"I don't know, anything else, I'm not going to be alone in the Shack," Airi said, her jaw set in resolutely, because they could not talk her into this, nope, it wasn't going to happen. "And I'm not even good at decorating," Airlia lied, absently playing with her hair and avoiding looking at anyone. Secretly, Airi was very good at decorating, but they didn't need to know that...

Airi felt like a wave of relief wash over her as the oldest Vincenzi excused himself from their group, it was much too difficult for Airlia to be around him without feeling giddy.

"See you mate," Ned called out to his best friend, if Victor thought it was that easy for him to get out of this, well he had another thing coming.

"What do you mean you can't decorate? You're a women," Ned joked, gently poking Airi in the ribs, the Ravenclaw squeaked at the boys teasing and poked him right back. "Ow, that hurt," Ned said, rubbing at the sore spot o his ribs, Airi only rolled her eyes, knowing better then to take anything he said seriously.

"That means nothing, now give me a real job.... " Airi said, smiling away like the cat who ate the canary.

".... Find a secret passageway out of the castle, there, that's a real job," Ned compromised, staring down the Ravenclaw with his serious, stern look.

"Fine, in that case if you need me, Owl me, bye guys," Airi promptly said, smiling at the others before making her way down the hall.

"Okay, now we can start," Ned said. "Courtyard first?"


It was another warm day, all of October had been warm, something Peter the Precarious took great pleasure in, because even if he was dead, he could still appreciate sunshine and good weather.
He had been swimming in the Black Lake, one of his favorite hobbies, and after a pleasant afternoon of lounging around and talking to the mermaids, was now heading to The Kitchens.

He floated through the walls of the dungeons, smiling as their coldness washed over him in clear waves. It was one of the perks of being undead, that he could as easily slip from one side of the school to the other without a problem.

Peter slipped into the kitchen and found to his delight one of his favorite members of the living, the lovely Vianna.

"Hellooooooooo," Peter called, his voice echoing throughout the kitchen as he descended to her level.

Vince laughed when Ned pointed out that Airi’s being a woman was good enough reason for her to be Hogwarts’ own Martha Stewart. Seriously, though. What could the little Ravenclaw help with? When Ned decided she’d be assigned the task of finding a secret passageway out of the castle, Vince’s eyebrows raised in admiration.

“Smart,” he approved with a nod. If there was one person perfect for a job like that, it was certainly Airi. Psh. Vince knew he certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it. He’d either get distracted by some beautiful brunette or fall asleep in an empty classroom before even thinking about the job ahead.

When Ned decided they’d head to the courtyard to invite some people to the party, Vince furrowed his brows. There was an unusual look on his face - a look of thoughtfulness. “Courtyard’s good, but I think I’d be able to fish more people at the Great Hall,” he decided, making his first real, coherent, logic-based thought of the day. “You go to the courtyard, I go to the Great Hall, we meet up in an hour or so?” he suggested.





Vianna smiled gratefully as an adorable little house-elf came up to her and offered her a chocolate-chip muffin. The girl took the delicious treat into her hands and watched the little creature disapparate before taking a bite.

And then an eerie voice was echoing throughout the entire kitchen.
Jumping a little, Vianna looked up from her muffin, only to find a set of breathtakingly bright green eyes looking in her direction. The girl let out a breathless sigh.

“P—Peter…” she muttered with a grin so stupid it actually confirmed the fact she was related to Vince after all. Realizing she probably looked like a big doof, just standing there all sparkly-eyed with a half-bitten muffin in hand, Vianna shook her head slightly to snap out of her daze. Like a good Vincenzi, she got straight to the point: “I need you help.”

Ned shrugged faux modestly as Vince praised him for his clever thinking. He had to admit it was rather smart to have Airi passage hunting, she knew the castle better then any one of them considering her Prefect status, not to mention how many people would be willing to help the beautiful and kind girl.

"By Jove," Ned said, shocked at Vince's clever thinking, sometimes the boy could come up with some really banging ideas, when he actually put his mind to work, Vince could actually be rather bright. "Vincey, you've got yourself a deal, we meet in one hour... in front of the statue of the Humpbacked Witch," Ned said, knowing better than to leave things vague, just because the boy had had a clever thought, didn't mean Ned could trust him to think on his own.
"See you in an hour," Ned shouted out, practically running down the hall in his eagerness.


Peter laughed at the Vianna's silly smile, she was a total sweet heart, with a mischievous side that Peter couldn't help but admire. Taking the half eaten muffin from her hands, Peter thrusted the whole thing into his face and was rewarded with the most subtle taste of chocolate and sweet bread.

"These House-elves get better at making food every year," Peter said, floating on his back over the young girl's head as he spoke. He smiled brilliantly as Vianna mentioned needing his help. Well, anything for his favorite Gryffindor!

"Of course, what ever do you need my dear?" Peter said, his vibrant green eyes sparkling with the promise of mischief yet to come.

Vianna watched with a dazed look on her lightly-tanned face as her ghost crush took the chocolate chip muffin from her hand. Had it been anyone else, she would’ve hexed their hands off right then and there, but this wasn’t ‘anyone else’. This was the only boy she’d ever really liked since starting Hogwarts, and she seemed oblivious to the little problem that… well, he was a ghost.

“They do, don’t they?” she commented with a dreamy sigh as Peter mentioned something about the elves’ cooking. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure what he’d said, as she’d been a little distracted admiring the green of his eyes, but she knew the right thing to do was to agree to whatever the comment had been.

Oh. Right. What she needed.
Vianna had to shake her head once again to snap herself back to reality. “So… you know Ned Hall, right?” she asked, her rosy lips curving just very slightly into a smirk. Before Peter could respond, she had continued, “He’s going to spend a night at the Shrieking Shack. I need you to gather all the ghosts and give him a fright,” she explained, then her brows furrowed slightly. “I think he might go with a girl, I’m not sure,” she added as she remembered Fion (she had no idea about the party Ned was planning, so she couldn’t warn Peter about the obnoxious crowd and loud music that would actually be there). “Can you do that for me?” she asked hopefully, blue eyes sparkling at the ghost the way they so often did when she was begging one of her brothers or her parents for something.

Sweet Vianna, her mind always b=seemed to be somewhere else when they spoke, Peter wondered what it could be that would render the usually sharp girl into such a dreamy state. Often, as a joke, when Peter would find her in such a mood, he would purposely get her to agree to whatever silly thing he said, it was one of his more beloved past times.

Peter was smiling like a maniac as he listened to Vianna's proposition, Ned Hall was one of the few Slytherins Peter didn't outright hate, but they had a little pranking war going on and Peter was more than eager to scare the living delights out of him. "For you Vianna, I would gladly do this," Peter said, bowing elegantly to the young girl (he was a ghost, bowing elegantly was kind of a ghost thing).

"When is this all happening? I need to get ready, call the others... Who to call, who to call? There's so many," Peter said, half speaking to Vianna, half speaking to himself, all the while never keeping still, but twisting and turning through the air with a particular grace. "Oh but this is you plan, what will you have me do? I'm at you bidding?" Peter asked, as valiant as a knight in shining armor.

Vianna beamed brightly as Peter agreed to helping her with her plan. YES! She’d kind of jumped into this already knowing her beloved favourite ghost would play along - one of the main reasons she liked him so much was their mutual love for mischief - but it was still mice to hear him say that he would help her. Oh, and her name. Yes, to hear him say her name was a nice bonus as well.

Oh.
When was everything happening? Errr…
Knowing Ned… “Most likely tonight,” said Vianna thoughtfully, her eyebrows furrowing slightly over her blue eyes as she tried to predict Ned’s plan of action.

And then Peter was asking her what she would need him to do. OH. She hadn’t thought that far. In all honesty, she’d kind of just been thinking about how bright his smile was during her journey to the kitchen. No time to actually make plans. “Well, I’ve never been inside the Shack, but one of the biggest fears everyone has about it, is that murderers and Azakaban fugitives hide there,” said the girl as she tried to brainstorm while speaking at the same time, “What if you and the other ghosts pretend to be serial killers? Or dementors? You could wear a black cloak, or carry an axe…” Vianna’s blue eyes were sparkling again, though not with love and admiration for the green-eyed ghost anymore (though that was still part of the reason), but with the thrill that came with plotting a prank against a good friend.

Tonight?! Well, that didn't give the ghost much time, but he thought he could manage it, he would have to call in a lot of favors, and he would have to quickly formulate a plan of attack, though it wouldn't be too hard, the Hogwarts ghosts collectively felt that protecting The Shack's image was a duty they needed to uphold.

"I can do tonight, I'll have to be a little late, but I'll be there," Peter said, flashing Vianna a large grin, finally settling down from his earlier excitement and taking a seat on the counter nearest the Italian.

"That could work, I do a mean Fenrir Greyback impression, and Sir Nick has this character he does, this creepy old merchant... Its spectacular, I'm sure I can get him involved," Peter thoughtfully said, resting his head on his pale fist. "The Dementor thing would be hard, I can't really simulate that cold feeling... Not unless they walk through me, maybe there's a spell you could use?" Peter asked. He was a patient ghost, liked to plot things out, make them perfect, and this prank sounded like the mother of all, so he wanted to be extra meticulous.

Vianna squealed with excitement, clapping her little hands as Peter assured her that he would be able to crash the party (which they didn’t know was a party) that very same night. “Thank you so much, Pete! I promise to pay you back. With interest,” the girl assured him with a nod, nearly bouncing around the kitchen with excitement. With Peter and all the other Hogwarts ghosts on her side, she was SURE to win this bet. And, as an added bonus, skip the date with Ned. Perhaps she could replace it for a date with her favourite ghost instead.

The girl grinned as the translucent boy went on to share with her the impressions he and the other ghosts could do. “Oh, it’ll be a huge success!” she declared happily. “Ned will have no idea what hit him…” Mwhahahaha!

Oh, right. Getting the boy or his lady friend to purposely walk through the ghosts would probably be a bit challenging. “Well, I know there’s a hot air charm I always use to dry my hair… there must be a different charm with the opposite effect,” muttered Vianna thoughtfully, her brows furrowing and her gaze falling to the floor as she tapped her chin with her index finger thoughtfully. “But don’t worry about that, I’ll figure it out,” she assured him with a nod, looking up again. Yes. Just leave all the spell and charm stuff to the mischievous little witch. “All you need to worry about is gathering the ghosts and making sure absolutely no one besides us and your ghost friends knows about this.”

Because it would seriously ruin her week - no, her whole term - if the plan failed because Ned knew what was coming ahead of time. Talk about buzzkill.

Peter was practically cackling as he and Vianna's plans began to take shape.
The ghost could hardly wait for later that night, he was bustling with energy, something that very rarely happened to the ghost anymore, but with Vianna had begun happening more frequently, it felt like she was a tether to his old life, even though she had not been a part of it, just being around her was a reminder of his previous life.

Probably because she reminded him so much of himself at that age.

"Whatever you say mistress, I'll leave that bit to you... Now, what should we get started on... " Peter said, his voice trailing off as he thought. He was pacing, or as close as a ghost could get to pacing anyway. "Keeping it a secret will be hard, especially if I tell Peeves... " Really inviting Peeves would not be the best idea, even though he had the most brilliant ideas, peter couldn't say with certainty that the poltergeist wouldn't hurt the students, something Peter was very against.

"Who else is in on this with us?" Peter asked the Italian, wanting to make sure he knew the playing field correctly, obviously he ad to be mindful not to frighten Vianna, but was there anyone else he should avoid scaring? That's what he needed to know.

Though she made an enormous effort to stay focused, Vianna simply couldn’t stop herself from growing a little distracted as she watched Peter pace back and forth - or, float from left to right at a dizzying speed. He was just SO handsome! She sighed dreamily at the sight of his translucent profile, admiring the way his emerald green eyes turned thoughtful, as full of life as any other living student’s. She didn’t even realize that she’d stopped blinking a long time ago - not wanting to waste a second not worshipping his face - until her blue eyes began to sting.

Ugh.
Right.
Focus, Vi, FOCUS! The girl shook her head slightly, closing her eyes shut tightly for a moment before opening them again, determined not to become distracted by her deceased friend’s eternal beauty.

“So far, only you and I know the plan,” the girl explained when he asked who else was in on their little scheme. She wasn’t sure if she should include her brothers. Most likely not. She knew Victor would be team Ned - if on anyone’s team at all, and Vince wasn’t very reliable. Yep, looked like she was on her own this time.

"Just us? Works for me," Peter cutely said, floating back to where Vianna stood, he was looking into her eyes now, they seemed a little too pink, maybe being in such dim lighting had hurt her eyes? That was a living thing right? He couldn't remember.

"Vianna, are you alright? Something seems a little weird with your eyes... They're very... Pink," Peter said, tilting his head and getting even closer to the young girl to better inspect her baby blues. Well, whatever the case, they had better get going, they didn't have a lot of time until the dare!

"Come on babe, let's get going," Peter said, unthinkingly walking through Vianna in his eagerness to get going.

“Just us,” Vianna repeated with a nod, her tone dreamy as she uttered the words. It sounded so nice! Oh, if only it could always be just her and Peter. Forever and ever. <3

The girl snapped out of her daze when he pointed out her eyes were beginning to look pink, shaking her head slightly to dismiss his observation before proceeding to follow the ghost who happened to walk right through her at that moment. Whoa! She shuddered at the feeling of ice-cold water dropping over her head, but shrugged it off and continued to follow the translucent boy.




Meanwhile, down in the dungeons…
Robert did not like this part of the castle at all. It was damp and cold and dark and eerie and, worst of all, caused his allergies to act up even more than usual. He walked down the dark corridor at a quick pace, not necessarily because he was in a rush to get out of there (he’d just had a meeting with the Potions professor at the lab), but because that was just the way he walked. Despite his average (though a little short for a guy) height, his walking speed left most in the dust.

“Ah—ah—ah-choo!” Rob’s sneeze echoed loudly through the dungeons before he proceeded to blow his nose onto the handkerchief he kept wrapped around his irritated nose, just as loudly and obnoxiously as he had sneezed.

A little known fact about Airi was that she loved wandering Hogwarts alone. When she had been younger, before her Prefect status; she had been confined to memorizing it's hallways and secrets during the day, but now, every night that she was on patrol was a night to discover more about the beloved school.
Airi knew things about the castle other students didn't. Like that the Tapestry on the third floor had a secret room hidden behind it, or that if you told a riddle to the painting of Rowena Ravenclaw on the seventh floor, she would reveal a door to a hallway that led all the way down to the to kitchens.
She wasn't proud or arrogant enough to think she was the only person to have learned these things, but rather Airi was proud to be part of the few students who had uncovered them.

It was why the girl was more than happy to be assigned the role of finding a hidden passageway to Hogsmeade.
The Ravenclaw had decided to start in the dungeons and work her way up, it would far less complicated that way, and considering how many people HATED the dungeons, Airi felt sure she would be able to work in peace.

Airi knew for sure of a passageway on the fifth floor (she'd found it in her fifth year), but with it still being relativity early in the day, the young girl knew she wouldn't be able to check it out, without being seen.
So until then, she'd look for an alternative route.

She was tapping a statue of Jester the Just, when she was startled from her work by the sound of an echoing sneeze, a sneeze that sounded vaguely familiar. Stepping away from the statue, Airi could see that it was one of the twins, William, or Robert, she could never tell them apart unless she heard them speak.
"Bless you," Airi said, smiling sweetly at the twin. (She should really have just let the boy keep walking, but being the polite girl that she was, she couldn't stop herself).

As he saw the tiny hint of afternoon light up ahead, Rob quickened his pace even more. He just wanted to be out of this place already! Though, the outside world wasn’t that exciting either. There were mosquitos there and gusts of wind that sent him on coughing fits and left him shivering on the floor unable to move.

And then a voice spoke.

”GYAH!!!”
Jumping nearly a mile into the air, Robert turned around so abruptly, that the motion caused his heavy backpack to almost drag him along for a second, full-circle turn. His heart was beating fast in his throat, threatening to crawl out should something jump at him. The boy’s already-pale expression had turned a slight shade of green now, and his dark eyes were as wide as saucers behind the frames of his glasses.

With sweaty palms clutching at the straps from his backpack, he opened his mouth, “Wh—who’s— who’s the—therrr-errr— there?”

It was then that he saw her - the most beautiful creature in all of Hogwarts: Airlia Mondai.
Robert gulped loudly.
MERLIN’S DIRTY SOCKS!!! AIRLIA MONDAI HAD BLESSED HIM!!! Overwhelmed by the absolute epicness of his afternoon (this was the highlight of his entire day - not even, his entire week), the boy began to very nasally chuckle to himself, eyes shyly glued to the floor. “O—oh, I—I—I, uh, I didn’t, err… I didn’t see you there, Air-Ai-A—A—A—A—A—A—Air—Ai—Airi…” Just saying her beautiful name took the breath out of his lungs.

“Uh… n—not that I wouldn’t—uh, normally see you— I mean, you’re, uh, very noticeable— er, your face… it—it’s uh, easy.. to spot— I just…” He scratched the back of his head nervously, before daring to glance up at her. AGH! She was blindingly beautiful! It was like staring straight at the sun! “Oh, but— uh, thank—thank you for… for blessing me, I, uh, I— I— I— I appreciate it."

Airi watched with concern as the twin (She still wasn't sure which twin), quickly turned not once, but nearly twice, his arms flailing with unbalance, she gasped as the young man nearly fell over. Taking in the boy's panicked expression and paler than usual skin tone, she immediately went to comfort him as she was feeling rather guilty for causing such a reaction in the boy. Cautiously, she placed her small hand on his shoulder in comforting manner.

"Hello, um, are you alright? You seem very out of breath," Airi asked, looking over the boy with concern. His pupils were slightly dilated and he seemed to be very tense, perhaps he was having an allergy reaction? But then he didn't seem to be breaking out in hives... Regardless she had better make sure he wasn't ill before returning to her work.

As the boy stumbled with his words, Airi felt her concern and guilt double, she knew of The Twins' frail disposition, and she should have known better than to speak so abruptly.
"Oh, don't worry about it, I didn't see you ether, I guess we were both a little distracted," Airi said in a soothing voice, trying to get the young man to relax, if he kept taking such shallow breaths he would probably bring on an attack of some kind.
Looking over him again, Airi tried to remember if William or Robert had any distinguishing features that might set them apart, a mole, a trademark pair of eyeglasses or maybe...
A monogrammed hanky! With an inner sigh or relief Airi read the initials; R. M. III, okay so that meant this was Robert.

"Why aren't you at dinner Robert?" Airi asked, it was rather odd for the boy not to be in the Great Hall at this time, not to mention being away from his twin.

“I—I—I—I’m fin—fine, thank you, Ai—Airi…” muttered Robert, his gaze falling to the seemingly-fascinating floor again. He. Was. SO. Flustered. And as if just SEEING the girl wasn’t enough to send him on a panic attack, now she was touching him too! At the feel of her hand on his shoulder, he jumped again, as if burned by her touch. No, no, it was too amazing to be touched by her beautiful delicate hand, he simply could not handle it. The epicness of it overwhelmed him, but he made a mental note to tell his brother about this small sign of affection. Ohmygosh, did Airi LIKE him?! Is that why she touched his shoulder?!

Gasp! At the thought of this, Robert’s eyes widened to a nearly-impossible size. Ohmygosh, what if she did?! What if she liked him?! She must’ve, if she was touching his shoulder!!

And then she was asking him why he wasn’t at dinner.
Look at that!! She was even interested in his whereabouts and plans and schedule, too! This was all the confirmation Robert needed. Airi totally liked him back, and she even seemed to be the controlling kind. He hadn’t expected that from her, but he kinda liked it.

“I was—uh, I was meeting with my Potions professor about extra credit…” he muttered in explanation, adjusting his frames over the bridge of his nose with his index finger. “I have the second most points in the class and that— that just won’t do.” The person to hold first place was his love nemesis, Victor Vincenzi, the boy Robert knew his beloved lady was secretly in love with. But at least he (Rob) seemed to be making some progress in the battle of love; Airi had just touched his shoulder AND questioned him on his schedule. So, clearly, she was a little interested in him too. The mere thought made him smile stupidly to himself.

"Okay, good," Airi uncertainly said, not really believing the boy (he looked far too peaky and clammy to be feeling well), maybe she would just an eye on Robert for a little while longer, make sure he didn't keel over or anything, she should probably escort him to the Great Hall, but if she did that she would have a rather difficult time explaining why she couldn't stay for dinner, maybe she simply ought to just let the go boy on his own? No, that would be awful of her, she was sure.

"Lots of people seem to be visiting the Professor today... " Airi thoughtfully said, blushing slightly as she thought of her earlier conversation with Victor, it had not at all been a comfortable one, but she had enjoyed it more than she would like to admit. "Oh I know what you mean, Ned Hall is actually beating me in Trans and I can't put it behind me," Airi said, laughing at herself. She wasn't nearly as peeved as Robert seemed to be about the situation, but it the girl did feel a little cheated knowing that slacker Ned was actually beating her.

"Speaking of Ned.... Did he or Vince Vincenzi invite you to their fancy dress party?" Airi asked. Instinctively, Airi knew that the boys would invite the twins (She'd consider it a miracle if they just invited other boys in general), and being the friendly person that she was, she felt it her duty to right this wrong.

“Oh—oh, really?” Robert made an astronomical effort to look up from the floor and finally face the girl as she spoke to him, mentioning the high number of visitors Professor Blackbourne had been receiving that day. He noticed the pink that graced her perfectly-sculpted cheekbones and wondered vaguely if a memory of his archnemesis had anything to do with that. Rob was a smart boy, and he assumed that the combination of the subject of potions and a change of tone in Airi’s cheeks, had to lead to a certain Italian. The realization made him sigh softly to himself. What did the Slytherin bully have over him?! He was WAY smart than him!! Couldn’t Airi see that?!

Meh.
Feeling a little down now, Rob listened unenthusiastically as Airi mentioned that Ned Hall - another Slytherin prince - was beating her at Transfiguration. “How is that possible?” the boy asked in his nasally voice, eyebrows furrowed. “You—you’re the brightest student in that class, Airi…” he said, his gaze dropping to the floor once again as he said this, his cheeks turning pink as well. Yeah. Airi was brilliant and it was one of the many reasons he liked her so much. It was hard to find girls who were smart, pretty and nice. Airi was the whole package! Rob knew he had better step it up before someone else snatched her away.

And then the girl was mentioning something about Ned Hall and the other Vincenzi boy inviting him to a ‘fancy dress party’. Robert snorted obnoxiously. “No.” He wasn’t expecting an invitation either; the cool kids never invited him to anything. Not that he wanted to be part of that world anyway. Their interests were entirely too risky for him to even think about; starting with that terrible sport, Quidditch. Rob was absolutely terrified of heights, he couldn’t understand how they could fly around on broomsticks without getting vertigo or pneumonia from the wind and the natural dust particles floating in the air. Oh no, no… physical activity was simply too risky for the boy or his brother to ever attempt.

Anyway, why was Airi asking him about this? It seemed pretty random. “Wh—why do you ask?”

Why did he keep looking at the floor? Had he dropped something? Air didn't see anything, no books or parchment, nothing. Maybe it was her, maybe she had something on her face? He did seem rather against looking at her.
"Yeah, Victor Vincenzi was in there earlier, and so was that Aerith girl," Airi said, wiping distractedly at her mouth, now certain that the remnants of her snack covered her face.

Airi modestly smiled as Robert expressed his disbelief by saying that she was the brightest student in Trans, which was very kind of him, but Airi could hardly accept such praise, especially when she knew it wasn't the case. "Thank you, but actually I'm just the better student of it, Ned has a real natural ability for it... He doesn't seem like it, but he's actually really clever," The Ravenclaw admitted, though she wouldn't be telling that to Ned anytime soon oh no, that boy was bigheaded enough.

Airi completely oblivious to the boys infatuation for her, or that it was the real reason behind the pinkness of his face or his stutter, was beginning to become very worried, not wanting to frighten the boy, she didn't mention her suspicion, but rather continued speaking in a soothing manner. "Well, in that case, I'm in inviting you, you should definitely come, we'll have a great time," The girl said, not remotely thinking that her words could be misconstrued as encouraging to the young man.

"Um.... Have you been doing something different lately?" Airi asked, in her round about way, she was trying to find out if he had done anything strenuous that could have caused him illness.


Meanwhile....

Ned, having finished inviting just about every exceptional Slytherins he knew (and a few unexceptional ones as well) was lounging about the courtyard trying to decide the next part of his evil scheme. Decorating was the biggest object on his to-do list, but Ned was sincerely hoping that he could pester someone else into doing it for him, like Victor or maybe Fion, anyone as long as it wasn't Vince.

Let's see, decorations, we'll need to head to the kitchens for food and drinks, I can get Vicky to get the booze... Hmm... What else, what else? Ironically enough, he had completely forgotten that he was supposed to be meeting back up with Vince.

“Oh. I—I see,” Robert muttered as Airi explained that the Vincenzi boy and an Aerith girl had been visiting Professor Blackbourne earlier that day. He dared to glance up at her for a second, frowning slightly as she began to wipe her lips. What? What was she doing that for? Ohmygosh, did she like that Vincenzi boy SO much that she was drooling just mentioning his name?! Robert’s heart sank at this realization. He had some serious competition; and he could only dream that the beautiful Airlia Mondai would one day drool over him the same way.

When she went on to praise Ned Hall, Robert’s gaze dropped again and he nodded his head. “Yes, I—I’ve, uh, I’ve noticed in class. He’s… very good,” he agreed meekly. He’d had enough Transfiguration classes with the Hall boy throughout the years to notice that he had a real talent for transfiguration, enough to put most other students to shame.

And then Airi was inviting him to the fancy dress party.
Robert looked up, eyebrows raising so high they got lost in his hairline. “Re—re—re—really?!” OHMYGOSH, Airi herself was inviting him to a party!! She wasn’t even just asking if he wanted to come, she was saying he should ‘definitely come’ and— WHAT WAS THAT? ”We’ll have a great time”?! WE?! WE!? As in, him and Airi?!

Robert felt his hands grow clammy again, the fingers turning pale as he held on to the straps of his backpack as if his life depended on it. His heart felt about ready to burst from his chest in excitement - AIRLIA MONDAI HAD JUST ASKED HIM ON A DATE. He would’ve preferred she had chosen somewhere a little more private than Hall’s grand party, but how could he even think about complaining about something so trivial? All that mattered was that Hogwarts’s most stunning, beautiful Ravenclaw was asking HIM to go to the party just for her!

“I-I-I-I-I-I’d—I’d—I’d—I—I’d love—love—I’d love it—I— you— yes. Yes— yes, definitely.” Robert nodded his head fervently, an ear-to-ear smile lighting up his derpy face. He hardly registered her following question. “Wh—what?”




Vince must’ve been REALLY excited about the upcoming party because, for once, he had been responsible and held true to his word. Without suffering from any random attacks of narcolepsy or being distracted by any of Hogwarts’ many beautiful girls, he invited almost every person over the age of fifteen (focusing mostly on the girls he wanted to see in hot costumes), with so much charm and charisma that most students seemed to dismiss the fact that the party was being held at one of Britain's most haunted sites.

When he realized that Ned hadn’t arrived almost twenty minutes after they were supposed to meet up, the boy decided to take it upon himself to search for him.

The search didn’t take very long and he soon spotted the English boy lounging lazily at the courtyard.
“Where the hell were you?” Vince asked, kicking at the boy’s foot playfully as he stood in front of him, blocking the sunlight. “I think I might’ve gathered well over one-hundred people for the party,” he announced with a grin.

Airi hadn't expected Robert to agree with her about Ned's prowess, she had been under the impression that Robert didn't much care for Ned or Victor for that matter, which she could understand, the boys tended to rub people the wrong way, and quite a few people at Hogwarts openly disliked them. It just showed what a nice guy Robert was, that he wouldn't hold Ned's bad reputation against him. "You're very good too you know, I can barely get my head around potions sometimes, but you're a genius at it," Airi said with a smile and a shrug of her shoulders.

"Yes, really," Airi said, laughing lightly at the young man's very surprised and pleased demeanor, there now he was looking much better, it had probably been stress making him act so strangely earlier, in which case, Ned's party would be the ultimate cure for clever man.

Airi patiently waited as Robert tried to get out his words, he seemed to be practically bubbling over with energy now, and there was a sparkle in his eyes which she had never seen. "Great, well it's around... Actually I don't know the time but I'll find out and let you know, it's in the Shrieking Shack... and... Did I mention it was a fancy dress party? Oh yeah, I did, so make sure you come in costume," Airi said, speaking rather quickly as she had just realized the time and she had really better be going.

"Hmm? Oh, no nothing, I actually have to go Robert, but I'll see you tonight, yeah?" Airi distractedly said, giving the young man one more smile before practically running off.



"VINNCEEE!!!" Ned roared, jumping up immediately from his spot on the ground and grabbing the taller boy around the middle in a very awkward looking hug. He was acting as if he hadn't seen Vince in years rather then hours, Ned being the silly boy he was, he just couldn't help making a spectacle of himself.

"Good show dude, I think I got around ninety or so? Can't really remember," Ned said, pulling back from his embrace and acting as if he hadn't just been squeezing the life out of Vince. "You invited the hot Gryffindor girls, right? Jenni McPhee, Caroline Lenin?" Ned asked, wiggling his eyebrows i a suggestive manner as he spoke.

Vince stumbled and nearly fell backwards as Ned suddenly lunged at him like they were playing a game of American football. The Italian boy laughed aloud at the other’s playful reaction, taking this wonderful opportunity to lock his head with one of his arms and give him a noogie, successfully ruining the blonde boy’s hair. “Not so happy to see me now, are ya?” he teased before releasing the boy and playfully shoving him back with a laugh. “You’re gonna have to be more subtle mate, or Vic’s gonna get jealous when he sees.”

The Gryffindor’s expression suddenly turned a little more serious as the conversation returned to the matter at hand: the party.

“Not bad,” he said with an ear-to-ear grin and a nod as Ned announce he’d gathered about ninety people. Could the Shrieking Shack even hold so many people? He didn’t know, but the more the merrier. At the boy’s following question, Vince laughed. “Who do you think you’re talking to, lad?! ‘Course I invited them!” he assured him. “Trust me, any hot girl over fifteen is coming to this party,” he added. Except for Vianna, obviously. Though Vince didn’t consider his little sister a ‘hot girl’ because ew. That’s his sister, for Circe’s sake.

Running a hand through his now ruined hair, Ned scowled at the other boy, did he know bro code? You don't mess with another bro's hair, you just don't.
"Oi! Definitely not, you big dummy, dumb head," Ned said, trying to smooth out his blond locks, but failing miserably. His hair, not that it had been messed with, seemed very determined to stay as messy as a bird nest.
"Well if he does get jealous it's his fault, I need constant attention and if it's not coming from him, I'll get it else where," Ned chuckled, his head tilted back and a careless smile on back on his face.


"Good, good... I cannot wait, this is going to be mad, Vince," Ned said, clapping the other boy on the back in congratulatory manner. He almost felt like he should be thanking Vianna, without the girl's dare, he would never have come up with such a perfect idea.
"Let's get going then, we've got decorations to put up and food to grab and... Actually, what are you going as tonight?" Ned asked, his thoughts cutting off mid stream as he realized he hadn't given his costume one thought.

Vince laughed aloud as Ned fussed around trying to fix his hair. Gosh, no wonder he and Vic were best friends, they were both so concerned with looking so utterly perfect. Pft. Vince, on the other hand, preferred the more casual just-rolled-out-of-bed look. One of the perks of being obnoxiously handsome? No need to even try to look good. Even Vic and Vianna could look like untamed lions if they didn't do something to their hair.

"Going all needy-wife on him, are you?" Vince chuckled at Ned's following comment. The boy grinned at his friend's own enthusiasm over the event, and though he wasn't all that eager to put up decorations and pick up food - boo, the boring parts! - he didn't complain. He would do anything that was asked of him if it meant getting to the good stuff quicker.

Oh.
What was he going to dress as?
Good question. Vince furrowed his brows and looked off into space for a moment, tapping his chin with his index finger the way he always did when he was lost in thought. "I think I've got two costumes on me - pirate and Tarzan," he said, looking at Ned again. "I haven't decided which to go with yet, but I'm leaning toward jungle boy," he added with a cheeky grin. "What about you?"