He smiled at her. "I hate Valentine's Day too. I think it's highly overrated." Then again, he had only had one Valentine's Day with someone. Even then he still thought it was overrated, which had caused a huge fight.

Pierre chuckled at her comment, having already noticed her blush deepen. "Well, at least he has a choice now when it comes to wearing sandals."

He tried his hardest not to roll his eyes as Ziva only shrugged her shoulders after he complimented her. "Your dog is cute." He chuckled at her comment about the cat. "It's bound to turn up sooner or later. Come to think of it, I haven't seen Hermes since we got back to the castle. I think he might be hiding under my bed."

Ziva smiled, at least they both though Valentine's day was overrated. She played with a couple of his fingers, not sure what to say now. She gave another yawn, wondering if the house elves were going to stop anytime soon with their preparations.

Ziva took a deep breath. "I really missed you Pierre." Ziva said with a small smile her blush coming back, she was still new to this whole being open all the time and having someone there for her almost every minute of every day. She liked it though, she felt protected.

Pierre smiled back at Ziva. He watched as she played with his fingers, apparantally lost for words. He really didn't want to say anything to ruin the moment. He grinned slightly as she yawned and searched again to see if a house elf was going to come and help them or if they should just help themselves.

He smiled back as Ziva blushed after her statement. "I missed you too, Zi." He felt so comfortable around her and being with her made Hogwarts enjoyable. He had never cared this much about someone since his last girlfriend broke his heart. Pierre had never been this open about his feelings. It was just something about Ziva.

Ziva looked up, "Really?" she asked in a whisper, though she knew that it was true. She continued to play with Pierre's fingers, still not sure what to say, though she enjoyed the silence between the two.

She picked up the picture of her sitting on the rail with the blue dress on, she pushed it over to him. "You can have it." she said placing her hands on Pierre's hand, she continued to play with his fingers, content to sitting in the kitchen all night.

Jude walked down to the kitchens, just out of sheer exploration. His hands were in their usual hands in his pockets, as he walked into the kitchen, unsure of what to find other than maybe normal things that were found in the kitchen.

Looking around, he saw the house elves busying themselves, most likely preparing the food meant for all their meals. But Jude wasn't hungry enough for a full meal. He reached out for a piece of fruit, and leaning against a counter, took a rather large bite of a red apple, the crunching in his ears.

Cela too would prefer it just to be her and Daphne. She kept her arm hooked around Daphne's as they made their way up to the castle and then into the kitchens, for now ignoring the other occupants and the elves too.

"What do you think of Livvy?" Celandine had to ask, her mind still on seeing Garret outside. She herself was a big Livvy fan, Livvy was her friend and one of Copernicus' good friends too. And you know, Ravenclaw. But Cela was curious to know what Daphne thought.

Mina walked into the kitchen, her bag swung over her shoulder. She hadn't been down here in a while and she thought it was worth another visit. She had remembered it being a bit more clam than the Great Hall and that's what she kind of needed at the moment.

Finding a seat, she looked at all the house elves busying themselves with cooking and preparing for meals they would soon be cooking. It reminded her of home and how she used to sit and watch their house elves cook meals. She kind of missed it and missed home.

Pulling her bag close to her, she opened it and pulled out a small bottle. It was a brighter yellow now, so she thought that was a good sign to start with. Holding it up, she looked at it. How was she going to do this? She wasn't at all the sneaking, so she was a bit clueless as to what she was going to do. She really wouldn't have made a good Slytherin at all.

Sighing softly, she poured herself a glass of pumpkin juice and another cup for no one in particular. She wondered if adding it to the juice would discolour the juice in any way. Opening the bottle, she poured the smallest amount in and compared the two. No real colour change. Taking her own glass, she sipped from it as she stared at the one with the potion in it.

Finishing her own juice, she pulled out her journal from class and took some notes, sliding the potion-ed juice away from her slightly.

After returning from the Hospital Wing, Kiri had taken a shower and then slipped into her bed to have a nap, but after no more than fifteen minutes, she'd started awake from a nightmare. She tossed and turned for a few more minutes, then decided it wasn't worth it, and got up. Putting on her robes again, she tried to remember what the dream had been about, but couldn't recall any details. A slight taste of Pepperup Potion still lingered, though, so that might have brought on dreams about the flooded school.

She was hungry. With a sigh, Kiri noticed that she'd slept through most of dinner - the Great Hall would be almost empty by now. The kitchens, then... She pulled on a pair of shoes and left the common room.

Kiri couldn't remember ever having visited the kitchen before. She didn't sneak around at night, and had only ever missed mealtimes once or twice. How did one get in again... Ah, yes. Kiri stretched out a hand and tickled the pear, and she was admitted into the kitchen.
She looked around. A few house-elves were busy scrubbing what looked like bathtub-sized pots and pans. There was a student sitting there as well, scribbling in what looked like a notebook or diary of sorts. Kiri wandered over to the girl. "Hi," she said, yawning. "Any clue where I can find something to eat here? Never been in the kitchens before."

Mina looked up from her potion's journal and blinked. She didn't even notice someone come in. Her mind really was going, wasn't it? Setting the journal down, she smiled. "Hi," she replied as she glanced over to the house elves. "Well, the house elves usually ask you if you want anything, but I usually just help myself." In all honesty, this was her second visit ever to the kitchen, so she herself wasn't all that sure what was to be done to acquire food at that hours.

Glancing at the glass of juice in front of her, she slide it away more. She should have tossed it out before. She didn't want someone to accidentally drink it and possible turn into something. She wasn't completely sure if it was brewed correctly and she wouldn't want to unknowingly test it on someone she had never met before.

Seeing the house elves still very much at work, she shrugged and looked back to the girl before her. "I'm sure, they won't mind if you help yourself. I poured myself some juice before and didn't hear a peep from them about it. Plus, I think if you need anything that can't be found, they would be happy to help." She was just making an assumption, but she knew her family house elves did love to help when asked.

Kiri nodded, more to herself. "Thanks," she told the girl. "I think I'll just help myself. They look pretty busy," she added, indicating the bustling elves. She smiled at the girl, albeit a little perfunctorily, and then went to inspect the cabinets and crates that filled the large room.

Most of the crates procured nothing of interest. There was lots of food - meat and fish and huge nets full of vegetables - but it was either frozen or otherwise in need of preparation. The cabinets, however, big, wooden, and ancient, were of more interest. Kiri pushed a chair next to one of them, climbed onto it and began rummaging around inside the cabinet. "There's toast and cookies in here and stuff," she reported, pulling out a huge bag of the cookies. Not the healthiest dinner, but it would have to do. After the Pepperup and the nightmare, Kiri would just... treat herself.

With a screeching sound, she moved the chair towards where the girl was sitting, and slumped into it. The cookies, Kiri discovered to her delight, had chocolate chips in them. She held out the bag to the girl. "'m Kiri," she mumbled in-between crunching down on two cookies. A third one followed, then Kiri was thirsty. The girl had a glass of orange juice in her hand - and there was a second one right next to them on the table. Why she would have poured herself two glasses, Kiri wasn't sure, but seeing as it was there...

"Don't mind if I have that, do ya?" she asked, but didn't wait for the girl's answer. Maybe she'd finally get rid of the stupid Pepperup Potion taste too. In one swift movement, Kiri had grabbed the glass and emptied it.

Pierre smiled at Ziva. "Of course I did, Zi." He smiled at Zi as she continued to play with his fingers. The silence was nice and something Pierre had sort of missed.

He looked back down at the picture. She looked simply amazing in it. "Thanks." He set it next to his hand so that he wouldn't forget it. He looked around the kitchens again, but was completely okay with staying where he was with Ziva.

How totally weird! The kitchen was unusually crowded with non house elves. Um, creepy much? Avoiding contact with anyone and everyone, Daphne kept herself tightly against Celandine's side.

"Who? Oh, well I don't know her," was her answer, a rather indifferent shrug coming out with her words. "I suppose she's decent looking."

Ziva blushed when he confirmed the previous statement. She stopped playing with his fingers and sighed. She was getting really really tired, so tired it was overpowering the hunger.

"I think I should head to bed, I'm really tired. More than hungry, and that says a lot for a Holden." Ziva laughed before she yawned.

Pierre smiled to himself as Ziva blush. His smile almost turned to a frown as she stopped playing with his fingers.

He nodded his head. He really didn't want Ziva to go to bed, but she looked completely exhausted. "All right," he said standing up. He offered her his hand so that he could help her out of her seat.

Ziva took his hand, and lunged forward to give him a hug around his midsection. She hadn't hugged him properly since she had gotten back from break. "I love you." she murmured into his chest, not sure if she wanted him to hear it clearly or not.

She sighed, still hugging his midsection, not wanting to let go, she felt so safe when she was with him. She breathed heavily through her nose, she loved the smell of him.

Pierre smiled as Ziva got up and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on top of hers. He heard her mumble something he wasn't expecting to hear, but he wasn't freaked out by it. "Love you too." He mumbled as his head rested on top of hers.

He didn't ever want to let go. There was just something about Ziva that made him feel completely safe with her.

Ziva smiled into his chest as a blush rose on her skin. She buried her face into his chest as far as she could get it. The kitchen would surely not be a place she'd forget...ever.

Not knowing what to say or do, Ziva just let Pierre hold her for a while. Finally, she pulled back from the hug and looked up with an eye brow raised, not sure what to say even then.

Pierre smiled to himself. There was a slow blush that had started to creep across his face. He was glad that Ziva hadn't let go yet. It had been a long break and he had really missed her.

Then Ziva pulled back. He chuckled slightly as she raised her eyebrows at him. He didn't know what to say, but he decided he was going to take a risk. He bent forward slightly and kissed her forehead. He wanted to kiss her on the lips, but wasn't sure how she would react.

"She's nice." Cela looked down at her feet, remembering how Daphne had almost let Garret kiss her. Had she realised that? It was weird. It was. Worrisome.

Why was everything so worrisome?

"Livvy is one of Cope's friends. Mine too I guess?" Cela giggled a little and shook it off. Now time was CelaDaff time.

"I need orange shoes." She announced, tugging Daph to where a loaf of bread was being sliced up by an elf. Daphne had said she wanted bread right?

Ziva closed her eyes lightly when Pierre bent forward to kiss her forehead. She kept her eyes closed for a few seconds afterwards. She felt the heat rising on her neck again as she blushed even deeper. She smiled up at him as she looked into his brown eyes. She smiled bigger, there was comfort and security in those eyes that she loved.

She grabbed onto one of his hands, wanting to go to bed much less now just so she could spend more time with Pierre instead. She wondered when she could talk to Cadence next. She needed some girl talk.

"Nice is relative," mumbled Daphne following Celandine towards the bread. Carbohydrates. It was odd how you craved what you weren't allowed to have.

But Daphne was at Hogwarts so it was an entirely different story. "I figured," she said reaching past two bony green hands for a loaf of bread. "I mean, you Ravenclaws tend to stick together." It was more than she could say about her house; about herself, actually.

Blinking, the Gryffind blond glanced down at Cela's feet. "Whatever for?"

Pierre looked down into Ziva's eyes. They were so beautiful. If he could, he would look into her eyes all days and he was never this sappy. It had to be something with Ziva. He let a smile creep across his face.

He smiled wider when she took a hold of his hand. Then he remembered that she was tired. "Are you still super tired? I could walk you to your common room, even though it's like a whole ten feet away."

"Yes we have house spirit." Celandine agreed, subconciously rubbing her badge. "Its kind of nice." Mostly. She liked being a Ravenclaw. And Daphne liked Ravenclaws as a rule, right?

Cela fetched the butter by summoning it and she charmed a knife to scoop some up ready to spread it.

"Oh! Because I got a cute orange dress but need some shoes to match it." She explained. "And because orange is the only colour shoes I don't have. Did I show you my mint coloured shoes? I have three pairs." Cela loved them.

"I am sooooo glad that there aren't exams for us this term." Gosh, as if she needed MORE stresses.

Ziva sighed, "I'm still tired, but I like spending time with you." she told him starting to play with his fingers again. "Can we take a walk outside or something?" Ziva asked not wanting to leave Pierre just yet.

She brushed her hair back from her face behind her shoulders with her free hand, she wanted to pull it into a ponytail, but that involved both hands, and she didn't want to leave Pierre's hand.

Pierre chuckled lightly. "Well don't wear yourself out completely now." He smiled when she started to play with his fingers again. "Sure. We'd probably have to grab a jacket or something unless you want to face the cold."

He watched as Zi brushed her hair away from her face. There was definately something about her that made Pierre melt at his knees.