Okay, you can only stare at an Arithmacy book for so long before the words start blurring together, and you fall asleep. At least, that was what Kel figured, because when he woke up, his head was on his textbook, which was on one of the study tables in the common room. He sat up slowly, looking around. Huh. How late was it? He turned around, and sat the dying fire. It was late, then.

Slowly, he packed up his unfinished homework, and trudged toward the fire. He was going for his favorite armchair, when he realized it was occupied. He was just about to turn around and head for his dormitory - although he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to get back to sleep any time soon - when he realized who it was that was sitting in the chair. Jenn?

"Hey, love," he greeted quietly, sitting on the arm of the chair before planting a kiss on Jenn's hair. "What are you doing up so late?"

Jenn, who had been currently thinking about weither or not pigmy puffs could grow wings and flutter around her head, was startled to find that she was being talked to. And kissed on the head. WOAH! WOAH WOOOOAH!

Looking up at the vialating person, she was startled to find it was Kel. Goodness, that boy sure got around didn't he? She smiled up at him, and then realized what a mess she must look like to him. Messy hair, wearing a sweat shirt and sweat pants, bunny slippers, no make up. Oh my! Blushing lightly her eyes flickered to the fire then back to him, shrugging. "Couldn't sleep." she finally replied shyly. At least HE was still in clothes and looked descent. Gosh.

Moving her legs she patted the arm of her chair, smiling warmly up at him. "What's your amazing story as to why you're awake?" she asked, tucking her legs into her chest tightly, trying to stay as warm as possible. Why did winter have to be so cold? "I mean your the amazing bihandist...or whatever it's called, you've got to have a story." she laughed lightly, looking up at him yet again, her gaze resting on his green eyes. The way the fire light was hitting his eyes and his dark blond hair, it made him look like he was glowing. Oh wow...he was so handsom.

"Of course," Kel murmured, smirking slightly as Jenn blushed. He wondered what she could be thinking about that had made her blush all of the sudden. As she talked, he ran a hand through his already-messy hair, and laughed at her made-up word. "Ambidextrious." he answered, his voice still quiet, raising one eyebrow. He settled comfortably onto the arm of the chair, leaning sideways against the back so that he could look at Jenn.

"And I was just doing homework, actually. But apparently I have a short attention span, or something, because I fell asleep. And I just woke up." he shrugged, looking at the fire. When he looked back at Jenn, he had a small smile on his face. "You look preoccupied, though. Is something on your mind that you'd like to talk about?"

"That's the word." Jenn whispered softly to herself, making a mental note to remember it. Ambidextrious...ambidex..ambitex..ambigous..wait. She crinkled her forhead, trying to remember the word. Gosh it was so hard to remember. And complicated. Ah wells....

She laughed and patted him sympithetically on the shoulder. "Aw, poor Kel. What will your teachers think when you randomly fall asleep in class? Or have drool all over your homework?" she asked, smirking slightly.

Well he would notice that. "Um...uh...well you know. I've just been thinking." Yeah, good excuse. Please excuse the rolling of eyes that Jenn was receiving from herself. "You see...I was just thinking about, well first today it was about food..I was kinda hungry. Then it was if I finished that homework I was given. Was their a test. What would pygmy puffs look like with wings. The normal stuff." She shrugged. Well as normal as her brain got at least. "Then I was thinking about us..." she trailed off, the last sentence very quiet.

Eben Wallace walked into the common room after a nice walk out in the fresh air. He sighed and ran his fingers through his windswept hair, and went to sit on the sofa in front of the fire place.

Even though Eben hadn't liked to be at Hogwarts in the first place, he was starting to slowly enjoy it. He had a lot of freedom from his parents and was generally left alone unless he wanted interaction with other students.

It was quiet in the common room, a first since he had been here. Mostly it had been filled with annoying first years.

And reading this book was taking too long. Annie had been there, at the common room reading area for a while, reading a small book of maybe a hundred pages on how to take care of a Pymgy Puff. Seriously, the girl had considered it if it wasn't for her jealous cat that was taking it too personal the fact of being the only pet in the family. He was way too pampered. Eyeroll. But now, it was just for pure interest, in case someday she'd be handling one of those little things in her hands.

The place around her, was filled with first years. They seemed...normal, meaning like courageous, smart and surely with a lot of energy. See what happens to you when you get to be...on sixth year. She thought to herself, remembering she had a couple of homework assigments to do on the check list. OH MAN!

Eben sat next to a girl who seemed enraptured in a little book that she had, and arched a brow. Pygmy Puffs. His sister had been obsessed with the little things when they were younger and she still travelled along with him and his parents.

But now she was all prim and proper in Northern Ireland in a flat that the cleanest man in the world would envy, having the little Pygmy Puff might set off a balance she was currently on.

He turned to look at the fire, the flickering embers making his eyes tear up, but still he continued to gaze as if willing something interesting to happen.

All of the sudden, a boy sat next to Annie.

O.......................o

Well, she wouldn't be feeling bothered if the boy kept looking at the book. Gladly, Annie had finished almost all the book and was completely tired to understand if feeding them normal vegetables would be a good idea. Maybe not. Hai."" She whispered, as soon as she closed the book and put it aside her.

'Hai.'

Eben looked over to the girl, realising that she had been speaking to him. Smiling kindly to her, and replied back quietly, "Hello there. How are you?" The girl seemed nice enough, and she also was reading about magical creatures, a subject that Eben was quite good in.

"Thinking of purchasing a new pet?"

"Good, I guess." Annie said, already shaking her head responding to the boy's second question. "I don't think my cat would handle another piece of my heart taken away from him." She said, to the point of giggling, and making it clear that the cat was jealous to the bone. "How about you? And..." One small question to be added:

"Do you recommend these kind of pets?" She was just curious. What about if Paloma was the weird girl to not like them. They were too prettyful.

Eben smirked realising that her first pet was probably going to be jealous of any other pet that this girl might get. His dog, Flash, was jealous when he purchased his owl and the fact that he couldn't go to Hogwarts with his master.

"I'm alright, glad to be done with homework for the moment." the boy said with a small smile. "Oh I definitely recommend them as pets. Girls especially like them because they're just so cute."

Well that sounded a bit lame. "I'm Eben by the way." he said, hoping to fix the awkward silence.

Serena smiled and nodded. "Lying on a beach would be nice but I'd have to wear a big hat and heaps of suncream with my pale skin otherwise I'll look like a tomato."

Serena couldn't help but notice a tiny bit of wistfulness in Skye's voice as she mentioned the fact that she'd like to have an older sister. It piqued her curiousity. "I am also an only child. I am not sure if my parents wanted more children."

"I won't be their favorite student, that's for sure." Kel replied, smiling slyly. "But, actually, I've never fallen asleep in class ever. Not even when I was homeschooled," he stated proudly. And he wasn't planning on starting now. So, logically, he should be getting more sleep. But he didn't even want to go to bed, now that Jenn was here.

Now, both of his eyebrows raised at Jenn's answer. She never ceased to suprise him. Pygmy puffs with - wings? Very Fwig-ish. Anyway. "What about us?" he asked, leaning forward a bit, subconsiously, as her voice got lower. Also subconsiously, he reached a hand into his pocket and felt a small velvet box, almost as if he was reassuring himself that it was still there.

Enya knew she was too near the fire, but she didn't care. She was cold and the fire was warm. She wasn't going anywhere! Sigh. So when Skye offered her a seat next to some girl that was with her she shook her head. "I'll stay here" She simple told the girl. Enya folded her arms and sat back where she was. Mmm...heat.

Enya titled her head to one side as she studyied Skye. Did she forgive her? She did dob her in and therefore she got detention, which she must say was actually fun. Sigh, she might as well. Enya nodded her head a little. "But if you do anything like that again, i wont let you off so easily" She warned the girl.

She laughed and patted him lightly on the knee. "Good for you. That's more than I could say. When my mother was teaching me things when I was little, I used to fall asleep all the time. Now I don't...but still." she giggled lightly, looking up at him yet again. She had the sudden urge to ruffle his hair for some odd reason. It looked so soft...but getting back to the real world...

Jenn picked at a peice of lint that was hanging out on her sweat pants, placing it up in front of her eyes before letting it fall slowly to the floor. "Well...you know...how things will work out after we leave school." she sighed, avoiding his gaze. This subject had been eating at her for eons it felt like. "I mean, we won't be in the same house, being in the same common room for long. We won't hear from each other often...and well...I don't know." she finally took a peek up at him. "I guess I'm worried that you'll forget about me." Her brown eyes looked up at him, wider than a deers at the moment. She really was worried. What if he forgot about her? Went off and married some girl and then pushed Jenn aside as a distant memory.

"Yeah..." said Skye. "I burn easily too, but I can always use a spell to undo the burn later." She shrugged. Was that something fourth years had already learned here? Maybe Ireland was ahead of the rest of Britain.

"Oh," said Skye. "Well, it can be nice, being an only child, don't you think?"

Skye raised her eyebrows. She was glad that Enya had forgiven her, but... "Enya, is that a threat?" she asked quietly. After all, she was a fourth year. And Enya was a first year.

"I'm serious. Copito...that's his name, he went MAD against my boyfriend while our first kiss. It scratched his face...and it was horrendous." Annie whispered, going to the point of blushing. UGH. "And well, he's not handling well the fact that I have a baby sister." And that was even more terrific to talk about, because Paloma also had her evil side to give back to Copito all those annoying moments.

That relief tone made Annie feel a bit stressed. She had Transfiguration and some other more assigments to do, not mentioning hours of practice. "Yeah, it feels great when you know there is nothing to do but rest. Though, she couldn't help but smile when the boy said the puffs were good for pets. "I will see, when my sister turns about five years old." It was enough with Copito and the little child crying out everytime each bursted against the other.

"Nice to meet you, Eben. I'm Annie...sixth year." LOL. The word cute was weird to hear from a guy, but it was fun in a way.

Kel smirked again as he picture Little!Jenn falling asleep in her mother's lessons. He still found it amazing that their families were so alike - and so were the two of them, really - but they were the complete opposite of their familes. If that made sense, of course. Sure, Kel had only met Devon from Jenn's family, but he'd heard her stories of the others, and they sounded much like he suspected his siblings would be, if he had had any. ... Anyway.

He slowly stopped thinking about unimportant things and started to listen to her as she talked. He was fully tuned in by the time she told him that she was worried that he would forget her. He had to actually tell himself to keep his mouth closed, or his jaw would've dropped for sure. How could she possibly think he'd forget her - especially with that ring in his pocket!? Oh, but of course; she didn't know about the ring.

"You don't have to worry about me forgetting about you, Jenn." he promised, his voice quiet again. He was still fidgiting with the box in his pocket, wondering what he was going to do. "I won't forget you, ever."

"Oh sounds like that cat needs a little attitude adjustment, wouldn't you say?" Eben asked finding it odd that a cat would scratch a boy to get attention from his mistress. And a cat attacking a baby was even more horrific.

"It's the first time since I've gotten to Hogwarts. I mean, being in my fifth year I've got O.W.L.s and it seems like professors are smacking us down with a giant work load."

Eben smiled kindly. "Brilliant, I'm sure your sister would like it."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Annie." he added, "You obviously know my year."

Jenn's big eyes watched him closely as he said those simple words. She breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned. What if he was just saying that? Trying to convince her that everything would be alrighty.

Oh goodness what was she thinking? Confusing thoughts that's for sure. Staying up late was for sure not a good thing. "You promise? I mean, I don't know what I'd do if I never talked to you again. It be like...they told me that I couldn't eat pumpkin pasties...that would be horrible!" She nodded hard. That would be the end of the world if Kel stopped talking to her and no more pumpkin tastiness. Smiling up at him, she leaned her head on his leg, resting on it, staring at the slowly dying fire. Ahhhh this was nice.

Kel didn't bother to reply to Jenn, because he couldn't think of anything that was really worth saying at that moment. He softly brushed his hand through her hair as he stared at the fire, thinking. Slowly, he sat up straighter, staring hard at Jenn, since she was looking away. He bit his lip, and he could practically hear the gears working in his head as he thought.

"Hey, Jenn?" he asked suddenly, leaning forward and turning his head - and looking quite funny - so that he could look in her eyes. "Can I ask you a question?" His hands were slightly shaky as he clasped them together on his lap. Was he really doing this?

Jenn turned her gaze to face Kel, stiffling a giggle at the bizzare way his head was tilted. What? It looked funny. Frowning slighty she thought. Could I ask you a question? Well she had never been apposed to questions. In fact, she asked many herself. Often...all the time actually.

Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she nodded and smiled. "Of coarse you can ask me a question. What a silly question that is indeed." she smirked, applauding herself inside for that funny pun she had just done. Okay...maybe it wasn't that funny but to her anything at this late at night could be funny. "So what do you need?" she asked, sitting up to look at him better, and that way he didn't have to be tilting his head so much.

Annie nodded, still scared in case Copito slithered down the stairs just when he's the theme of the conversation. "I know, it's just that...he was my whole attention before Hogwarts, and well...since I came here, Drew appeared then Paloma, my little sister was born a year ago, so..." He could figure how much care a cat needed if that level of jealousy was at double the top.

"That's about it, don't worry all this homework is perfect for OWLs practices, so by the time of the exam you'll be in perfect preparation." Annie answered with a wide grin. Right, she may have done a bit worse than others, but she passed her OWLs. Eep.

Annie eyerolled. "Mostly if it is a PINK Pymgy Puff." She moaned. Pink was defintely her colour, but sadly it was for her little sister. OH MAN.

Evan. "Yeah. Just relax...confidence works best this year and it's a preparation for stress on seventh year." Annie was kinda feeling that same confidence seeing things weren't as bad as told by now graduated students.

"My dad is a Muggle and he at times doesn't like me using magic in front of Muggles outside of school. That really annoys Mother who's a witch. They argue about it. It's easier to use the Muggle methods just to save all the hassle." Serena said with a sigh. She let her mind cast back to a family holiday last year in France where her parents had such a huge argument that Serena wanted to just go back to school rather than spend time with her folks.

"It can be good being an only child especially if you want peace and quiet but sometimes if you want someone to talk to in regards to certain subjects having a brother or sister would be nice."

"Ahhhh, I see. Little thing needs to learn to adapt to Mummy having other commitments." Eben replied, raising a knowing eyebrow slightly.

He smiled and nodded. "I was really nervous when I heard that we had to take the this major test at the end of the year. But I think I'll be pretty good at it. Mum has already taught me half the stuff that I've been taught this year."

"You're a fan of pink?" the boy asked cocking his head as if asking a question. He liked pink on girls, but never wearing it. He wasn't that sort of boy who thought 'Only tough guys wear pink'. Those sort of people annoyed Eben to no end.

He nodded. "Thanks so much for the advice! I'll definitely keep it in mind."

"So are you on the Quidditch Team?" Eben was really interested in that, and if he could try out this year, that would be a big step to getting to know more people around Hogwarts.