Mallory shook her head. "Think about it. He's with you, and now he starts blabbering this nonsense about liking me? I know guys have weird minds, but this is too weird....even for him." Mallory countered, then shot Christian a look.

"It's the only explanation. Christian's my bestfriend. I know him. I doubt he'd cheat on you."

"No he hasn't. We're [I]just friends[I]" she said, emphasizing the last two words. "And if it's so silly, why don't you try coming up with a logical explanation other than all this junk about 'true feelings'?" Good point. At least she thought it was...

Mallory listened to another one of his annoying answers. "It has nothing to do with your love for me because you don't." she snapped. "Now, where were you even before that...when..." she thought hard on what the right question was to ask.

"Where were you when you first thought you loved me?"

"Brilliant..... mostly." he told her honestly. he then chuckled as she asked if he was the cause of all of this."of course...you know how determined i am to find out what happened to the kids." he then spoke to her in a low voice."They are all jealous." he teased. " actually i just came here to talk to fabain." he then wondered what the nurse was doing so far away from her hospital." what are you doing here? Up to trouble?" he teased back.

Even after Lyra's explenation Fabian could not possible fathom the idea of a soccer ball within his vicinity. If he spotted it, it would have gone out of the window. "So is that why everyone's here? For a bloody soccer ball?"



"Bite your tongue lad" Fabian croaked with an amused expression, "I'm tall alright but no need to air my height to everyone-" he broke off with full curiosity. Christian considered Soccer his game, even more than Quidditch and to go over and beyond disowning it over a girl .. was definitely amusing. "I say you got leg shackled early" he bellowed with laughter.


Why was Lyra having a go at him? Fabian shot Lyra a questioning glance, then again looked back at Marco before she starts one of those 'you embarrassed me in front of boys moments'. "If it will take long come back later.. as you see" he nudged his chin towards Professor Max and Nurse Arian, "I have company.. but if it won't then wait till I give them the soccer ball and you'll have my attention marg-co!"




"Aye, so not about the Soccer ball?" though now he wondered who trailed who. Lyra or him? Tough call. "Same goes to you lad. If it will take long come back later, if not then give a minute with Marco".



Fabian grunted, "he knows soccer alright. He annoys me with it day and night this is no different" he shook his head. Whats the sudden animosity between Lyra and Marco?



"Aren't you Mallory his girl friend?" Fabian questioned, she was Christian's girl friend aye? He remembered her from the feast. Hmm. "If you two weren't dating i'd say he got a good knock on his head. But he also said that you were more important than Soccer. If i was in your shoes, i'd say go with that. Soccer is not a game for lads of his age. Find him a tougher game to obsess over, Aye? Its about time he grew out of that bloody game".




"Good! Cause I've got lots of them behind that door" Fabian smiled, then glanced at the students. "How about you wait inside Ariana?" he dug his hand deep inside his right pocket to retrieve his office key. After opening the door, he kept it wide open, and went to search for that soccer ball.

Mallory sighed. "Yes, I am Mallory, but I am most certainly NOT his girlfriend. I never was and we never dated." she said, trying to stay calm. "Look, he" she said pointing to Christian, "is with her," she said pointing to Lyra. "I thought you should've found out by now. The whole school os talking about it." she said, with a hint of misery. She and Zero had heard the news the very smae way. Gossip.

Ariana laughed and shook her head. "Me, trouble. Of course not." She gave him a mock scandalized look. Ari ruffled his hair a bit as Fabian conversed with the other students.

"Sure, not a problem." She gave Josh a wink and waved before making herself comfortable in Fabians office. Taking the opportunity to look around.

Lyra noticed Josh speaking to someone who seemed to be the nurse of the school. She wondered what brought her here, unless something was wrong with Fabian. She pushed it to the side for now seeing that her uncle seemed to be in good health as it was and was letting the nurse inside his office.

She watched as Fabian disappeared within his office to search for the soccer ball that obviously didn't seem to make a difference at this point.

Lyra began to bite her lip once more listening to Mallory's explanation. It did make sense to her being that Christian was acting all weird towards her, especially after their 'talk' at Hogsmeade. She didn't say a word, keeping her mouth shut for once to here the story laid before them.

And then Mallory said it, right there in front of everyone. She started to speak but could only open her mouth, to let the flies in of course!

"I am sorry to interupt Sir. I shall return later once Professor Vindictus and Nurse Numel have finished," Marco smiled. He liked Fabian and Max. And didn't want to hang around with Josh, the spawn of Satan himself.

"Thank you Ariana!" he murmured, "Please make yourself comfortable". Astonishingly he found the ball on the far right corner, he carried into his hand and walked back out into the corridor.



Fabian's face drained from all color when Mallory pointed at Lyra, what was she saying? Impossible! "Apparently I didn't know" he responded feeling his throat going dry, "and since no one bothered to tell me" he glared at Lyra then Christian. "You can keep him. He's a good lad. Just keep him away from soccer". His eyes trailed back to Lyra for a moment then threw the ball gently at her to catch.


"Later Marco!" he murmured after the Slytherin then glanced at Josh, "So, what about you?"

"Alright.. i will wait." he told him as he quickly add." but i was here after Mallory thus before marco." he just wanted to add that.


josh smirked as ari was just as much of a trouble maker as he was. " Goodbye." he said to her as he waved back at her. he grinned as he then headed back to lyra.


he looked at her and smiled." you want to stay with you?" he asked as he stood by her side." i could go if you would rather me. i'll leave it up to you." he told her as he then moved to rub her arm. Thats what a friend would do.

"um...' he looked at lyra and then at fabain." i guess i will stay..." he told him.

Vindictus couldn't believe the stubborn Slytherin boy. "Did Marco wack you in the head with a Bludger?" he asked in disbelief, "Because you seem to enjoy telling people what to do. Five points from Slytherin and I suggest you stop talking."

Lyra placed her hand to cover her face for a moment. Apparently, Christian never made it to talk to Fabian like he said he was since the last time they talked. She was absolutely dumb-founded and couldn't speak. This was just getting worse and worse as she dug her hole deeper and deeper into the ground.

She saw the look in her uncle's eyes as he held the ball in his hands. He was right, Christian was a good guy and probably one of the best, or at least he was on her list, but her love belonged to another and apparently so did Christian's, even before they met.

She removed her hand from her face in time to catch the ball that Fabian threw. If Christian didn't want it, then she was keeping it. "Thanks," she said with a sigh, clearly seeing that he was wanting them to leave.

Christian considered Mallory a bit more. He loved the girl...it only made sense to tell her what she wanted to know...as long as it kept her close. His glazed eyes, narrowed slightly in thought. "I was...leaving a room.." he couldn't remember exactly...his mind was too clogged with thoughts about her to focus on anything else.

Well.. five points.. what!! he had done nothing. this teacher was looney.. he out did blaylock. Which was very hard to do..." I think i'll come back fabain." he said as he then left.

"Your welcome!" he responded to Lyra as he shiftily took in the encounter between Max and Josh. He rolled his eyes as Christian spoke, "well thats very informative. Can you give out more details, something that would maybe make me believe that you've ... changed as they say?"


"See ya later Josh!" Fabian murmured, the kid was wise to come back later.

Lyra looked back to Josh, watching him walk away. She looked from Mallory to Christian...and then to her uncle. "Clearly, Christian is not with me," she began as her eyes drifted back to the spot where Josh was only a few moments ago. "I'm with Josh!" Her eyes glanced back to her uncle's face as she took a deep breath, waiting for a reaction, but clearly not wanting to see it. "If you will excuse me, I have someone to catch up with."

She turned as she began to walk away, not looking back at what she just witnessed.

Christian glared at Mr. Tall Man. How dare he use that tone with a boy who was in love? His glare turned to the girl they were all saying that he was with. "How can I have been WITH YOU!?" he shouted after her. "For the love of all that is good, I love Mallory..."

He turned back to Mr. Tall Man. "I...can't remember..." His hand travelled into his hair, clutching it tightly. It was like sanity was trying to fight itself free.

Vindictus shook his head as the Slytherin boy and Fabian's niece walked off. She's a handful. However, his concern was Christian. "Hey, Ariana," he asked and walked over to the nurse's side. "Any suggestions on what we can do for Christian?"

Ariana looked up at Max and then over to the boy. "I'm afraid I might not have been here for enough of the conversation. What seems to be the problem?" She asked curiously. The boy seemed to be alright to her. Perhaps a little odd but that seemed to be normal for that age.

"Look at him - he thinks he's in love," Max whispered to Ariana. "Should he sleep it off or something?"

Ariana couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Is that what you do when you fall in love Max? Take a nap and hope it goes away?" She laughed a bit more at that. She figured Max didn't mean to sound that way but it was still amusing. "If it is something more serious like a love potion, I'd like to check him out. However perhaps sleep isn't a bad idea. Depending on the potency of the potion, there's no telling how long it will last. I suggest sleeping and then maybe coming by the waiting room tomorrow ....by any means necessary. He probably won't be willing."

Fabian's eyes trailed after Lyra, maybe it was harsh of him not to be kinder. Would it be too much of him to ask, if she told him about the person she was dating. He'd give her time to cool down of course. They'll need to talk tonight, perhaps during dinner.


Fabian leaned on the door frame, crossed his arms and intently scrutinized Christian with his eyes. "He looks alright to me" Fabian shrugged, falling in love was never a bad thing. It was the most natural reaction a human can inhabit.. he trailed off smiling at the memory of his wife. "Sleep sounds appetizing this moment".

Max listened carefully and his mind went to work. "Perhaps I should give Christian some advice in the romance department and suggest he get some sleep," he whispered to Ari. "That will give me a chance to summon Juno or one of the other Ravenclaws to escort Christian to the Boys Dormitory." He winked at her and walked over to the boy.

"Christian, want to tell me more about Mallory?" he asked the young man as he stood before him. "Perhaps I can help you plan the perfect romantic date."

Fabian grunted at Max's comment, "Apparently Mallory isn't interested in him, never dated. Hmmph. The lad had a thing for my niece". His eyes raked Christian over, nothing was making sense to him. Whats Lyra doing with Josh? And why was he all over Mallory?

Christian eyed Mr. Tall Man, before eyeing the man approaching him. His eyes quickly shot back and forth between this man and Mallory. Perfect romantic date eh? That would be sure to make Mallory happy. Perhaps make her realize his feelings for her.

He pulled the man a little bit farther away from her, so that she wouldn't hear. He was slowly becoming more self-concious of what he was saying about his feelings for Mallory. "Hmm...she's like...one the sweetest people ever...not afraid of anything...likes the outdoors. She also likes cheesecake..." Random. "She has like...the most beautiful eyes..." He went back into his dreamlike, but glazed state.

"She sounds wonderful," Vindictus smiled and behind his back, he pulled out his wand. A silver image emerged from the tip and raced down the hall. "Tell you what - I'll arrange for the House Elves to fix a special cheesecake for her. The two of you can have a nice romantic picnic on the grounds." He put his wand away. "But for that to happen, you need to get some sleep because girls don't like it when their dates fall asleep."