Oh....is she waiting up for him because he was still there. he wondered. Well, he really was thinking on heading to bed. It had been a long day of classes, and he was ready to hit the pillow, before he dozed off himself.

Yawning he stretches, "I think I'm gonna head up te bed." Standing up, he turns his head one way then the other cricking it. "G'night Pam" he adds with a smile.

She looked up and smiles. "Goodnight JD. I'm just gonna like, yea." She said pointing down at the couch, and collapsing on it. Asleep pretty much instantly.

Watching as she pointed down at the couch, after saying goodnight, he giggles. He couldn't help it, she hadn't had to wait for him, he hadn't even realized that's what she was doing.

Shaking his head, trying not to laugh again, as not to wake her, he goes to step around the table, when he smacks his knee into it. Muttering a few words, he makes his way up to the dorms his eyes still twinkling in laughter, however.

Oh, he had an audience! He hadn't seen the girl.

"Merci madem-" Oh, oops. She was not done talking. Smiling kindly, he nodded and waited to see if she had anything more else to say before continuing. "A muggle...movie?" Well, he had heard of those but never really got up close to one. "Well, my neighbors, zey play zis song alot."

Which was definitely the truth!

Turning his attention to the très belle mademoiselle sitting in front of him, Noel smiled proudly once he heard her review of the song. He wasn't sure if it would have been a good choice or not, but apparently it was! "I'm glad you zink zo." It was a relief! Grinning, he stared at her for a moment, trying to think of a good title for the song.

"Well, actually I am not sure. Like I said, my neighbors play it often, zough I have found no title. Or zought of one yet." Tapping his fingers lightly on the guitar in his lap, he glanced down to the instrument, running words through his mind that would be a good choice before turning his blue eyed gaze onto Sandra once more, a slow mischievous yet warm smile appearing on his face as he did so.

"Why don't, you choose a titl-"

The girl knew the title?

Then again, she did know that it came from a movie, so it would make sense she knew the title. You've Got a Friend In Me was not something he was expecting though for a title of a song. He thought it would have been more, well, not that.

Waiting for her to finish the small lecture about the song, Noel smiled the entire time, though his foot was bouncing slightly on the ground. Impatient? Maybe. "You've Got a Friend in Me." he repeated, glancing to Sandra out of the corner of his eye before going back to finishing what he was going to say. "I'm definitely no enemy." Lame joke. He couldn't even laugh at it. "I suppoze zat iz a nice title. Unless of course..." Queue the turn of attention back to Sandra. "...you want to change it?"

The girl wouldn't mind would she? It's not like it'll be a permanent thing.

Carr was far less interested in the turn this conversation was taking as soon as the French student started speaking. Didn't--? Didn't even know the name of the song he'd been playing?? But... But it's Randy Newman!! That song is internationally recognizeable!

She wasn't suddenly quite put out. She gathered her things, looking almost offended, and left the common room. Okay, she just couldn't be in the same room as people who couldn't appreciate good music. And now they were flirting--shamelessly--over their shared ignorance of Randy Newman! Carr was incensed. She stormed out of the portrair hole with her bookbag slung across her shoulder.

Louisa stumbled into the portrait hole and balanced herself quickly scowling back. She had her bag full of books on her shoulder and carrying it from the library till the Owlery and then over here was no picnic.

She walked over to an empty armchair and threw herself there. She had her head back for a second to gather her thoughts and then got the letter out and folded in front of her while reading it again.



Her eyes were full of tears again as she re-read it, she folded it and tucked it in her bag before wiping away what was in her eyes. Why didn't her mother write? And how did she go out of town when Johnny was 'ill' ? That didn't make sense to her and only made her worry even more.

He didn't know the song?

It didn't matter to her. The song was still beautiful, and he obviously was very talented.

She knew what he was going to ask, and a small smile creeped on her face. It was, however, wiped away when the girl spoke up again.

Sandra's eyes lazily, almost irritably, flicked over to the girl when she answered the question that obviously wasn't directed towards her. Why was she still down here anyway? Didn't the Hogwarts students have a bedtime.

Probably. The school was like a over sized daycare to her what with all the little ones running rampant.

Obviously she wasn't listening to a word the girl was saying. She couldn't care less about who wrote the song and all that nonsense.

"You are far from a enemy, Noel." A smirk appeared on her face. Yes, his joke was lame, but she knew what he meant and gave him credit for trying. Tilting her head to the side, she ran her fingers through her hair as it fell off her shoulder. Hazel eyes fixed on his. "It is a nice title, and ve are friends..." She paused to see if he would contradict her statement. She strongly doubted it.

Out of her perifial vision she could see the girl leaving. Thank Merlin. For all Sandra knew the girl would try to give them more facts.

Normally, Kellen wasn't one for walking into a room with a book in hand and intent to read. Especially not somewhere like the common room, where he'd seen a lot of Ravenclaws (especially girls) do so with looks on their faces that suggested they'd like to be distracted. Well, Kellen didn't want to be distracted, but reading in his room didn't really appeal to him and for some reason the noise levels in the rest of the school had picked up a great deal over the last little while.

Securing a nice window nook for himself, he settled down with Self-Made Marsupial and started reading, notebook on hand in case he found anything particularly interesting.

Stepping into the common room once again, he shakes his head trying to free it of his bizarre things he'd been doing since potions class. Singing? What the heck was he thinking? His head still dizzy from the spinning, he sinks down into one of the arm chairs.

"Glit - ter - y," Neptune was saying to herself, skipping down the stairs from her dormitory. She clapped her hands together for the 800th time, at least, watching the glitter rain down from them. Giggle! Where did it all COME from?

She hoped it never stopped. Neptune Bott was so Princess Fairy like with glitter dancing on her skin and from her very fingertips.

Obviously.


She danced and twirled, not having missed Mr. Stern in his window seat, riiiiight by him. And then again. Giggle. Pay. HER. ATTENTION.

At first he thought it was just some part of the back of his brain, trying to distract him. Well, bully for you, brain, that book of concentration exercises was already starting to pay off.

...and then there was glitter.

Kellen glanced up at the Glittery Bott, sparing her a 'that's nice' sort of smile before going back to reading. He shifted a little away from her, more to keep the glitter from getting on him than anything else. Why did girls want to glitter-ize him so much lately?

Neptune did a few more rounds, but obviously Kellen wasn't going to relent. Fine. Just fine. She'd just make him relent and like her again. It was hardly HER fault he was being a poo, so she didn't, in her opinion, deserve the cold shoulder now.

She sneaked up behind him - GIGGLE - and wrapped her arms around his middle.


"Kellennnnnn," Neptune whined, then snaked her little self around him so he HAD to look at her.

"Oh." Her nose scrunched up, scrutinizing a face she knew so well. "Kellybear, are you wearing eyeshadow?" Just there? Neptune raised her glittery finger to point...

Great. Now there was glitter all around his middle. Kellen let the open book drop into his lap, his eyes closing briefly as he mentally saved his spot. Then he looked down at her.

Eyeshadow? Really? Really?

"Yes. Yes I am." As if she didn't know a bruise when she saw one. "Fletcher helped me put it on."

Well!

"You let Fletcher put makeup on you and not ME? I asked! You said, and rather emphatically might I add, NO. Why would you say yes to him and not to me?"


And why did NONE of that add up a BIT?

Upon further reflection, reflection that involved a bit of lip nibbling and lowered brows, Neptune used her Ravenclaw wit to figure a few things out:

1. Kellen Stern was not wearing makeup.
2. Duncan may or may not wear makeup.
3. Duncan had not helped Kellen put on imaginary makeup.

She closed the distance between her fingertip and the faded bit of purple at Kellen's eyes. Poke. "A bruise." Pause. "What did you do?" Did he needed.... kisses.... for it? Hmm. Probably.

Throughout her whole little mini-rant, Kellen had an unimpressed look on his face. Considering she always called him a boy, in the Neanderthal sense, she could sure act like a girl sometimes. Still, she got that lip-chew look that meant she was figuring something out.

Poke.

OW. Come on, jeez!

Kellen pressed his eyelids closed and winced, "Yes, all right? It's a bruise. Stop touching it." Man, now he had a glittery bruise, "As if you don't know why it's there."

Neptune pulled her hand back slowly, but her eyes stayed there with the faint purple circling Kellen's eyes. She pulled herself up onto the seat with him, getting an even CLOSER look.

"I know how bruises work. When you get hit or bump into something too hard the small veins and capillaries and things will break and blood," ICKY," will leak out under the skin."

Score for the Sorting Hat. Ravenclaw at work here.



"Did you fall down?" Neptune eeeeeeased forward, clearly moving to give his boo boo and little Neptune kissy.

Was she trying to rub it in his face? Because if so, it was working. It was really, really working.

"Neptune," he put his hands on her shoulders and moved her away from his face. Maybe she didn't understand just how not-wanting-to-talk-about-it he was. "You know it's a bruise and I told you Fletcher put it there. How do you think I got it?"

Neptune's lips turned down, somewhere between a frown and a pout. She was only going to make it better. But fine, fine. Neptune sat back onto her feet, while her hands toyed with the hem of her blouse.

"Well I don't know, Kellen. I suppose you two had an accident. In the Defense Arena?" Maybe Kellen was being the very good boy Neptune knew him to be and helping Duncan train? Maybe?

"No."

He just stared at her. How could she be so selectively dense? Did she honestly think he'd... when time and again he'd talked about much he disliked Defense? (Although he was going to like it now, if only long enough to get a formed Patronus.)

"Remember when you told Fletcher to come and give me a message?" Hint HINT. Told him to punch me in the face?

"Sure, I remember that. He said he gave it to you. You never replied though," Neptune poked at his knee, her eyes downcast. "He brought me flowers," she added, almost absently, her brain working this out.

It was absurd, really, what she was thinking. That Duncan had, for some reason, purposefully given Kellen a black eye.


She raised her eyes again to meet his, trying to ASK without actually having to ask.... Did Duncan HIT you????

"Oh, he gave it to me all right." Kellen moved his knee away from her poking finger and picked his book up again, "And he told me you wanted me to keep my crappy flowers to myself."

As for her whole not-asking kind of asking... he just gave her a look back that said 'What do you think?'

"I.."

..


Neptune hadn't said that. And she CERTAINLY hadn't told Duncan Fletcher to hit Kellen. She'd NEVER. Neptune reached up for a curl to twirl while she thought this through.


"You don't really think I..." said that? Sent Fletcher to do that? Right? Neptune's eyes were big and searching. Kellybear?

Pam walked in, and collapsed on the couch. She didn't feel like going anywere. She did try heading off to the tree house, but flashes from her dream, flashed through her head. Everywere she went reminded her of her dreams. So she just went back to the common room, and this is where she was. Lying on her back, with an arm and a leg hanging off. She sighed, and groaned. This year isn't quite as she thought it would be.

Smiling at Sandra, he had almost missed the fact that…

"Aw, mademoiselle, don’t go-" She was gone. His forehead creased slightly as the frown replaced the smile on his face. Watching the portrait door close, Noel sighed before resting back in his chair.

Turning his attention back to Sandra, the calm expression slowly changed the frown as he watched the girl let her fingers run through her hair.

Friends. "I suppose zo…oui." He muttered, picking random tunes on the strings of the guitar as he let his gaze settle on the blue edge of the instrument. Hmm, friends; it was a start at least. "Anyways…"

Placing the guitar down and leaning it against the table, he scotched forward and placed his elbows on his knees before turning his attention back to Sandra. "Speaking of friends, ze people that you arrived wiz…zey are your friends az well?"

"I don't know, Neptune." Kellen sighed and gave up the rather flimsy pretense of trying to read his book with her there, "But apparently he thought, from whatever you told him, that it was necessary. What..."

This was touching a little close to his own explosion of immaturity, and he cleared his throat a little, "What exactly happened after I left?"

He'd sort of just assumed that Neptune would sulk behind whatever plant she'd picked for a few minutes, and then... do something else. Actually, he'd never thought about it that hard. Probably because Fletcher decked him before he could.