile and a curt nod. "Anytime!" Could he say anything else about this while he was at it? ... "Keep it up."

New plan: Get to know the boy then ruffle his hair. Play it smooth, Summers.

Alec pulled out his textbook and was just on the verge of opening it up and looking through the contents when the younger boy spoke up again. ... Blink. Elrod recognised him from the Quidditch pitch? Was he that noticeable? "Yeah, I did," he said, somewhat taken aback, "I was seeker for the Hufflepuff team." ... Pause. "Do you play Quidditch?" Hair and now Quidditch. Good topics.

Cutty hadn't been looking at the Headboy, feeling it very important to concentrate on his potions book and not realizing that this was not-at-all polite. If he had, though, he wouldn't have done it as he, being a wee snake, knew quite well the uses of being in good graces with the school's Headboy...or at least, in his head.

Elrod froze in the middle of turning a page and looked up wearing what he was hoping looked like a fair amount of surprise. "Merlin no! Quidditch is one of the worst games ever invented." And a disgusted sneer for good measure was added here which was followed by a smile. His horrible and patent-pending monkey-esque smile.

"Just joshing. Yeah, I love it! I went to all of the matches last year and before the summer break. Hufflepuff games are always worth the two galleons." Nevermind why, because Cutty...Elrod...What'shisface coudn't explain it. And he'd saved the dosh for this term too, because he wasn't going to miss a single match and he was unaware that it was not normal to charge for games despite the real silver goblets at their opening feast. Also, because if he were the Headmaster, he'd've charged anyway.

... WHAT?!

No. No no NO! This wasn't... no.

Alec's eyes widened as he looked over at the boy. The hair talk had dimmed down and now he didn't like Quidditch either?! Was he dreaming? ... This had to be a nightmare, right? Yeah... he was going to wake up back in his comfortable bed in the seventh year boy's dorms. How was he meant to talk to this boy if the hair talk was dropped faster than a burning Quaffle and the Quidditch talk was off the table? How could anyone hate a game so much? He was about to open his mouth to ask when...

... Elrod spoke.

The seventh year let out a sigh of relief. "I... thought that you really did hate the sport, for a minute there," Cue nervous chuckling. "Really? What makes the Hufflepuff games that great to watch?" Curious Summers was curious. And two galleons? "Speaking of, I... don't think they have the turnstiles again this year." Or the boy just... hadn't seen any on his way to the pitch. Nevertheless, Alec GRINNED at the boy. Not that he minded paying but... they were a bit of a hassle to deal with, you know? Especially... if you didn't have enough money.

Cutty could almost smell it. The heightened adrenaline and particular scent of panic, which Cutty had always found to be rather on the tinny side, tinged the air. The boy could see the wide-eyed expression on the Headboy's face and he was self-satisfied that he seemed to have successfully moved the older student to the B6 square on the chessboard in his mind. It showed on his face, monkey grin still firmly in place. It was at this point that he noticed the Headboy's hair. It was, indeed very shiny. Not like Tobias's hair, but yes, shiny. Maybe the Headboy had hidden hairdresser talents. What if? Cutty felt sure that at some point in time that would be useful.

"Nah! Only complete and utter ..." But his pre-pubescent voice was drowned out by the loud clapping of the tome shutting. His mouth, however, perfectly mouthed his foul sentiment. "...don't like Quidditch."

"Well, it's their players, really." He said casually as if it were a fact. "I find it just amazing how their skill level could easily be utilized to intimidate on the field, but they don't seem to take advantage of this." His confusion was sincere and Cutty was having his thoughts now. The Hufflepuffs, as a people, were useful and they had knowledge which they usually shared, but were they also...docile?! "Don't they?" Elrod asked equal parts startled as glad. What was he going to do with all of that free money? He still had things left over from last term, which he had been hoping to pour into an account of his own at Gringott's, but it had unfortunately been closed over the summer.

The panic on his face hadn't been missed, had it? Probably not. Alec wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. It was... well... Quidditch, you know? It was almost as bad as Tag telling him that he was getting old and that he was going to lose all his hair one day. Way to freak a guy out on his eighteenth birthday, Tag Kildare.

He also saw the look Elrod was giving his hair. Self-conscious Summers was self-conscious. Did it look okay? Was it ruffled out of control? The boy ran a hand through it as slowly and model-like casually as possible.

... Wait... WHAT?!

Alec jumped a little at the loud sound before turning to face Elrod. "You... you don't like Quidditch? I... at all?!" His voice might have gotten a little higher pitched, which then caused the boy to clear his throat before looking back at Elrod. The panic was back.

He liked their players. As a Hufflepuff Quidditch team player from last term, Alec couldn't help but be a little proud of that little fact. "I think... most of the team think they're not that scary or intimidating. Or... we'd rather just use our energy on playing, instead," And he wasn't intimidating. Not even close. "Do you think it'd be more... useful?" Because he knew a Kaid very well. Maybe it was something they could try? Shrug. "Well... I didn't see any when I went. And..." There was something else. Headmistress Pink had said something. "... We got our other items back thanks to the winning's from the Competition last year. So... why not take away the turnstiles?" Shrug.

Cutty was really starting to like this guy. He was tall, strong, athletic, he played Quidditch and his brain was most definitely a potato. Which was how Cutty liked them. Yes, indeed, he would make a very handsome goon this one would. And Cutty was kind of looking for that this term. In fact, for the next three terms he thought he would do well to seek out some muscle of various kinds. "Gits. I said people who don't like Quidditch are gits." He said correcting what he interpreted to be a misunderstanding. "Cutty Mordaunt." He said, purposefully omitting the 't' at the end. "The 'T' is silent and I used a fake name just now for safety's sake. Ya know,...bullies."

The boy's glance cut towards the Headboy's hand as it glided like little fish through his hair. His obsessive little Slytherin brain manifested only one thought-the memory of Tempus fiddling with his hair in Botros's office. Then he started thinking about the boy's hands and how they were always very busy. Cutty held the belief that idle hands were generally a bad thing. Focus, Mordaunt! "Eh, are yew some kind of hair expert or something?"

... That thing about looking cool in front of younger kids? Yeah... that hadn't gone well, had it?

The boy reached up a hand and ruffled his hair when he heard what Elrod had to say next. "I thought you meant... that you didn't..." He shook his head. There was no use. And he was probably going to end up making an even bigger fool of himself. "Or maybe... weird. I mean... it's the best sport out there! What's not to love?" Truth.

... Wait. Cutty Mordaunt? Cutty. Mordaunt? CUTTY. MORDAUNT?! "You're the billywig boy?" he asked, looking at the boy incredulously. No... was it? "Someone's bullying you?" Protectiveness alert. Even if he didn't really know this boy but... people shouldn't be bullying other people, you know? Alec looked around the room before dropping his voice and saying, "Are you being bullied by Sophie Newell?" Head Boy needed to know this.

The seventh year hadn't noticed the glance towards his hair this time. All he knew was that there had been a glance towards that direction before and he had to make sure his hair looked good. It was a necessity, you know? Making sure your hair looked per-- ... Huh? Hair expert? "Well... I know a lot about hair and how to keep it looking good," Did that count as being an expert? "Why'd you ask?"

A soft, clicky-metallic sound was made when Cutty took out his cauldron and moved it about on the surface of the desk, having decided which potion he was to work on that day. His head was down as he worked to layout and clean his tools of the trade, which he did by use of magic.

His eyes shot open when he felt the Headboy's hand upon his head. He'd given Cassia Somerlad permission, but maybe it wasn't a bad idea to allow anyone with a badge touch-permission. Maybe? Maybe. Yeah. The corners of Cutty's mouth curled up in a pursed lip smile that somewhat resembled his mother's. He looked like a freshly awoken baby orangutan by the time Headboy was done with him because his frail and straight hair stuck straight up if he'd slept on it. And it stayed that way as the Slytherin boy ignored it. "That's exactly how I feel about it. Best sport in the entire universe!" Cutty mostly liked the high incident of accident and injury, and the strategy. To him, it was the engagement of scheme with all of the promise of a blood-sport. He was a barbarian.

What happened next was totally and utterly unbelievable...at first. Cutty expression washed to neutral, which may have given his ruffled hair a more ridiculous backdrop than the wide-eyed smile. He was able to ignore the Billywig boy comment for now, because Headboy!Alec was a gift that kept on giving. "What?? N'Noo." He said trying his best to be convincingly unconvincing. "I'm not afraid of some girl. I mean, even if she does have a temper and tried to beat up a fifth year student in our house...I just..No, no, I'm not." But, there was some part of him that genuinely didn't want to land Sophie Newell in trouble. Some weird Slytherin solidarity thing that they did in the name of house points. Or so they said. "Oh, please don't do anything to her. It's not her fault. She sort of fancies me and well, ...yeah." He said, trying to put a jilted-lover angle on this steaming pile of Abraxan excrement as he opened up a pouch full of little crystal phials his mum had gotten him from Diagon Alley. And, then he thought to add, "Though, if she pushes it too far, I promise I'll come to you." Confident nod. Confident smile. Because he knew Headboy could handle this. Oh, yes.

Cutty laid out his crystal phials one by one in front of his cauldron and then as casually as he could asked, "As for hair. Well, that's sort of why I asked. I can't do a thing with mine and I was wondering if you had any tips or secrets?" Like some type of initiation process. Hogwarts hair club for men. "And, what do you mean 'Billywig Boy'?"

The fact that the younger boy was taking out his cauldron made the Head Boy realise what exactly he was here for. Potions. Independent brewing. Not to, you know, check out observe Billywig Boy's hair. But the Hufflepuff couldn't help it. This boy's hair was so... lush. How did he keep it looking so well? Alec wanted answers.

He grinned at the way Elrod Cutty's hair stuck up everywhere. See? Awesome. Mental approval was made towards the boy's hair and the way the boy was smiling. So he didn't mind the hair ruffling then? Good. Alec was very pleased. And this meant that his plan had worked, yeah? He had finally played something smoothly. This was a cause for celebration, obviously. "That's quite the compliment, you know," GRIN. "But I'm glad." That he liked the game so much. Nodnod. ... Wait... "If you like the game so much... why don't you try out for your house team?" Unless the boy had done so already?

... Confused Summers was confused. And slightly alarmed. Cutty was saying no but... it was obvious that he actually meant that he was being bullied. That's what it sounded like to the Head Boy. WHOA. HOLD THE SNITCH. "She tried to beat up a fifth year?! Why?" Did Cassia and Theo know this? He furrowed his eyebrows as he kept on listening to the story... and then it made sense. Fancy. She fancied him. So this was a matter of the heart. "Do you like her as well?" he asked, eyeing the boy carefully for any tell-tale signs. Except... it was hard to do so when the Slytherin was going ahead with his potion. Alec did hope that the boy wasn't looking for love advice from this awkward seventh year. What would he even say? Give her flowers and chocolates? Write her a poem? Actually get her a billywig for her birthday? "Thanks for saying that." Cutty earned himself a smile and a pat on the shoulder for that.

Hair. THIS was something he knew a lot about. His grey-blue eyes landed on the younger boy's head again and he observed it quietly. Tips? Secrets? "Well... do you use conditioner? Conditioner's great if you want to keep your hair looking healthy. But... you want to find a balance, yeah? Too much of either one and it'll become greasy or... dry and flakey." Serious!nod. "Oh! Well... someone came to the Prefect's Compartment and said that you let out some billywigs on the train." Pause. "I think... you might know who I'm talking about." Sophie Newell: the girl who probably drew hearts around Cutty's name in her diary.

... Do girls do that?

The little Slytherin boy opened up his book again and stuck a quill in the middle like a book mark. He eyed the potion that his he's-out-there-somewhere-bestmate, Benzi Rider had pursued last term. It would do.



Cutty's thin little body moved a little forward with the pats given upon his back by the Headboy, to whom he smiled up at wearing some kinda I know I can trust you cause you are older like a big brother smile. Then he stood up to go and fetch his ingredients, taking his wand with him for the sake of practicing his charms. "I'm afraid I'm just not too good of a flyer myself." The bottles clinked and chinked as he grabbed them each in turn. "Besides, then I would have to go up against you and I couldn't do that." Normally detailed Cutty forgot to examine, too, what sort of relationship it would build with the cat-eyed Slytherin Captain, about whom he tended to be neutral. When his arms were full of bottles from this apparently complex potion, he used his wand to levitate the rest.

"No." He said adorning the simple answer with a shaking of the head. "We're just...well, I'd like us to be friends." He wanted to make sure that was out there first before he went on to explain. "Oh, there was this older girl, Genie." But he refrained from saying the fictitious name because of the reaction it caused in the girl and he wasn't going to send his best goon out there unprepared. "And she got into a row with Caleb." He went on, omitting the fact that Genie had punched him in the face. "And Sophie sort of jumped in. But Healer Tillstrom was there in a green dress and she broke it up with her muscles." And not her wand. She was a brute and Cutty liked that about her. He wanted to see her fight someone. Probably the Headmistress. Headmistress Truebridge would probably beat her like a bludger, though. That's where Cutty would put his money.

Back at his seat, Cutty began to go through his ingredients. "Yeah, m'moom packs all that stuff for me." Though, Cutty didn't always like the process of bathing. It made his skin feel weird and took too much time. He filled his cauldron with the water portion of the potion and nodded at Alec's last words. "I think I do and I feel bad for her, honest. It isn't her fault. Poor thing was struck with me the moment she and I met at the opening feast last year. We were first years." In case Alec didn't know.

Right. Yeah. No more staring at the hair. That was creepy, Summers. He shook his head and turned to look at the contents table of his recipe book instead. Potion... he needed the right potion. The boy would have started with something simple but he was here with company. And the practical portion of the NEWTs wasn't going to include a simple potion. So... he was going to go with a long one with lots of steps. Like...

... The Elixer to Induce Euphoria! Bingo.

He flipped to that page and just so happened to glance over at Cutty in time to see him smiling. Smiles could mean a lot of things and he hoped that this was a good one. He grinned back at the boy and watched as he headed over towards the storeroom to get the ingredients he needed. Not too good of a flier? "Sometimes you grow, you know," ... Erm...? "In terms of flying, I mean. You grow. Learn new skills. And... West might not think you're bad, you know." Go up against him? Alec let out a small chuckle. "Why not? Not scared of the awkward seventh year, are you?" Kidding, he was.

No? "I hope she realises that." Nodnod. "And if not, erm... let her down gently, yeah? It sounds like she could do something... dangerous if you're not careful." And how did he know? Because of the beating up story which Cutty had gone on to explain. "I... wow!" He wasn't sure what to think about this: on the one hand, the Sophie girl -- who looked small that time she had come to the compartment -- had jumped right in and on the other hand... the Healer was... beefy? Was she? "That sounds nice of her to... defend this Caleb guy like that." The Head Boy did think she went about it the wrong way but shrug. To each their own, right? "Is the Genie girl okay?"

While the boy talked, the seventh year took out his cauldron and placed it in front of him. There. "That's nice," he remarked, shooting the boy a small smile, "What about gels? Do you use any of them?" Alec wasn't sure what it was but something inside of him really wanted to help somehow. Maybe it was his Hufflepuff traits. Or just him. Whatever it was, he felt helpless at that moment. Maybe he could talk to Sophie about this issue? ... Maybe. "Maybe your hair caught her attention." He was VERY serious about this suggestion. "Maybe she's been trying to get your attention this year, too. By... setting you up and trying to get a bunch of student leaders on you."

... Pause. "Girls are weird sometimes."

The boy's laughter was like a quick sputtering of monkey chitters, but then he'd stopped it very suddenly in order to try and look serious. "No." He held his mouth together, but it only ended up giving him a crooked smile as he kidded and joshed with the Headboy, about being afraid of him on the pitch. One of few times Cutty didn't realize he was behaving in a childish manner enough to stop himself from doing so. The Slytherin took his cleansed tweezers and fished out 3 Belladonna leaves, cleansed the tweezers again and then took out 5 Billywig wings. He realized that he was going to need measuring instruments and he went back to search for tools; a cup and a tablespoon. He took them back to his seat and used his wand to clean them.

"Oh, yeah, mate! I'm always gentle with the girls." It was the boys we had to watch out for, apparently. "Genie's alright. I think. And, Caleb's her twin. Sophie's twin, I mean. That's why she fought off the older girl." And that sort of made Sophie sound like a decent human being, which Cutty immediately regretted upon hearing Headboy Summers's take on what Sophie's agenda could've been. He hadn't thought of it that way. He had only assumed that she was trying to get his name out there. Well, he was going to take advantage of this. Oh, yes he was. "Maybe. I hadn't thought of it that way." He was slowly re-corking the openings to the bottles and peering down at the recipe again, he drew out his gloves for handling the leeches. Oh! And he would need his wand, apparently.

He aimed carefully beneath the cauldron and let the spell rip. "Incendio! Did anyone seem particularly upset?" He asked, sounding a bit worried as he separated the sprigs of valerian.

The laughter, the no and the smile was enough to make Alec let out a small chuckle of his own. "It's great that you're not," Because the boy really had nothing to be afraid of. Nothing. Shooting the boy a swift grin, Alec grabbed his textbook, got up and headed into the potions storeroom. Ingredients, you know. Some of the ingredients were grabbed, levitated out and set down on his desk. Second trip? He disappeared back into the storeroom again and called out, "So... what potion are you making?" They were both in the laboratory for a reason, yeah? A reason that had nothing to do with hair.

Unfortunately.

Coming back out of the storeroom with the rest of his ingredients, he set them down on his desk before saying, "Good... because... they can be scary sometimes, you know." When they were angry. Especially the ones who liked Beating. Don't ever want to cross female Beaters. Alec still had no idea who this Genie girl was. New girl?"Oh! So... she was trying to defend her brother, then." Having no siblings, the boy didn't know what this would be like. He did have an Astrid and a Candy Girl and a Minnie that he held brotherly affection for so if anyone did anything to them... he wouldn't be able to do much. Shaking his head, he looked back at Cutty and smiled a little. "Just something to think about, man," Nod. Was this useful? He hoped so.

Upset? The Head Boy furrowed his brows and tried to think back to the train ride. "No... no, I don't think so. She seemed... frantic. And she left nearly as suddenly as she came in." Why did Cutty want to know this?

"Eeeermmm..." Cutty really had no reason to lie to the Headboy, given that most potions could in fact be used for one covert & illintentioned purpose or another, but with the billywig story and his whole spitted game on Sophie, he thought it best to cover his wee pale buttocks. "It's called Lingualaxus Serum. I saw my friend make it last year when we had to brew our own potions in class." One by one he counted out seven springs of Valerian, trying to chose ones that were of equal size. He then checked on his water, making sure it wasn't yet too hot or boiling over. He still had time to break out a mortar and pestle, which he cleaned along with a measuring spoon before tossing in two tablespoons of poppyseeds. "What about you?" He asked, actually genuinely curious as he crushed away at the poppyseeds.


"Yeah. For sure. Something to think about." Did Alec know he was giving an already suspicious and sometimes downright Machiavellian child terrible ideas? Baad, Alec! Baaad Headboy Summers! Cause you know what? CUTTY LOVED THIS!!! He saw it as Alec informing him and keeping him aware of flying knives...for FREE!!! "Can they be? Girls? Scary, I mean. You have a girlfriend, don't you? You're not afraid of her?" Cutty had never met a female that he was terrified of, save his own mother once or twice...but like he'd admit it. The Slytho looked down into his mortar to judge his poppyseeds. Almost there. Not too fine or they would be a powder and the potion clearly called for a dust.

Cutty's hand froze along with his entire body at the last thing the Headboy had said. He looked up from his poppyseeds looking displeased. Cutty imagined doing what he wanted to do, which was shouting at Mr. Potatohead, 'Not Sophie! The prefects!', finishing his potion, but messing it all up because he was such an angreh little snakeling. As quickly as it came though, it subsided in the mercurial little terd and he brushed it off with a smile, because afterall, it did help to know Sophie's intention. "Oh?" With a shake of his head he went back to his potions. "I suppose her feelings for me are worse than I thought they were. I can have a talk with her when I get back to the common room. In the meantime, I hope I haven't given your fellow student leaders any cause to worry over me. I would never release billywigs on the Hogwarts express." Brilliant as the idea was. He checked on his water once more and thought he'd better get started on adding the ingredients. He grabbed a stirring instrument and cleansed it.

Alec was used to erms. He was Alec Blake Summers. Erm was definitely in his vocabulary. What he wasn't used to was talking about... potions. Quidditch, sure, but potions? Hardly ever. "Impressive," he commented, nodding his head slowly, "That's a truth serum, right? ... Erm... not a strong as Veritaserum?" ... He could be making things up. Maybe. Especially the last bit. He wasn't going to make up what it was he was making so, clearing his throat, the boy continued, "I'm making the Elixer to Induce Euphoria. Erm... I thought I'd try and go through as many potions recipes in the book." You know, if they were giving reasons for this.

Something to think about? Alec grinned at the boy and nodded. Sure. Continue thinking about... these things, Cutty. It wasn't a bad thing, yeah? As for the topic about girls being scary, the eighteen year old let out a small chuckle before shaking his head. Scared of his girlfriend? "No no! I mean... she can be scary sometimes, but... I can sway her with a--" And he broke off. Why? Because 'kiss'. How old was Cutty? Was it acceptable to mention that word in front of him? "... with a grin." There. He wasn't going to mention anything else. "She's the Head Girl, actually, and sometimes plays Beater. They... can be a bit scary." And there is some Quidditch caution for you too, Mr Cutty.

The Head Boy didn't notice the freezing that had happened. No. Why? The boy was busy finally starting his potion. He cleaned his cauldron using magic and started looking around for any other signs of dirt. Nothing? Good. He could con-- ... Feelings. Feelings being worse than he thought they were. "Yeah... yeah, I think that's a good idea." ... Pause. "Though if her brother is as protective as her... erm... be careful, yeah?" Wouldn't want Cutty to have to deal with a heartbroken girl and an overprotective brother at the same time, yeah? "Erm... no? I think the student leaders were fine by it. There was some scepticism, too," Shrug. "Thanks for saying that, though."

"Yeah...yeah...I'm working m'way up to Veritaserum." He had almost asked the Headboy if he knew how to brew Veritaserum, but one thing at a time, Cutty Mordaunt, one thing at a time. Instead he grabbed the Essence of Wormwood and the end of his stirring tool.

1...2...3...4...5...6...7...aand, 8 drops. Stirring in an anti-clockwise direction after each was added as per the instructions.

"With a grin? You must have one of those smiles that wins things in Witch Weekly Magazine. M'moom reads that." But Cutty himself didn't understand how a smile could do half the things everyone said it could do, except maybe garner trust. Definitely not sway someone to cease being scary. That is, he didn't understand yet, and let us all be thankful for that. "Soo, no beaters, huh? I'll keep that in mind." How good it was that Tobias was a chaser and occasionally a keeper. Cutty was not about to deal with one of those aggro athletic boyfriends all pumped up on Re'ems blood and who would ever be asking him, 'Where are you going all dressed up, huh?!', 'How come you were out so late?!!' and, 'Who's Robert?!'. Cutty would NOT deal with that well. Another thing that Cutty was not dealing well with, or actually not dealing with at all, was the fact that his brain totally placed Tobias in the boyfriend role just there, but he sort of shrugged this off to the blame of his generally intense interest in the boy. "Did you say she was the headgirl? You're a Hogwarts power-couple, aintyeh?"

He listened carefully to what the Headboy was saying about the situation with the Two-wells as he added the cup of jobberknoll blood with a very steady and even hand whilst stirring. Was the headboy saying he was worried about him? "I'll be careful, I promise. Members of my house are known for their clever ability to get out of situations like these, aren't we?" He momentarily removed his gloves and took up the billywig wings and crushed them into his potion following them with the belladonna leaves. He took a whiff of it. Was that what it was supposed to smell like? He had read something in the library recently about how certain potions take on smells personal to those that were smelling them. One, in particular, was an indicator of love. "Can I ask you something?", he asked with twinges of curiosity he might've been working to conceal as he added his crushed poppyseeds to the mix. "I mean, you said you had a girl, but...how do you know you're in love with her?"

It was a sufficiently late hour by now but the Gryffindor hadn't gotten done with her cleaning as yet. This was mostly because of her distraction in the form of the potion she had brewing while she worked. Every few shelves she cleaned had her stopping to check on her solution. Multi-tasking with Potions was never a good idea but she need to get it down somehow and needed the Potion done by the time she was or a little after.

After dusting the last of the vials on the middle shelf of the back wall, Lex walked back to the boiling cauldron in the centre. It almost looked done. Good thing too cause she was just about done in here.

Midnight was still a decent hour. She'd gotten Alice to make sure the others observed curfew (so nice of her offering help and Lex not being a snot but accepting it, the girl came in handy). This was perhaps all the excuse she needed. "I think this is the part where we add the Erumpent Horn...what d'you think? Does it look right?" She asked, nodding toward the cauldron for her kneazle to have a look. He was just as a good a judge of these things as she was thanks to the training she'd given him and all.

He took a quick look then nudged the horn toward her. Lex added it carefully then gave it a few stirs in a clockwise motion.

While she waited on it to settle again she walked over to the cupboards. No way she'd get them all clean tonight, especially not with her being meant to have left 3 hours ago but she culd start because her Potion was still doing its thing.

"See it bubbling up yet?" She asked Felix from her spot crouched on the ground by the open cupboard. This whole thing needed reorganizing. A quick glance at her kneazle caught him checking before curling up again, a sure sign it wasn't ready. Alexa began unpacking the contents. Had to start somewhere.

Why had Cambridge, of all students, been made Prefect? The girl definitely had the spirit for it, but she was more irresponsible than even Alice- which was saying something. Being a Captain, she took her duties to relate more to sports and the general welfare of her house rather than trivial things such as making sure the little ones observed curfew. Who cared if they had circles under their eyes? Letting them face the consequences of their actions was as good a punishment as any. But since their only other student leader was off doing Merlin knew what, it was her job.

And she was grumpy because of it.

But the seventh year did her best thinking after hours and had insomnia because of certain things anyway, so it wasn't like SHE planned on observing curfew. As soon as all the baby lion cubs had been tucked in, Alice had gone tailing after her beater, following her trail all the way to the laboratory. Potions? Alexa had ditched her responsibilities in favor of schoolwork? Something was seriously wrong with that thought.

"What are we brewing and who are we testing it on?" She hopped into the seat next to Lex's cauldron and gave her expectant looks.

... well? Surely she didn't expect Alice to trust her by herself after midnight with things that had the potential to explode?

Lex had gotten to the back of the cupboard by now, having unpacked almost everything without any sign from Felix that the cauldron might have been boiling. Was he just being lazy and not telling her or was the potion seriously going to take its time when she had a Common Room to get back to? Sigh.

The Prefect grimaced at the amount of dust on the jar of flobberworm mucus. When's the last time anyone even used this? You could plant a garden with all the dust this thing had!

She turned to locate the cloth she'd been using on the items in another cupboard and spotted Alice entering. Was everyone in bed then? Alice was more responsible than she was. There was no need to expect otherwise--unless she came to complain about something or someone. Lex....wasn't interested. The girl should have made the long walk to the Greenhouse and told Professor Bentley instead. Oh but no she was asking about the potion.

"Erumpent Potion and I dunno yet. Next kid to royaling tick me off? Or maybe just anyone if I'm bored enough." She would have explained what it did but Lex was positive Captain was better read than she was so...."Thought you'd gone to bed. Did someone set the Common Room on fire?"

Oh there it was. Lex snatched up the cloth and go to wiping. "Is that thing bubbling yet?"

Working his way up to Veritaserum? Alec nodded slowly as he magically cleaned his cauldron and filled it up with water. "Hope you get there, mate," Though, to the Hufflepuff, Cutty seemed more than capable of making Veritaserum but... ... that wasn't saying much, right? He was no potions expert.

Thank Merlin for Cutty believing him. Alec would have let out a sigh of relief but... that would just give things away, yeah? Although, he did feel bad but... this was for the boy's own good! He didn't need to know that the Head Boy used kisses, as well as grins, to sway his girlfriend. He was young, you know. A young healthy lad of Slytherin. "You think so? Maybe you can be the judge of that?" And with that, the boy grinned down at the younger boy. And no beaters? "Well... you can if you want. I just think... beaters can be scary so if you're dating one, you have to be careful that they don't send a bludger your way, you know?" He wasn't scaring the boy, right? Please say no. "Yeah... yeah, I guess you could say that?" Power Couple... well. That was something he hadn't heard anyone refer to them as before. ... Maybe. "We've been dating for a while now." GRIN.

Cutty seemed like a smart boy from what Alec was picking up. The eighteen year old watched the younger boy in awe for a while before piping up, "How is it that you can keep up without getting distracted?" Maybe that aid a lot about him. Multitasking, you know. "I guess so. You're lucky in that way, you know." How many people can say that they can get out of tricky situations easily? ... Ask something? Alec nodded and was about to reach over to grab the fluxweed oil when... he paused. Oh? This was about love? Curious, he turned his grey-blue eyes to look over at the younger boy. Why did Cutty want to know about love? Hmmm? "Well... you know those really cheesy love songs? They start making sense. And when you listen to them, you only think of that one peron you love. One day, you'll... you'll look at someone or think about them and you'll just... know."

... Pause. "Do you like someone?" There wasn't really anyone else here so Cutty could spill the beans. ... Maybe.

Cutty's little smile stayed put as Alec gave his words of encouragement. He reached for the Valerian sprigs and began to crush them into his potion with his hands watching as each little crumble hit the surface of the potion and caused a ripple before sinking to the bottom of the cauldron.

He meanwhile listened as Alec went on about smiles and when he told him to judge, Cutty looked up to see the Headboy flashing his winningest smile. It put him in a playful-type mood and his hands and arms lifted as if to block an incredibly bright light. "Whoa! Hey-hey! Wayo! You need to frown immediately. Some of the potions ingredients could be light sensitive, mate." He said matter-of-factly. "Dating for a while? Oh, yeah? Since when?" He asked both for politeness, but also he wondered how long people usually dated whilst they were in school. One month? A few weeks? The whole time they were here?

"H'mm, oh you mean brewing a potion and talking at the same time? Well I have to keep on looking at the book, but basically I try to just remember at least three steps at a time. Keeps it simple, but moving at a steady pace, see." Was that everything? "Oh and do the prep work before. You know, crushing, cutting, juicing, cleaning, that sort of thing." Strategy. Yes. It was a good thing.

When the topic turned to love, Cutty nodded at the mention of cheesy love songs. He knew what type of song Alec was talking about, even though hadn't heard one in a good long while. He let all of that sink in, but it still made it a bit difficult to tell whether or not what he was experiencing was love, having no song to test it on. He was tempted to ask the 18-year old if he knew how to make love potions, but that might have casted him too mischievously before the Headboy.

You'll just know.

"Yeah...YEAH! I like somebody." After all the Valerian had been added, Cutty reached for his cleaned gloves and added the leeches and with each one the potion began to draw redder and redder. "But, I can't say. I don't want to embarrass this person."


Cutty's hair was still perfectly in place from when Alec had ruffled it.