He was whistling some vaguely upbeat tune not very well. By the mischevious activities of hiding, disguising and charming his sweets supply the tune seemed to take on a slightly more macabre feel. Cutty was quick this time and he headed directly to the Slytherin boys' dorms to make sure Caleb or the other little secundo's didn't see him. The supply neatly stowed away, with little bits here and there, Cutty grabbed his house coloured scarf and headed back to the common area.

The Slytherin boys dorm rooms were a sight that had become very familiar with Terry, mainly because he had spent most of last year sat in them studying for his OWL exams and barely had the opportunity to get out. This term he was hoping it would be different. Despite having NEWT's in seventh year, he could use sixth year to both relax and occasionally revise because there was no way he could just wing the exams, that would guarantee him failure.

He plopped himself on his bed, throwing down his rucksack onto his pillow, its contents of textbooks and parchment paper spilling out onto his duvet covers. He wrinkled his nose at the mess, contemplating whether he could be bothered to tidy it up now or do it later. Deciding the latter was the better cause of action, he flopped backwards and stared up to the ceiling of the four poster bed.

Urgh. Where were the rest of the sixth years? He was starting to get a little bored.

Bueeeeeeeghhhhhh... backache.

Theo dramatically pushed the door to the dormitory open and flopped face down onto his bed, which funnily enough, did not do anything good for his flipping backache. "Ow-CH." He sat up and rubbed it, and may have quickly peeked a look around the room to see who was there to watch his show. No one? No on- TERRY!

Perfect.

His eyes shut again and he continued to rub his back even though it proved very difficult to do it on himself. Maybe Terry would rub his back for him. Why was this even crossing his mind? "Hiii..." He said lazily.

The door of the dorm swung open and Terry perched up on his elbows to see who had entered. He was about to open his mouth to speak, glad that it had been Theo who had entered and not one of the others that he didn't know so well. But the other Slytherin had crossed the room and faceplanted the bed. A sight which looked absolutely hilarious from his angle.

The boy cackled as Theo complained, not being able to help himself. Who wouldn't laugh when their mate flopped face down onto their bed? He stopped laughing and raised his brow when Theo finally realised that he wasn't actually alone in the room. Yep, he definitely should've caught that on camera.

"You actually looked and sounded like a dying Walrus belly-flopping into the water" he laughed, a small smirk on his face. Terry was sure he was becoming more Slytherin day by day. "What's up? Have you injured yourself?" he asked, regaining his composure.

Was Terry laughing at his PAIN and SUFFERING? Weeeeeell... frown. "Hilarious." He said rather sarcastically. Best comeback ever, sheesh. Theo stopped rubbing his back and laid himself gently backwards so his head was resting against his pillow. You know, he hadn't spoken to Terry in ages. Was this an appropriate time to have a good old catch up?

On his deathbed?

"I was working out." He said proudly for a moment. "... but I think I overdid it... a bit." Noooooot so proud. He was working out extra lately for secret reasons, but yeah, much too excited to get epic abs.

"You look like you're having fun." Theo eyed his stuff, and KINDA smiled. But no, actually, the mess made his head hurt, so he stopped smiling almost immediately and sighed a little to himself.

Oops. Theo clearly didn't find it funny but Terry certainly did. He stopped laughing and kept an amused smirk on his face. "Oh come on, it's not every day you see someone face-planting their own bed." If he'd seen Terry do it, he would've laughed, surely?

His eyebrow shot up when Theo revealed what he had actually been doing. Working out? In Hogwarts? Had he turned the Room of Requirement into a gym or something? "What? By using first years as weights?" he asked, the funny image suddenly coming into his head. "You do realise you're supposed to stretch and warm up before you do any form of exercise right?" That usually eliminated any chance of pulling your muscles and suffering afterwards. At least it did when Terry went running.

Yes, okay. Terry had made a mess of his bed, he knew that. "Not my fault, my bag decided to empty its entire contents as soon as I sat on the bed." And he just couldn't be bothered to tidy it up yet. He eyed the pile and then shoved it all under his bed to sort out later. "There. You didn't see anything."

Theo looked like he wasn't in the mood for joking about and Terry wrinkled his nose in protest. Deciding that he probably should help his mate out rather than laugh at his misfortunes, he offered him some advice. "Ice helps to reduce swelling if you've torn a muscle. And heat should be applied to relieve pain after any swelling has gone down" he suggested. "Or you could always go see the Healer." But she probably wouldn't be particularly impressed by the reasoning behind the pain. "And cake always helps" he reached under his bed, pulling out a large plastic container full of iced cupcakes.

West came in sniffing, a Quaffle in one hand.

But no, really, he could smell something. Food something. Yes? It was like... a wafting of sweetness. Okay so he had been heading to the dorms anyways, and it was just a total coincidence and all, but when he smelled the thing, the food-of-some-potentially-delicious-sweet-kind, he did speed up. The tall Slytherin appeared in the doorway quite suddenly. Like one second he'd not been there and the next he was. Because food made his approach seem almost magical.

Like he'd been summoned by cupcakes.

"Hi food." Pause. "I mean Terry." Terry's food. Nod. The captain didn't take his eyes off the container even as he cheerfully launched himself over Jozsua's bed, danced past the end of Theo's, and then made a graceful descent on his own, right there next to his best mate's of course. The Quaffle he tossed onto Ascanius's bed.

Freeing up hands for potential free food see?

Also, what happened to Theo? West examined him head to toe. Hmm.

"I'm tiiiiiired, what do you expect?" Theo whined and pulled a pillow over his face. Ah, this was comfy.

Theo grinned at Terry. "Narrr, nothing fancy like weight lifting." Because weights were hard to come by at school, and he certainly wouldn't ever touch a first year. "Just push ups and pull ups and stuff." Was pull ups an actual thing? Like when you pulled yourself up and down from monkey bars? Theo was good at those since he had good arms, yup. "I knoooow that." State the obvious, Terry. "But yeah, I didn't warm up long enough and maaaaaan, my back hurts."

He made a confused face at Terry and needed a moment to wonder about his bag. Was it a magic bag that had a mind of its own, or something? "Really?" He said, rather intrigued. Ew, ew, ew... he pushed it all under his bed. Ew, sloppy tidying, that was.

"Oooh..." He had a point. "I have a hot water bottle in my trunk!" No ice in there unforutnately, so he'd pass on that. "And I ain't gonna go see the Healer." Nevvvvvvvvvvvvvvver.

Theo didn't notice West fly through the door since he had a pillow covering his face, but when he spoke, he opened his eyes and pulled it off. Oh, hi to you, too. Theo sat up, GROANING IN PAIN, and patted the bottom of his duvet that West ruffled up a bit as he went past.

Huh.

"What?" Did he have something on his face? Or something on his hawt body because West was looking there as well...

Tired? Well then it was an interesting method of getting onto your bed, by faceplanting it. "Well you could just sit down like a normal person. But hey, whatever floats your boat, Theo" he chuckled. He rolled his eyes jokingly as Theo shoved the pillow over his head, leaning back himself to rest against the headboard, fluffing up his pillows before he did so.

"Who are you trying to impress?" he asked with his left eyebrow raised high. There was clearly a reason behind this sudden want to build his muscles up and that reason was usually female. And how did he manage to hurt his back?! Wasn't it the abdominal muscles that were usually strained by that form of exercise? "Well you're not going to get a back massage in here if that's what you are after" he chuckled. Yeah, he'd have to try the actual common room for that one. There would probably be a few third years willing to do so.

What? Why was Theo looking like that? "No. I didn't do it up and I threw it on the bed" he replied. "I'll tidy it up later" he whined as Theo looked disgusted at the mess he had made underneath his bed. It was his bed, he wasn't particularly fussed by mess. And it was only his textbooks and quills and parchment. School stuff. Not that important.

"Well there you go then." Hot water bottle it was. "Just make sure there's no swelling because believe me, it'll make it worse." And judging by Theo's moans right now, that was not something he wanted. "Why? Are you scared of her?" he chuckled.

Terry shrugged as Theo seemed to completely ignore the offering of cupcakes but then West made an entrance and Terry turned to watch him walk in. He had clearly smelled the waft of homebaking from a mile off. He raised his brow as the food was greeted before he was himself. "Glad to see food takes priority over your mates" he responded sarcastically, opening the lid of the plastic contained.

"I suppose you want one?" he asked, offering the box out towards him. "Go on then." Because sharing was caring and all that. Plus Terry wouldn't be able to consume them all himself and also friends were the best people to give them to. They didn't criticise.

"Nothing, bro." West answered Theo cheerfully. "Just wondering if you're sick or something. Its too early to be all comatose on your bed like that. And there's a tryout in a few hours. The last one even." And then West had the 'fun' of cutting people and assembling the team. So. Yeah okay. It was possible he'd borrow his best mate's head on that, just to think out loud.

And all that groaning... West tilted his head to one side, a vague amount of concern which really translated to hoping his Best was going to be okay for Quidditch... so yes, West did have certain priorities, as Terry soon pointed out. West grinned at the other boy and answered casually,

"Well once I have my energy up, I'll have plenty to expend on you guys. Y'know, for if you want my advice for anything." He put his guru face on, very wise and all-knowing, but only for a second because soon enough he was smiling at the offer for food. Yeah! "Thanks!" He did bound over and take one and then plant himself on his own bed quite comfortably. Cupcake! Soon he'd have to cut back again but for now, well, nope. Enjoying things were better.

... also.

Because probably neither of them actually knew yet... West dropped a bombshell with utter casualness.

"Bliss is back at Hogwarts."

Theo fell silent at the whole 'who are you trying to impress?' thing, because he had to think about it long and hard. There certainly wasn't any GIRL that sprang to mind, apart from the usual suspect. His main reason for extensive working out and exercise was for Quidditch purposes. "No one." He said, but really he was most likely trying to impress West. Making the Under 17s team over the summer had done a weird thing to his competitive streak. He wanted to be better. Finally, he smirked when Terry declined his unspoken request for a back massage. Maybe West would help a bro out.

"Sure. Maybe I'll help you. If you're lucky." Theo WAS used to sloppy tidying standards after years of living in a dormitory full of boys. They weren't as messy as they COULD be, but to him, an unmade bed was an abomination.

Oooookay... he was dumb but he knew stuff about exercise, okay? "I know. I work out all the time, I was just being lazy today." He said in the nicest way possible. Theo laughed shortly. "Scared? Of Tillstorm?" Ha, ha, ha... "She's not a patch on Lafay." Theo's face suddenly went serious. "But no, yeah, I am kinda terrified of her."


Theo nodded at West, then groaned some more at the mention of a tryout. "There IS? Dunno if I'll come..." He rubbed his back a little and paused to think about it. Priorities.... sleep or Quidditch? "Ugh, okay, I'll come." Because he couldn't resist Quidditch, especially when it was the last one. He wasn't expecting his performance to be up to standard, though, but hopefully he had done enough to nab his spot on the team anyway.

To be honest, Theo didn't doubt it for a second.

Before Theo could explain to his friend about his back, because he was getting more looks, he brought on a whole new topic for discussion. Bliss. Bliss was back? "She is? Huh... that's cool. Have you spoken to her yet?" He asked.

Heh. No one?

Liar!

Terry quite frankly didn't believe that for one second but he wasn't going to push the subject matter any further. The long pause before he actually answered was evidence enough and to be perfectly honest, if it was for a female, he didn't really want to know. Instead he merely raised his eyebrows and shook his head at the smirk. The sixth year didn't even know how to do a massage, not that he ever would. Yeah... No.

Urgh, tidying was a chore, one that Terry really didn't want to do. "Ah come on, I gave you advice on your back its only fair you help a mate out in return." That and Theo clearly had a problem with the mess he had made under his bed so he should want to help him out. Yes? He'd only caused a messy pile on his side of the room, under his bed anyway. Theo was just particular about the tidiness of their dorm, something Terry really didn't get.

The Slytherin snorted at Theo's response over their Head of House. It was true, their heads always seemed to be the most intimidating. It didn't deter from their awesomeness though. They were proud of their Snakes and that was all that mattered, even if they were willing to do anything to get them to win everything. "So if you get really ill are you going to sleep it out?" he asked genuinely intrigued. Terry didn't care, if he was ill he'd see the Healer but the seriousness on Theo's face told him him he really was scared. Something he found hilarious seeing as he was a Prefect.

Wait. What advice? "I don't play Quidditch, I don't need any advice" he chuckled. He never got the sport, it was cool to watch and Terry would always be there cheering them on but playing? That was a completely different matter. Plus Terry had no chance of keeping up with his dorm mates, they were probably best in the school. The cupcake offer was quickly snatched up and Terry turned to look briefly at Theo. "Don't you want one?" he asked. Come on, they weren't going to waste.

Terry was just about to place his container back under the bed when West mentioned something extremely casually. He looked up straight away. "Really?!" he responded a little too enthusiastically perhaps. "When did you see her?" Yep. Real casual.

But actually, scared of Tillstorm? West was not on board with that particular opinion. He still thought the healer was great, and had for pretty much his entire Hogwarts career now. Not just because she was actually competent (and lets face it not all the adults what worked here were), but also because he felt like she respected him and was patient enough to answer questions, and generally her efficient Slytherinness was a comfort to him when he missed his dad.

He nodded at Theo, completely convinced that his best mate WOULD show to the last tryout. Because it was Quidditch. And also a bit because he was the one running it and that meant Theo would be there with bells on if West actually required them.

He didn't, FYI.

West made brows at Terry. "I wasn't talking about Quidditch advice." Girl advice actually. Obviously something West was awesome at; people with lady parts... and possibly some people without lady parts, liked him plenty.

He finished his cupcake and then looked between his dormmates at their Bliss!reactions.

"Yep. Really. I talked to her a few days ago... and then earlier today we sat and chatted in the courtyard a while. She's nervous about being back... and Elodie punched her apparently. I dunno if Blue has said anything." Y'know, girl politics or whatever. Shrug.

Paaause. "I should probably tell Alice that Bliss is back." Y'know, just to make sure current girlfriend didn't think he was still hung up on ex-girlfriend and therefore hiding things from her. Yeah. That'd be bad.

Oh, dearrrrr.... Theo wasn't being sarcastic before, you know. He really WOULD help him tidy up his mess. He really WOULD probably do the whole thing for him. "Fine, fine, I'll help ya out." He smiled wide.

Theo shrugged, which hurt a little, but he was a brave soldier. "I won't get ill." Not from working out anyway. His body and abs were used to it."I pull muscles all the time, no biggie." And yes, he was kind of making a big deal out it all, but hey, Theo was a drama queen. He zoned out a bit when Terry and West discussed things. Something about advice giving. West really was the best advice giver. Especially about girls. Theo would know.

"Yeah, listen to him." He butted in a little, then wiggled his fingers over the top of the cupcake that Terry just offered him. "Sure, thanks." NOMNOM.

He choked on his cupcake a little, "Elodie punched her in the face????!"

What a welcome back.

"Why?!"

Theo nodded at the whole telling Alice thing. "Probably." Yeah, good luck with that one, mate.

Yes! Cleaning was one of those things Terry just hated doing. He had always complained when he had to do it at home. The Slytherin wasn't organised, his books were usually stacked in a pile and his equipment was tossed under the bed. That wasn't to say his side of the room looked like a dumping ground, it was just not as pristine as Theo's clearly was. "Thanks" he grinned. Well that solved one problem then.

He really didn't like the Healer did he? Oh dear. "I'm not talking about after 'working out'" he raised his brow. "I mean in general. Crazy stuff goes down in this school, you never know what's going to happen." Seriously. It was mental. But it was brilliant all the same and Terry would never change it. He would for certain go visit the Healer, but then again he wasn't actually scared of her. She was pretty cool as far as Head of Houses went.

Wow. West certainly thought a lot about himself didn't he? It was true though, he had his way with the ladies. The sixth year wasn't jealous but it did make him wonder exactly how he did it. "I'll let you know if I have my eye on a someone then." Maybe. Depending on who it was. Heh. He packed away the rest of the cupcakes under the bed after Theo had chosen his, taking one out for himself and making sure there was enough for the rest of their dormmates.

He too was halfway through his cupcake when West casually dropped in that Bliss had been punched. He withdrew the cupcake, his brow furrowing slightly with concern. "Is she alright?!" he asked.

He was about to ask why but Theo got there first. He nodded in agreement with the question.

Such a lovely greeting. Not.

West had nothing particular to add to the mess conversation. He kept his own bed and area in the dorm tidy mostly because he knew Theo had a THING about mess, and it had really effected West's own habits in a big way.

"I'll give you a back rub later if you like." West offered to Theo, not seeing a single odd thing about it. He knew his mate was too wimpy to go to Tillstorm, at least not unless it was bad enough that West had to force him.

He grinned at Terry. "Yeah, you should let me know. Unless its Alice." That would be a thing to avoid, yeah? Terry had used up his quota for crushing on someone West was dating. Yeah, West wasn't stupid. But it didn't matter now did it? He didn't blame the guy anyways.

As for right now, West didn't at all mind the attention being on him, and he was perfectly willing to discuss Bliss's reappearance and her subsequent face bashing at the hands of Elodie.

"Yeah... she's okay. She brushed it off like no big deal but that's Bliss. She wouldn't fuss about it." West considered things. "I mean Elodie was mad... about a lot of things. Girl drama. And then Bliss leaving... I dunno." He shrugged. "A lot of people were upset about her leaving." He paused to reflect on this. He could think of one person that wasn't... Alice. But then again if Bliss hadn't left, then probably he wouldn't have kissed her, and Alice wouldn't have reason to be so anti-Bliss in the first place? Hmm. It was weird thinking back to that. Over a year ago and all. He WAS glad Bliss was back... but he really needed to let Alice know.

Finally, a back rub offer. Theo let out a long sigh of relief because he knew West would help him out. "Oh, cool... thanks man." SEE, TERRY? It wasn't weird... or was it? Thinking about it now, he probably wouldn't let Terry all up in his space anyway. You had to meet certain criteria to gain permission to touch a Theodore Kinsley... which sounded absolutely ridiculous but was totally true.

Ooooooh, gossiping.

"Do you?" Theo sat up, turned over so he was leaning on his stomach and wiggled his feet in the air. Huh, looks like that back was making a fast and miraculous recovery. "Have your eye on anyone, I mean." He didn't laugh at West's comment about it better not being Alice, because he suddenly remembered the time where he thought Terry was crushing on Dora. That was a big thing, back in the day. Hmm... maybe he could find out the truth right now, hmmmmm...

"Aren't they dorm mates?" Daaaang, that would be awkward. Theo couldn't imagine fighting with the same people he has to share a room with. He had to deal with that enough at home, for starters. "Better go and find her tomorrow." He said as more of a mental note to himself.

Sure, Theo wasn't one of Bliss' best friends but he could kind of imagine that she'd want anyone to hang with after being punched in the face. Poor gal.

As the other two discussed massages and back rubs, Terry fluffed up his pillow and leaned back against the headboard, assuming a more comfortable position. By the sounds of the conversation they were going to remain in here for a while. And quite frankly Terry couldn't be bothered to leave their dorm anyway. The weather wasn't particularly brilliant and he had absolutely no need to. Unlike the others with their Quidditch practices.

"Well don't worry, you haven't got an issue there" he responded to the comment about Alice. He didn't know her particularly well plus he wouldn't go after his mates girlfriends anyway, no matter what others thought. But Theo had to interject and their conversation turned more into a gossip session at a girly sleepover. He sunk back in his bed, avoiding eye contact. "No. Not at this very moment." He didn't think anyway. Circumstances could change.

Thankfully the conversation changed back to Bliss and the Slytherin was much more willing to engage in conversation. "Enough to punch her in the face?!" Was there really a rational explanation to physically hurt someone. He frowned a little as he thought but West seemed to reassure that Bliss was fine and so he moved the conversation on.

"Did she say why she came back?" Not that the sixth year was complaining. It was obviously a good thing. But there must have been a reason for her transfer back to Hogwarts.

Nod. No problem. West didn't mind if it meant Theo was fit and healthy for Quidditch. Selfish reasons, see? He'd do the same for any of his friends. All over massage. For health reasons. For Quidditch.

"I know." West assured Terry cheerfully enough. Nobody in this dorm would be dumb enough to start crushing on Alice if they wanted to stay pretty. But lookit him being all evasive and whatever. West didn't press, he just shrugged. If that was how Terry wanted to play it that was on him. Maybe he didn't like anyone but that was boring yeah? West could barely remember a time not liking someone, personally speaking.

"Yeah they're dormmates." Shrug. And shrug again to the face punching. "I can't presume to understand a girl that craves spaghetti mixed with ice cream when she's on her... well. Y'know." Yeah. Elodie. And her weird food choices. Not that West minded playing fetch sometimes, he was good like that. He gave Theo a quick smile of encouragement, because he thought Bliss would like that, and then looked at Terry.

"To do with her mum's work, mostly." That was the reason he'd got? But also, "If you wanna know more detail, you should ask her." He didn't want to go into much detail in case she'd said things to him in confidence and all that. "I'm really glad she's back." Missed her and stuff.

Not at this very moment?

That meant that he HAS had a crush since being at Hogwarts. Theo's mind was buzzing all over the place, thinking of possibilities, but he decided not to press Terry any further on the subject. "Huh." He smiled a little, actually, he tried not to giggle. "Interesting." Anyway... back to this cupcake.

Spaghetti and ice cream? Ew, Theo made a face. Elodie was kinda weird, he thought, but hey ho, he didn't know her well enough to make any big judgements. "We should sneak her in here for the night." He giggled as he swallowed the last of his cupcake. Hanging with Slytherin boyz was the best kind of luck for any Hufflepuff, right? HA...

Were there any more cakes going?

Yeah. Crushing on friend's girlfriends. That wasn't going to happen again. That didn't get him anywhere, not that he would have pursued it anyway, he wasn't like that. People were together and it was definitely against the 'bro-code' to get in between anyone. Not going to happen. But the look Theo was giving him worried him slightly. "I'll tell you when I do" he avoided the subject one last time, choosing to lie back and stare at the ceiling for the rest of the conversation.

Only for him to sit up with his eyebrow raised at Theo's suggestion. "In here? With a load of boys. She's either going to absolutely love that or think it her worst nightmare." Depending on her current stance. Their dorm wasn't particularly messy, it probably got a little muddy from Quidditch Uniforms and stuff but apart from the occasional pile of clothes or books, it was pretty good. "I don't expect our conversations are riveting for her" he chuckled. Usually a toss-up between girls and Quidditch. Maybe music thrown in there somewhere. But hey, if she hated her dorm-mates that much, she was welcome.

"I will" he commented, flopping back down onto his mattress. He'd search her out sometime in the castle. Tomorrow, maybe today. "Me too" he agreed before shoving the box of cupcakes over towards Theo with his foot. "They'll go stale if I leave them any longer." Not that they needed an excuse to be consumed, that was the purpose of food after all.

Cutty was up first. He didn't like setting alarms, because if it went off there was the chance that it might wake Caleb or Angeal and then they would ask where he was going. Besides, Cutty found Caleb a right grouch when he hadn't had enough sleep. Cutty didn't want to deal with either circumstance, so he drank as much water as he possibly could at dinner time to assure his body would wake him. He'd done this before. It was how he was getting in his secret workouts.


Groggily, Cutty made his way to the boys lav, which felt like it took forever, and on his way back he just happened to reach up and scratch the side of his face. To his surprise and delight as his palm moved across his chin HE HAD FOUND A FULL GROWN BEARD!!!

"Caleb! Caleb! Get up! I have a damn beard!" Cause Cutty HAD to show someone.

Someone was yelling. WHO WAS YELLING at this time of night?? Caleb had been sooo tired lately, he'd been going to bed at like, 8 PM most nights if he'd finished his homework already. It was exceedingly LAME.

"What the bloody hell..." he muttered as he sat up. Oh great. It was CUTTY of all people. Caleb found the boy pretty tolerable after last term, but he still wasn't his favorite dorm mate. He blinked and adjusted his eyes to the darkness, and saw that Cutty did, in fact, have a beard. A FULL bread. It looked so ODD on him!

"WHOA! That's...so weird! It just popped up like that?" he asked. It made him think about his own facial hair that was coming in all salt and peppered colored, but when he ran his hand over his face, he just found stubble like usual. Not that he was complaining. Cutty looked like such a dork right now with that beard.

"Yeah, mate. Just like that." Though, it was still might've been too dark for Cutty to see that not only had it grown in more fully, but it was also completely white. The excitement had started to subside a bit and Cutty reached beneath his pillow for his wand his wand. "Want to do charms homework?" He asked randomly at butt o'clock in the morning.