Sarah was being guided by the light from Wesley's wand.It lit up practically the whole of the entrance hall, as she huffed and puffed her way backwards up the flight of stairs from the kitchen level.The amount of concentration lifting Miranda required was immense, and Sarah was extremely glad that Lori was there to help with it.Breaking her staring at Miranda, she looked up towards Lori for a second.Was she getting tired too? "Shall we just stop here for a minute? Let our brains slow down so we can start again with stronger concentration?" Please Merlin, say yes.Sarah stayed still for a moment waiting an answer, waiting for Lori to reach the top of the stairs....and to get her breath back.One flight of stairs and already she was puffed out.Boy was she UNFIT!

Glancing over at Wesley, she smiled.Sarah was so proud of the way she was handling this, helping them.She could so easily have been too scared. "Hey Wes, you doing ok over there?"

Frowning as Resident!Midget! moved her wand in a way that the light blinded her once more, Lori neeeearly stumbled up the stairs, but regained her posture quickly enough not to have made Miranda drop. With her free hand, she rubbed at her head once more yawned. Maaaaan, she needed sleep.

But they were all doing so well, and they still had... aaages a short while to go, but they were gonna do it. Even if it killed them -no pun intended-.

Glancing over at Sarah as she spoke, Lori nodded weakly, and it was just about noticeable in the light. She was just too tired to keep on talking now. She brought herself to a stop aswell, looking up as floating Miranda came to a stop aswell, but stayed hovering.

Smiling at Resident!Midget! Lori made a mental note to take her for a big bowl of ice cream and get her some sweets. Because boooooy, she was only tiny, and could totally pass as a first year -which reminded her, she didnt know what year midget was in- and, she was doing wonderfully. Keeping calm, on the outside probably. Like they all were.

OHAI. Now she wanted ice-cream. "I think... think I'm hungry..." She commented, absentminedly as she yawned again.

Well this was fun... Not.
Miranda didn't exactly have any injuries to her legs, but trying to walk up all those thousands (okay, hundreds) of stairs, would probably take her all week. Her chest hurt when she breathed and panting all the way up ther was surely to take all her strength. Heh.

Blinking open here eyes, she looked around, chewing on the inside of her cheek. Ack, she felt bad about this, having her fellow Huffies getting tired with levitating her. "I'm...really sorry for making you do this, guys..." She said in a low voice. She instinctively wanted to let her thumb nail reach her teeth, but remembered she wasn't able to move her right arm. Dangit! After, sighing heavily ('Ouch...') she spoke again, "But, thankyou for helping me..." She'd be...not in a good situation without them.

How was Wesley doing?
"Hey, Wes, when this is all cleared up, I'm going to get you a nice cape fit for a superheroine like you." Aw, she was so sweet. Hopefully, this was not going to give her nightmares...

Pierre walked into the Entrance hall. He went over and stood by the door leading to the grounds. He really wanted to go outside, but it was the middle of January. This meant that it was probably really cold out and Pierre couldn't stand the cold. He leaned up against a nearby pillar and let out a sigh.

Okay, Operation find toast was still in effect and Torin was getting a little worried. Where was his kitten? And how badly would Tammy kill him if he never found the little guy? He didn't want to think about it...

Sighing, he scanned the entrance hall to see if he could find the little fluff ball lurking around. And instead he saw a familiar face leaning against a pillar. "Pierre! You haven't seen a white and orange kitten anywhere?" he asked as he walked towards the boy.

He really shouldn't have pets if he kept losing them.

Pierre looked up as he heard someone saying his name. He was looking right at Torin, the boy who had lost his tarantula the first time he met him. Now he was asking about a cat. This guy really shouldn't have pets. They all seem to keep getting lost. Pierre thought to himself.

He shook his head no. Then he heard a little mewing coming from behind the pillar he was leaning up against. He looked behind it and pulled out a kitten that Torin was describing. "Could this be the kitten you're talking about?" He held the cat up for Torin to see.

He turned to look around to where Pierre was, and saw that he was grabbing a kitten. Toast!! He had found his cat. He was happy again!

He smiled and was about to take the cat when he saw that it looked sorta like his kitten, but not quite right. "That's not him." He frowned. He wanted his kitten.

"So I guess I'm not the only one bad at keeping track of pets."

Pierre looked at the kitten. He really hoped this was Torin's kitten. Pierre had a huge softspot for cats and couldn't believe that this one was wandering the castle on it's own. "Hmm, I wonder who this little guy belongs to then." He really couldn't imagine a little kitten like this wandering the castle on it's own.

"Apparantly not. Hopefully you'll find your kitten soon." Pierre hoped Torin really did. Kittens should not wander the castles by themselves. They could get lost and hurt.

He nodded sadly as he started to pet the kitten behind the ears, making him purr. "Hmm, Me too. I wonder where you would take a found kitten." He blinked. Not like you could put the thing in the lost and found.

"I need him. My best friend threatened to take my puppy to the pound." He needed his puppy. He loved Butter.

Falling to the ground with Ivory Allison began to laugh, "Well, I thought for a second maybe a book wouldn't be the best thing to send you...after all, well it was Christmas and usually we get ya know...toys and stuff. But ya know." Rolling Ivory slowly she began to watch as the girl tried to stand up and laughed even more. "Oh gawd Ivory, was it your mum?"

Suddenly worry crossed her face when Arya walked in. Had she squished it? Standing up Allison gave her Hufflepuff friend a quick hug and wished her a Happy New Year too, and to add to it a big grin covered her face erasing any etch of worry. "So...did you get my present?" Biting her lower lip she tried not to laugh as she waited for her friend's reaction. If she had received that for Christmas she'd have had a big lady fit and never had gotten over it. Hopefully Arya didn't understand that it was a clue for the real present she was currently carrying with her.

Pierre smiled as the little kitten started to purr when Torin pet it. "Yeah. There really is no where to take this little guy." He really felt bad. Pierre wasn't usually this soft, but he couldn't stand seeing this poor defenseless kitten wandering the castle on it's own. "If no one comes looking for it soon, maybe I'll just hold on to it. And if someone comes wanting it back I can give it back." This was what he was going to do regardless of what anyone else thought.

He looked completely shocked by what Torin said. "That wouldn't be good. Why would your best friend even do that?"

He kept petting the cat as he listened to Pierre speak. "I think that's a good idea. And I can ask if anyone is missing a kitten too." 'cause he knew that it really sucked to be without a cat. And maybe this person had an evil best friend that wanted to threaten them as well.

"My best friend is evil and grumpy. She likes to threaten me." Tammy could be so moody.

Pierre looked down at the little kitten who looked completely comfortable in his arms. It also looked really happy that Torin was petting it. "That would be good. I can ask around to. Hopefully, someone claims this little guy or I'll have some explaining to do to my parents." He chuckled a little at the thought of explaining this to his parents.

He nodded his head. He was going to ask if his best friend was a girl after the grumpy comment, but then Torin comfirmed his suspicion. "Well, that's not very nice of her."

He laughed. "Why would you need to explain? They wouldn't mind you having a kitten, would they?" Not that it really mattered if someone claimed the thing anyway. And he sorta hoped they did even though any home would be good for the little guy. Torin sorta wanted the thing. He was so cute!

"She can be a moody pain in the butt. But I think it's 'cause she misses me." He nodded. At least that's what he hoped her reason was.

Pierre almost raised an eyebrow when Torin started to laugh. Almost. "My parents are weird. I came home with a ferret over the summer and my mom almost had a heart attack. She didn't want anymore animals. See, my cat died last March." He didn't want to talk about it anymore, for he really did love his cat.

Pierre laughed a little. "Either that or it could be girl horomones acting up." He hoped Torin wouldn't be offended by that. He knew some people did, whether they were guys or girls.

A huge smirk on her face, she playfully glared at her friend. "If that's what you want to call it then yes...I got my gift."The was laughter in her voice as she thought about the crazy thing she recieved by owl. Why Allison had sent her the crazy looking tissue holder was beyond her. It definantly wasn't what she was expecting when she opened the gift. Arya didn't really like it, but since it was a gift from her best friend she decided to sit it on the table beside her bed in her dorm. A constant reminder of her friends bad taste in presents.

"And just so ya know. Perseus was hurt that you forgot to give him a gift. Wheren't ya boy?" She giggled as the kitten responded by nuzzling her neck. The kneazle had gotten bigger over the break. He wasn't the little kitten he was at the start of the term, he had grown.

Reaching into her hoodie pockets, she pulled out the gifts she got for Allison and Ivory, handing each girl thier box. She knew--or atleast hoped--that Allison would like her gift. But when she was shoping it suddenly occured to her that she didn't know what to get Ivory. Arya had almost settled for a muggle book when she saw the charm braclet in a antique jewelry store. She looked at her friends with a calm expression, though nervious inside. "I also got Robin and Gavin some treats. There up in my dorm, I'll get them when we go to visit them later."

One would assume light offered a sense of comfort and safety. It didn't. The glowing wand cast a clear path but created creepy shadows. And it made it all the more easier for the Hufflepuff Killer to find them.

Being the first one, Wesley was forced to open every door, not knowing what was behind it. There was no one to shield her from the scariness of snoring portraits, or black emptiness of open classroom doors. The 13-year-old found herself shivering, bare feet freezing against the cold stone floor and nightgown offering little protection from the January air.

Her hand hurt from gripping the wand tightly, and she bit her lip to muffle every scream brought on by various creaks and noises from the old castle. Wesley was not unaware that, if the killer appeared, she was the only one who could protect the others. Lori and Sarah could not shield themselves from any curse, less they dropped Miranda. And Miranda couldn't possibly do anything, so sick and bundled up. She had to stay strong - had to be brave, and she was, at least, she hoped she was. But, face pinched and shoulders scrunched, Wesley did not feel very mighty at all.

At last, paranoia making the short walk seem like forever, the group had reached the Entrance Hall. It was frightening, Wesley decided, to see such a busy place empty. She wanted the closeness of the crowd. Even more, she wanted to know teachers were watching over them. But no brightness lit the crack beneath the Staff Room Door, and the torches that lined the walls were extinguished. It seemed to the Hufflepuff that they were completely alone.

Sarah called for a halt, and Wesley walked back, over to the older girls. Nodding, she began to crouch down, then jumped back up. She had to watch over them. She needed to stay alert while the others rested. Giving a strained smile in answer to the prefect's question, Wesley managed to give a very quite, "Yes," not wanting the murderer to hear.

As Miranda thanked Sarah and Lori, Wesley nodded along, eyes unfocused as they darted down the hallways for any movement or abnormalities. The two older girls were doing an amazing job - Prefect Vanessa had only had to levitate Wesley to the kitchens. But they were going to the Hospital Wing, which was still a long way to go. Brain tightening with anxiety, the third year tried not to think about that, only focusing on the now.

But her focusing was cut off by a comment made by the captain, "A cape?!" Wesley exclaimed, mind loosening with interest, "What color?"

The brief happiness was shot down by a sudden noise however, a creak from deep in the walls and the sound of water whooshing past. Then Wesley remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Unable to apologize for fear of drawing the villain's notice, she bit her lip and offered a wobbly smile before her emotions disappeared behind the furrow of her wrinkled brow.

Covering her face she began to giggle so much that she had to sit down to breath. Allison rocked and began to fan herself for air; The fact that Arya had taken the gift in slightly good spirits was amazing. Her mother had taken her shopping when they had arrived in Italy, and due to the odd places her mother enjoyed visiting, Allison quickly encountered the odd tissue holder and thought it perfect for the real gift that was Arya's. After all the tissue holder was just a clue to the small thing hiding in Allison's coat.

Catching her breath Allison was about to tell Arya that it was a small token to the real deal, when Arya took out the box. Grinning the young Ravenclaw ripped at the present quickly and saw the beautiful necklace. Taunting words slipping off her mouth Allison gasped and quickly stood up. "Arya. Arya. ARYA! This is so awesome! Oh Arya! ARYA!" Forgetting her bunny bag and the small gift in her coat Allison hugged Arya hard enough to make them both stumble. "Arya help me put it on! Help me put it on!"

Handing Arya the necklace and dropping the wrapping paper and box on the floor, Allison picked up her hair and waited expectantly for Arya to place it on her neck.

Admist giggles Ivory tried to roll to a standing position and failed time after time.

Spotting Arya entering the Entrance Hall, her smile widened even more when Arya gave them both huge hugs and new year congratulations...especially when she used the hug as an advantage to tug herself up so that she could stand on her own two feet.

Saying Happy New Year as her body sort of rocking back and forth with all her layers, she then smiled mischievously, "What can I say I visited this factory and had to taste the gum..."

Dissolving into a fit of giggles again, she imagined what would happen if she actually was a blueberry and had to be rolled everywhere.

Hearing Allison ask one of the questions she was expecting, she turned her way and pouted. "Whatever do you mean? You think this is clothing that my Mum made me wear because of the weather?!" Grabbing hold of a handful of clothing in her hand, she held it away from her body and grimaced as if she was grabbing skin. "This is the result of all your chocolates!"

Being basically the worst person to ever be able to keep a straight face, she didn't last very long with this charade and eventually broke down.

"Yeah it was my Mum...seemed to think I was making a trip to the arctic instead of Scotland." Shrugging her shoulders she then turned towards Arya as the girl removed from her pockets the one thing that would make anyone pause in conversation and thought. Presents!!!

Smiling as Arya handed her her corresponding box, she opened it eagerly.

[b]"Oh Arya...it's beautiful." she exclaimed as she caressed the tiny charms. "Aww you even put a little violin!"

Rushing forward with no regard to the pounds of clothing she was wearing, she held her arms out (which technically was the way her arms always were considering what she was wearing) and engulfed her friend from the shoulders down since sadly the clothing only made her look bigger width-wise and not length.

"Thank you, thank you, It's wonderful! I'll wear it every day," she promised.

Lorelai let her grip loosen a bit on her wand as she rubbed at the side of her nose again. EKK. She must have looked, HIDEOUS. No make-up. No... She was wearing her UGG's so atleast she kinda looked presentable, in her grey pyjama shorts and an oversized Little Miss teeshirt. Atleast, she was safe from the Paparazzi, AAAAND anyone that could see her, because SEEERIOUSLY. Who would be up at this hour, on the hunt for them while they were carting(badwordchoice!) Miranda to the Hospital Wing.

All she knew, was she had been standing still for a few minutes, and every noise was making her stiffen, so they might as well keep moving. Add to the noise, right? "Can we go in a second? It could be getting worse, next she might just grow a tail ..." And, THAT was going to be unsightly.

Glancing up at the moving midget, Lori frowned. "You're not wearing no shoes! Here, have mine; seeeriously. I have socks on underneath, they're warm enough." True, they would probably be too big, but Resident!Midget, was NOT walking around barefooted in this weather, under Lori's watch.

nuh-uh.

Thankfully it seemed she wasn't the only one who wanted to stop.Lowering her wand to ease Miranda down slightly, Sarah bent over and took some deep breaths.She wasn't used to concentrating so much all at once, and was longing for the day she could perform the spell without needing to.Unfortunately at Hogwarts, walking up stairs was something you had to get used to.... "Don't apologise, Miranda," she smiled down at her. "You didn't ask to get injured like this, and we weren't exactly going to leave you now, were we?" Sarah raised an eyebrow at her, hoping it would keep her quiet and stop all that talk."It's what friends are for," she finished.

Standing back up she gazed between her three companions, trying to work out what they were thinking in the silence that engulfed them for a few seconds.Wesley seemed tense, jumpy at any little noise.Sarah couldn't blame her.Hogwarts in the darkness was a scary place.No-one was around to help them, they were all alone, left to their own devices....and probably breaking a million rules by being out of bed.That could be dealt with later, though, now was all about getting Miranda to the hospital wing. "Hmmm, me too," she mused, answering Lori's comment without thinking.Hungry? Mmmm, foooood.....

Sarah had to chuckle slightly as Wesley got excited about the thought of Miranda giving her a cape. "You can be Super!Wesley, saviour of Quidditch Captains," she winked at her friend as she looked over at her.Then she looked down at her feet as Lori offered her shoes.She wasn't wearing shoes?!?! "Wesley! Why didn't you put any slippers on? You'll freeze on these stone floors! Please take Lori's..." She would have offered her own, but unlike Lori, she didn't have socks on underneath to protect her own feet.

"Yep, I think it would be best," Sarah shuddered as another noise made them all jump.What in the name of all the is magical could be making all these noises in an EMPTY ENTRANCE HALL?! "Ready? 1..2..3..." she lifted her wand back up and Miranda levitated once more. "Let's go, first floor here we come....Wesley..could you...with the light please?" she called over to her friend, now back keeping watch, that they were ready to go.

Dude. A ferret? "But that's crazy! I would want a ferret." But then maybe that was because he had never seen one in real life before. Nor did he really know what they were. They just sounded cool. "What's a ferret?" Hopefully that wasn't a totally stupid question, but he didn't know if this country was teeming with the things or not.

"Yeah, she's hormonal. Like my other female best friend." Reese was worse actually. She was evil and insane. Tammy was just insane.

Waiting for the girl to catch their breaths, Miranda could only lay there and tap her fingers on her hand. Ack! Which she shouldn't have, because it hurt! Sighing carefully, the Captain listened to the scary sounds the castle made when it wasn't echoing the voices of the students. And it was pretty weird. She had never seen it so tranquil (even though she only saw the dark roof) and quiet.

Miranda grimace-grinned however at Wesley excited voice about the cape. Color? "Hmmm, h-how about yellow? Like the t-true Badger you are!" Miranda was shivering a little now. If it was because of the chill of the vast entrance hall or the shock, she didn't know.

Ah, Sarah was a true friend, and so was Wesley and Lori. Miranda didn't respond to the Prefect's answer, but she gave her a smile, hopefully to show gratitude. "Well, if you ever need me to levitate you guys... just ask. Hehe." She coughed and winced. Bleh.

WTF!? "I'm not going to grow a TAIL, Lori... Though I wouldn't b-be surprised if I did..."

Oh, and now they were ready to keep going!
"You go guys," Miranda tried to cheer them on, in her own tired way. "You can do...it." Onwaaaaaaaaaards! Hehe.

Arya giggled along with Ivory at the girl's comment about her huge blue coat. "What did I tell you about eating gum you don't know the side effects too?"She playfully scolded the girl. She didn't know how the girl had made it back to Hogwarts in the crazy outfit. She couldn't help but laugh at her comment about Allison's chocolates, wondering if Allison had some on her now. She could go for a piece of chocolate.

She watched as Allison opened her gift first. A huge grin spread across her face at Allison's reaction, she knew that she would love it. "I knew you liked butterflys so I thought--Whoa!"Returning the hug she laughed at her friends enthusiasm, taking a few steps back to keep her balance. Perseus placed his front paws on Allison to keep from falling off before snuggling back into Arya's scarf. "Okay, okay!"Giggling she took the neclace and placed in around Allison'd neck, clasping it on the back. "There, it on. Lemme see!"

Arya turned from Allison to Ivory waiting for the girl to open her present. Her eyes lit up and she let out a breath when she saw Ivory's espression to the gift."Thanks. I didn't know if you would like it or not, it was hard picking out a gift for you."Again she was attacked by her friend. This time however she was unable to hug back on account of her large blue coat, so instead she just went into a fit of giggles. Persues however was not happy with being knocked out of his resting position again and wanted down. After being let go, she reached up to the meowing cat and placed him in her arms, stroking him gently to silence him. "I hoped you would!"

Clapping her hands Allison did a half turn and posed. Flipping her hair like she had seen older students do, the eleven year old changed posed every two seconds, "So? Whatcha think?"

Turning a grin towards Ivory, she posed again and winked at her friend, "Well lurrrrv," Allison purred, "I guess these, Wingardium Leviosa, wonderful chocolates aren't for you!~ Afterrr alllll, they've only made you pufff up!~" Twirling the Ferrero Rocher chocolates left and right, she made sure the chocolates came to Ivory's eyes and float towards Arya instead. Releasing the chocolates from her wand's control she let them fall for Arya to catch. Laughing she dug into her pocket and got a few more and handed them to Ivory, "I really think you ought to gain some weight friend." Looking Ivory up and down Allison's grin turned into a smirk, "I mean, lurrrv you obviously are as skinny as a stick in that blue thingie." Not able to contain her laughter any longer Allison turned her attention to Arya and covered her mouth trying to stop her giggles.

"So, hee hee, Arya, ohohoho, was wondering, ahum, do you often clean your nose?" Oh Allison was having fun at her friend's expense.