Oh goodness. Raiden blinked and looked down at Mia, surprised. She was... very passionate about this, wasn't she. She seemed to have gotten very excited about that for a minute. He almost felt chastised.

"There's not been a lot of faith in my ability to stay alive in general, most of my life," he said with a shrug. "They're pretty in line with most of the people who knew me, growing up."

Still, Mia seemed to have a lot of confidence in him, so soon after meeting him. It was encouraging. Which felt really good, considering the multitude of people going on about death.

"Thank you. For that. I appreciate it." Especially since all those that seemed to have faith in his abilities had graduated already. It was nice to have people here that thought he was capable. "I promise, I'll give Nikolai a run for his money at the very least."

Hopefully more than that. Heh.

"Oh?" Mia gave Raiden a curious look. "You sick or something?" That would explain the dark spot in his aura. And that could also explain why he had entered the tournament.

She once had a friend that had a terminal illness and she had gone out of her way to chase every thrill seeking event she possibly could. It was as though she just had to push every boundary before she died. Not that she was saying Raiden was going to die or anything like that.

Mia gave Raiden another smile and inclined her head towards him. "No problems at all. I merely tell it how it is." Oh yes she was getting very good vibes from Raiden and the panic that had seized her before was finally starting to recede. "That's the spirit!"

She would have Nikoli eating those flobberworms in no time.

Was he sick? That was... hm. The prefect shook his head after a moment of deliberation. He wasn't sick anymore, no. At least, he wouldn't say he was. True, there was still the possibility, but there was always a possibility for anything.

"Used to be. When I was a kid." His hand automatically went after his ear again, and he looked at his feet for a moment before looking at Mia. "I was sick for a long time. It was pretty bad, but... not anymore. It's better."

He still had his limits though. Which... he was kinda testing with this whole Triwizard thing. Probably pushing his luck, but you only lived once, after all.

This girl was amusing, and very sweet, really.

"You're a good kid, I like you," he murmured absently, grinning. "Very energetic, too."

...what had he come up here for, again?

After everything she had heard about Slytherins, Mia was re-thinking what she had been told. Raiden just did not fit into that stereotype at all. Which was going to make her re-think all the houses from now on.

"Well I am glad to hear that you are better now because you are simply too nice to..." Mia stopped herself just in time before she said the 'd' word. "Er...how about those Cannons eh?"

Hmm, nice save Mia...NOT!!

Mia felt a grin spread across her face at Raiden's compliment. "I like you too Mr Prefect." And being the spontaneous person that she was, Mia stepped forward and gave him a huge hug. "You're gonna be just fine Raiden." She stepped back and bounced a little on her feet. "I should let you get back to whatever it is you were doing before I interrupted you."

But she was glad that she was able to talk to him because she was feeling so much better now.

Snort.

"Doing better than they usually do, ain't they," he said playfully. She was really set on not mentioning death to him, which was nice and all, but... well in that situation, completely different. "Believe me, I'm glad about it too."

No more attacks and ending up in the hospital wing; these were things he didn't miss. Now he just ended up there for other reasons. Getting de-aged, getting himself nearly killed, those kinds of things.

Totally a better deal.

Oh hug. No matter what his age, Raiden still enjoyed hugs; he gave Mia a little squish back before she stepped away. This was one of the weirdest first meetings ever, really, but he was so well accustomed to weird that it didn't much register at the moment.

"Heh. Thanks." He looked down the hall, then back at the staircase. "I... hmmm. Can't remember why I came up here in the first place."

There had been a reason. He was sure of it.

"Huh. I'll remember eventually..." Maybe he should just go to the dorm and read or something.

Seems he had picked up on her almost slip of the tongue and she blushed a little. Mia didn't believe that the Professor's would let any of the contestants die in this tournament.

Poor naive girl.

Oh dear. The boy seemed totally consumed with not dying in the tournament that he could not even remember what he was doing. At least he had an excuse. Mia tended to forget a lot of things all the time and the only excuse she had was that she lived in a dream world most of the time.

"I'm sure you." She replied giving him a smile. "I suppose I should head back to my common room." It was probably going to take her a good hour to find her way back there. Mia raised her hand and gave Raiden a small wave. "Good luck Raiden. I'm sure you're going to do just great." With that she turned on her heel and headed in the opposite direction.

Yeaaah. He would remember eventually. It was all a matter of retracing what he had been doing... library, try to eat, trying to sleep...

It had to do with the last one, he was sure.

"I'm sure I'll remember in a few minutes. Just have to think." He waved back distractedly to the girl. "I'll see you around, Mia. And thank you, again."

Confidence was a helpful thing. It made him a little more confident in himself.

"Going to the library?" Nia asked, spying Raiden in the corridor as she headed upstairs to the Common Room. She didn't think he'd be going to the Hospital Wing, and as far she knew there weren't classes at the moment, else she would be there and not outside. And then, why else would a Slythie be heading up from the Dungeons?

Nia had been out for a hard run round the lake. Her hair was clipped back off her face, and she was dressed in her sports kit. Pink legs from the nip of the chilly air could be seen where she was wearing shorts (though her ankles were hidden under velcro weights), and her face was warm and damp. Maybe she should have just legged it on up the stairs and gone for a shower quick, rather than stand here like this. It eccentuated her athleticness...but hmm, hot and sweaty? Mmm, niiiiiiiiice. Ah well, too late now.

"I didn't get to say congratulations," she said with a smile, forgetting about her current attire. Nia had kind drifted away from the action around the Goblet after the names had been read out. It hadn't felt right staying, with the disappointment of no Quidditch and no tournament inside her. It was better to wait and get that out of her. And escape the mob that was bound to surround the champions.

Her turquoise eyes focused on him. "I'm glad you got Champion, you deserve it. And you'll be totally awesome out there." She would have totally hugged him too, but figured he might think it a tad grotty.

Huh what what. Raiden had taken to staring very hard at the floor, trying to recall exactly what he'd come up here for, when Nia's voice sorta jolted him. Blinking, the prefect's eyes flicked up and focused on her instead; she'd been working out or something, obviously. Sweaty Nia. Hehe.

"Would I look terribly stupid if I admitted that I can't quite remember what I came up here for?" he murmured, rubbing the back of his neck as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "I had it, and then a girl named Mia distracted me for a minute, and I forgot again..."

Yes. Yes, he would look terribly stupid. He kinda wished he hadn't said that.

Ahhh. The congratulations. Raiden leaned against the wall, hand falling away from his neck and fingers entwining with the other in front of him. He'd kinda... disappeared on her, that day. Slipped away, first in shock and then in horror over what Miles had said. He still hadn't quite gotten over that... which was why the skin under his eyes was looking a bit darker these days.

"Thanks, Nia. Really." He smiled. "I wish you'd gotten picked too, though."

But still. Like this, there was less of a chance she'd get hurt. A loooooot less of a chance. Which was secretly pleasing, because Raiden didn't want to see Nia get hurt.

"Then you could stress yourself to death with me, maybe." Grin.

Oops. She'd totally just disrupted his thoughts, hadn't she? She ran her fingers through her hair, and pulled out a grip that had obviously come loose from the run. She slipped it onto the neck of her top.

"I don't think so," Nia answered, watching him rock back and forth. "It's an easy thing to do. Especially if staircases or people are against you." She should know, having had to go up and down from the seventh floor every day. The journey could take five or twenty five minutes, depending on those moving staircases.

She watched his reaction to her congratulations, but couldn't quite pick up on his true emotion. She was usually pretty good with figuring what people were feeling. He looked slightly tired, the darker rings showed that much. His eyes weren't as bright as she remembered them at the ball. But that was about it. And most NEWTs students had dark rings when assignments were due anyway.


"You're welcome," Nia said with a small shrug. It was the least she could say, even if it was probably a good few days later than everyone else. "But I didn't," she answered softly, glancing at her trainers a moment. They were splashed with dirt from the trail round the lake she had run. She swallowed slowly, taking the time to not show the slight disappointment that remained. It really meant something that a Champion wished for her to be competing too. She wasn't sure if it made it better or worse.

"I'll still be there," she said as she looked up, her moment of soppiness passing. "Cheering away." She grinned. It'd be weird doing the cheering and not the actual 'doing' like she did on the pitch, but it'd still be fun. She could even charm some banners.

Nia looked at him, perplexed. "You're not stressing already, are you?" She mock rolled her eyes and tutted. "I dunno. You should be saving that for the day, not ruining your fun now." She shook her arms at her sides and gave them a bit of a stretch. She didn't want to seize up. "And I did make a promise..." she added with a wink.

"Ahhh, but I'd forgotten it before I talked to Mia, and the staircases didn't move on me..." He shrugged. "It had something to do with sleeping, but I can't remember."

It was getting frustrating now. He wanted to remember, so he could go on and do whatever else he'd said he was going to do that day, but... just... ugh. It just wasn't there. He felt thwarted. At least Nia was being nice about it and not poking fun at him for having a dysfunctional brain.

"Yeah... which just goes to show how smart the damn goblet is." It had spit out his name and not Nia's. From what he understood, he wasn't the only apprehensive champion. More than one had had the 'dear Merlin why did that happen' reaction. Miles had about lost his mind.

The idea of Nia cheering for them gave him a bit more of a boost than he'd gotten from others, for some reason. At least she wasn't upset that he'd gotten picked, and she hadn't. It would've been kinda... upsetting, that way.

Raiden's current posture set him a few inches shorter than usual, which meant that when he looked at Nia, he was looking up. This might've had some amplifying effect on the tiredness of his eyes, but he wouldn't realise it.

"Miles says there's dragons." His voice had gone quite a bit quieter than it had been. For obvious reasons. This was why he'd been stressing out since he'd found out, and why his sleeping and eating patterns were all screwed up and out of whack.

"As in you need some?" She eyed him. It'd explain the dark rings, whether that was down to NEWTs or the tournament. "Which direction were you heading?" As in was he heading to the dorms? Or to avoid sleep and do work? Or what?

"It does?" She looked at him blankly. "Because of who it decided to choose?" She didn't know why she wasn't up to scratch, but for some reason the Goblet hadn't chosen her. There were other better suited. She couldn't let herself get too down about it, else she'd just fail in other areas too. She just had to find other ways of expending energy, other than Quidditch Practice or the tournament. Hence her run. And the ankle weights. No, she didn't make things easy for herself. But yes, she had to keep going. Life was what you made of it.

She leant in as his voice dropped. She could tell this was causing all the aforementioned stress. She leant against the wall next to him, stretching her quadriceps as she did so. Two questions crept into her mind. "How does Miles know?" she asked softly. As she seemed to recall, the the tournament tasks were meant to be top secret. "And dragons are okay. You just need a game plan." Sure, they were dangerous creatures. But there had to be a way round them. Plenty of people worked with dragons, and were okay.

...Perhaps she would have been less confident if she'd been in Raiden's place. But she wasn't. And the best she could do was be supportive. And with that, she put a supportive hand on his shoulders. Perhaps to help her balance whilst standing on one leg, but perhaps also to reassure him. A scared Champion was no use at all.

"Gods, but I do." The prefect straightened up a little, still leaned against the wall; his fingers started to turn the stud in his ear once more. "I haven't been able to... I was coming up here for something, but... ehhhh. I'm all out of sorts."

Sleeping two, three hours, then getting up for classes. He forced himself to stay awake in class by focusing as hard as he could on what they were discussing or doing. Spent lunch sitting in the Great Hall just... staring at food. A few days of this had messed his head up enough that, obviously, he forgot where he was going.

It had something to do with sleep.

"You'd make a great champion," he said flatly. "It should've picked you. Can't figure out why it didn't."

How did Miles know about the dragons? Raiden vaguely remembered him mentioning something about that, before he'd panicked over that kid and run off...

"Ah. I think he said Vindictus slipped up and said something about them." He glanced at her, at the hand on his shoulder, and a half a smile tilted his lips. "Dragons are big, Nia. And I'm very easy to melt or crush. I don't even know exactly what they're going to have us do... I don't even know for sure if it is dragons. Miles just said that and then ran off..."

Something about the... hospital wing. The healer. Was it... ah!

"I remember now. I was gonna bug the healer about a sleeping draught."

However, he didn't move from against the wall. He'd told her, so... if he forgot again, she'd remind him, right?

"Sleep? Or not sleep?" Nia raised an inquisitive eyebrow. If he was 'sleeping', it didn't seem to be the refreshing, rejuvenating type. More the stare at the ceiling type. At least he realised he wasn't quite right. Or, sort of did. It sounded like a severe case of the jitters Nia got the night before a match. Just, for a longer period than a night. More like, a few nights. In a row. "What did you have for breakfast this morning?" she asked curiously. It was one way she had learn to tell how her team were feeling, without straight asking. So it wasn't too weird asking it out of the blue.

"Evidently not," Nia answered, shaking her head. "And you shouldn't be figuring out why it didn't pick me. You should be focusing on why it did pick you."

"Vindictus slipped up?" Nia murmured, a thoughtful look crossing her eyes for a fleeting moment. She wobbled a moment as she swapped the leg she was stretching, and she squeezed Raiden's shoulder gently so as not to fall over. "Of course they're big. And have wings. And have fire. It doesn't mean they aren't beatable. You have a wand, don't you? And a brain. Two brains, if you want them."

She would have said more, but he'd figured out what he was originally trying to do. A sleeping draught? His sleeping pattern must reaaaally be messed up.
Not that it seemed he wanted to go to the hospital wing for now.

"They had dragons in a previous tournament..." she said softly. "All the champions survived then..."

"I need to." Which was probably obvious, considering Raiden wasn't exactly a forgetful person. He was usually rather... well, energetic. This was a far step off from that. A big, gigantic obvious step.

...breakfast?

"Uhm..." Well. That. That was actually a difficult question. "I kinda... didn't."

Eat anything, that is. Which meant he'd had nothing for breakfast, thank you very much. Nor could he recall having eaten the previous night. Which... he knew was bad. Yeah. He knew. He had to eat, or Kellen Stern was right and he needed a babysitter. Sigh.

Thaaaat... he was not sure about. He didn't really seem like the logical choice if one looked at his good qualities versus his bad ones. He had a temper, and he was a nervous, paranoid person sometimes. At least he was quick on his feet and with his wand. Heh.

"'s what Miles said, I think. I dunno, I haven't seen him since he ran away..." Hopefully he hadn't run clear away from Hogwarts. Merlin knew he was old enough to escape. "The problem with dragons, Nia, is that they're extremely hard to cast against. The scales and all that... I wrote to Truebridge about it." Hopefully the man would help him out. "But I'd appreciate your help too, and all. You're probably smarter than I am, at least when it comes to this stuff."

Magical Creatures wasn't a subject area he really excelled in. He kept decent marks, but... well. There were just other things that he was a lot better at.

Previous tournaments.

"Well yeah, but... I wasn't in previous tournaments." He wasn't Harry Potter, or Cedric Diggory or whoever the other two had been. He was Raiden Kururugi, and he was probably very chewy. "If I knew what we were meant to do... I mean surely it's nothing like killing them, that's impossible for even older wizards and everything..."

See? See how he obsessed? This was what kept his brain up til all hours of the night these past few days.

"Uh-huh," Nia answered, with a semi-stern look and a nod. "Staying fit and healthy should be top on your list of priorities right now. Sleep comes into that." She could quite easily go into a Captain style speech about good nutrition and sleep and having the edge, but Raiden probably didn't need a lecture. Though thinking about it, a long monotonous lecture might bore him into sleep and help. Ahem. Anyway.

No breakfast? No wonder he was forgetting things. No brain food. She was very tempted to haul him down to the Great Hall right there and then. But force feeding most likely wouldn't help. He'd probably just hate her for it. And that'd be no funsies.

"You ever tried using a gel pouch or energy drink?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She dug around in her shorts pocket, and pulled out a silver sachet type thing that looked a tad space age. "Muggle invention for sport," she said by way of an explanation. "Energy, but easy on the stomach. Might be worth a try." She'd used one before she went for her run, so that food wouldn't be slopping around her belly and give her cramp. "Jelly babies are good too."

"How helpful," Nia muttered. Was Miles scaremongering, or telling the truth? Admittedly, Nia didn't know her co-prefect much more than his Quidditch skills. Maybe she should make an effort and find out.

"So you don't aim for the scales," she answered logically. That's what she would have brought to the tournament. Logic. Thought. Common sense. And athletic ability. "I'd go for the eyes," she added as an afterthought. "Anyway, what did Truebridge say?"

"I'm here if you need me," she said with a smile. There might have even been a hint of a blush if her skin hadn't still been warm from the run. "Smarter is probably the wrong term. But, I'm someone to bounce ideas off. And practice with or on too." Maybe she might learn something. Some new spells. New facts. She certainly wouldn't mind scouring the library for more of a reason than just pure enjoyment.

"True," she admitted. "But you're still chosen as a Champion. You've still got strengths. Abilities. Support. And we can learn from history." Would she still have been this level headed if she was in the tournament? It was an interesting thought. Maybe the Goblet thought she wouldn't be.

As for knowing what the task was? "We can always try to find out..." A small smile crept across her lips.

Ohhhhh, Nia was giving him that look. That look that pretty much said Kellen Stern was right. Raiden knew he needed to sleep and eat and all that, it was just... the past few days, he'd neglected the hell out of that. It wasn't that he didn't want to, he just... couldn't.

A whata what? Gel pouch? The prefect eyed the silvery thing she'd produced, leaning toward her and tilting his head to look at it. It almost looked like a juice pouch... Hmm.

Poke.

"I've never seen those before." Poke. He gently poked it in her hand. "Jelly babies?"

Nia had interesting things. Hehe.

"Think he was more freaked about it than I... he told me right after our names came out." The prefect bit his lip, which was kinda a way to keep himself from pouting a little. "Didn't even get to feel excited about being picked, really..."

Just immediate shock and then horror over the gigantic prospect of death by fire or terrifying dragon fangs.

"The eyes..." That was a good idea, yes. Nia was lovely and useful, wasn't she. "He's not written back yet. I just sent it yesterday though, and he's all the way at the university in Cairo..."

Practise with? On? Raiden blinked at her, eyes widening slightly. He wasn't going to practise spells against Nia. Noooooo way.

"I'm not going to ask you to let me cast at you, Nia," he mumbled. "But I'm going to take you up on the thinking thing... especially since I'm not doing too good a job at that, lately."

Learning from history was something he planned to do; the library was on his list of things to do today. Researching dragons, and previous tournaments, and many other things. Good defensive magic. Spells that would protect him from fiery death were top on the list.

"Are you suggesting we be sneaky, Nia Newtington?" he asked with a grin. "Try to weasel information out of the Headmaster or the professors?"

Nia laughed as he poked it. "I hadn't until the summer when I was researching training methods ready for trials at the end of the year. Muggles training intensively use them. I've been giving them a try." She held it out for him to take. "Not the nicest tasting stuff I'm afraid. But better than trying to stomach heavy food, especially before hard exercise." She nodded knowingly, glancing down to her ankle weights. People thought running was hard. They should try it with these. It was hardcore.

"I've got some upstairs. You can have some if you want. I can always order some more." She smiled. "As for jelly babies, they're muggle sweets. In the shape of...well, babies. Different fruity flavours. But yum. And pretty good for energy too." She nodded. And one of her Granddad's favourites.

"How kind of him," Nia said with a smirk. "Awwww. Now that isn't fair. You should have had your chance of excitement." She would have done. In the Common Room. With JD and Ellie and Max and cake. As long as Ellie wasn't allowed near said cake. And Becca would have been so excited too. Even if she wasn't there.

"I could always get a cake from the kitchens. And do a mini re-enactment and celebration?" she said with a giggle. "I'm not sure I can mimic Tate's voice. But I could try."

She nodded knowingly. She wasn't a true 'Claw for nothing. "Cairo is a long way. Let me know what he says though. All information is good information for this sort of thing." Or at least, that's what she supposed.

What? Why was he blinking and all widen eyed at her. She glanced slowly behind her, in case something scary was crepping up behind her. Nope. All safe. So why?

Aha. "Gah. I can take a few spells." She rolled her eyes. She wouldn't have offered if she minded. "You can cast on a girl and still be gentlemanly," she said with a sigh. "Sometime you need more than a suit of armour. But whatever, I can definitely help with the thinking part."

"Me? Sneaky? I don't know what you're trying to imply." She raised an eyebrow. "You're the Slytherin." She smirked. "But, a little research? I might be up for it." She chuckled and winked. "Anyone in particular you had in mind?"

Hmmm. Raiden carefully took the silver pouch, considering it.

Poke. Poke poke poke.

Didn't taste good, huh? He'd had a lot of Muggle stuff before, but... nothing like this. This was odd and squishy.

Or maybe that was just his brain.

"Thanks, Nia." She was really an awesome friend, with her squishy gel pouch and... gummy babies? "Ahhh, sweets. They sound good."

Raiden liked sweets. Hehe.

"It could have been worse," he said with a shrug. "Could've told me before I'd even been picked. Then I might not have put my name in."

Cake? Cake. He liked cake. But he wasn't sure he would really... er... eat it. Maybe if she distracted him, like she was now... he might eat.

"If you want to..." Grin. "I bet you'd be wonderful at imitation. Probably couldn't get your voice deep enough though."

Of course he'd let her know. Whenever Truebridge's letter came back... if it did... she'd even be allowed to read. Because she could probably read better into it than he would.

"I dunno... what if you're better at it than I?" he bit his lip, absently poking the pouch again. "I could do with practise, really, though..."

At least she was his age. Would be less... off-putting. To duel with her.

"A Slytherin who's severely lacking in cunning and sneakiness, I think." He was decent at deception when he needed to be, but... hmmm. "I'd guess Vindictus and Tate would know the most. Wouldn't get anything from the other Heads of the schools, they'd hold out for their own. Maybe the Magical Creatures professor..."

So many to ask, but neither of them were probably very good at weaseling information...

She watched him poke it. Admittedly, it was quite fun to sit and squeeze the packets. The gel squidged back and forth. If he didn't fancy eating it, he could always use it as a stress ball squeezy thing.

She smiled. "Welcomes. That one's meant to be orange. I think I've got blackcurrent ones around somewhere. Though blackcurrant is an overstatement. 'Red' flavour would be more accurate." She chuckled, and ran her fingers through the back of her hair that wasn't gripped down. Most of it was too short to tie up nowadays. And he fancied the sweets? Interestinggg. "I've definitely got some of them in my trunk. I'll try and remember to bring them to our next joint class." So it wouldn't be a nutritious diet, just Jelly Babies. But it was sure better than nothing.

"You would have done," Nia challenged him back. "Because there was still a higher chance of you not being picked. So I doubt it would have made a difference." He'd been unsure anyway, had he not? And he'd still gone ahead. It would be too easy just to go 'it's too dangerous, I'm not going there'. Surely that was the whole point? To prove something to someone in adversity. Or something along those lines.

She rubbed her lips together, semi-hiding the grin of accomplishment she could feel. "I'll see what I can do. Favourite flavour? Chocolate, coffee, vanilla? Decorations?" Surely the House Elves could knock something up. And it might take his mind off the scary side of the tournament to allow him to relax. "I'm not too good at impressions, but I'd give it my best shot. If nothing else you can have a good giggle at my expense." She'd probably end up sounding more like a squeaky Lafay or worse.

"What if I am?" She shrugged. "Surely it doesn't matter. We work together. Learn from each other. And improve together. Win-win." She was doing this to be helpful. A good genuine friend. Not to prove herself. Nor to put him down. Just as a friend. A friend who had excess time on her hands due to a lack of Quidditch.

"Surely not!" Nia retorted. "How can a Slytherin not be cunning? I was hoping you might teach me a thing or two about it. But oh well." She sighed dramatically, obviously feigning it. "I could try talk to Vindictus. Catch him off guard, maybe. But yeah, I too think the other schools are untouchable. In the short term at least."

Orange, huh? The prefect gave it another good poke before turning his attention back to Nia.

"Heh. Is there also purple and green flavours?" he asked playfully. "Does it come in all colours, then?"

Should be try it now, then? Or maybe that would be rude. Maybe he'd just poke it a bit more.

"You don't have to, really..." He bit his lip. "I'd feel like I'm taking all your stuff or something."

She was confident in that, huh? Raiden smirked and pressed his back against the wall. Would he have? Could he have, knowing dragons were around?

"Well I guess we'll never know, will we. 's nothing but 'could have' and stuff."

Ahh ahh cake. Cake. His stomach actually maybe kinda wanted some right then, which was an odd feeling after not being hungry for days. He touched his stomach absently, amused.

"Chocolate," he said firmly. "Chocolate, definitely." Everything and anything chocolate was delicious and awesome. "Doesn't matter what's on it or anything."

Heh. No impressions then. How sad. He'd just have to do without them, then. That wasn't so bad, really. He'd just go off memory of Tate calling his name. Wasn't like it was easily forgotten, after all.

"I guess it wouldn't be that big a deal, but..." He squirmed. "I dunno? I've not really ever duelled someone properly before."

Which was sad, considering he was nearly eighteen. But really, he'd just... never done it. He'd duelled younger kids in class, but that didn't count. That had been easy and kinda... er... well, he hadn't liked it.

"That's a stereotype," he pointed out, the smirk coming back to his lips. "I'm not really a fitting member of my house when you look at it..." Siiiiigh. "You'll just have to bug someone more cunning than I to get lessons, won't you."

Pause.

"D'you think Vindictus would be likely to slip up twice?" He sure hoped so. It would be helpful.

"I think there's a green lime flavour one," Nia replied, thinking back to the website. "And the purple is the combined 'berry' flavour, if I remember correctly." Probably still tasted of general fruityness like the others rather than a definable flavour, but they did they job. "As for other colours, I think there might be a lemon one, but that's about it. Not quite developed the rainbow one yet." She stuck out her tongue and laughed.

"No worries. I wouldn't offer if I didn't want you to have it. And I can always get my parents to order more gels." She shrugged, before moving position to stretch her hamstrings. She really didn't want to be sore in the morning, since she needed to make it down for breakfast and back up the stairs for class. She should really have put a warm layer on by now (and had a shower)...but this was far more important.

"Tis true. We never will. No point pondering it. More like pondering how to deal with the present."

"Chocolate? Nice choice," Nia said with a grin. That would totally have been her pick. With blue icing, and buttercream and jam filling. Yum. She licked her lips as she thought about it. Maybe just substitute the colour of topping for Raiden, considering he was leaving the rest up to her. To green, obviously. "Might you fancy anything with said celebration cake?" she asked, now wondering where their re-enactment and dodgey warble of an imitation might take place. "Sandwiches? Quiche? Nibbles?" Might she be thinking of a picnic of some sort? And oh yes, she had spotted the movement of his hand. Was he hiding a stomach grumble?

Now what was he worrying about?

"True be said," she answered softly, "I haven't either." Sure, she'd practiced spells. Even done extra work outside of class. But always with younger students or on a cushion or whatever. Not a proper formal duel. Probably just unlucky in their year with the Professors or something, for both of them to have missed out.

"Good time to start then. With someone who won't judge. Because I'll be in exactly the same boat." And then they could laugh at her likely awful technique together.

She looked him up and down, as if she was trying to find this supposedly missing cunningness. "It must be in there somewhere," she pointed out, "for the sorting hat to put you in Slytherin. Maybe its just waiting to pop out at a crucial moment." Like getting information to stay alive in the tournament. "B-bu-but...I want you to teach me," she mock wibbled, a twinkle in her turquoise eyes. She couldn't hold it though. Acting was not one of Nia's strong points, and she was soon giggling.

...and as for Vindictus? "Who knows. But it might be worth a try." And she hadn't been to pester him about no Quidditch yet. Perfect reason to ask why, perhaps?

"I'm sure a rainbow one would look just brilliant." The gel colours would all mix, and then it would turn brown or black and Merlin knew, nobody wanted to squeeze black gel into their mouths. "I'd suggest they get wizarding help for that one, if they're going to try."

Merlin, Nia was so nice. Raiden would still feel bad about taking her gel thing, though. Even if she was happy to share them. He watched her stretch, eyes curiously following her movements. Huh.

"I like chocolate best," he said with a shrug. "Out of everything... I just like sweets in general. Probably not a good thing, when you think about it, but..." He poked his stomach. "I work enough to eat them, I think." He ate fruit toooooooo, so that made it good, right? "Uhm... whatever you want? Surprise me. Just... don't give me anything pumpkin."

So neither of them had duelled properly before? Raiden was a bit surprised about that. He somehow figured Nia would have, because she was a Ravenclaw... and Ravenclaws did anything and everything for their academics, didn't they. Yuuup.

"It'd be nice... probably won't have to duel in the tournament, but... wand stuff is important, an' all." Moving targets were better for working on reflexes, and if there were to be dragons or... any other creatures... yeah. He'd need good casting reflexes. "Maybe sometime this week, we could give it a shot?"

Why was she looking at him like that? Raiden looked down at himself too, as if he expected something to have actually changed without his noticing. When he saw nothing, he looked back up at Nia, one eyebrow raised.

"It might have something to do with my being able to get my way sometimes," he admitted. "Or that whole 'do anything to achieve our ends' thing. I'm pretty willful in certain situations."

Except when girls wibbled.

"We can learn how to be cunning together, maybe." He paused, a grin tingeing his lips. "And then you can use it on Vindictus."

Because she was one of his, he'd probably be more inclined to tell her things, right?

"It would until you got your hands on it," she commented with a chuckle. After all the poking and prodding he'd done to the packet the contains would be all sludgey, and there'd be a clash of flavours too. Ewww. "Maybe it's something I could look into for wizarding athletes when I'm playing..." she said thoughtfully. Because she really was planning to be taken on by a Pro team at the end of this year. And a little research on the side wouldn't hurt for her brain cells. Was it possible to keep the seven colours separate, but still edible in one squeeze on the move? Hmmm.

"If you're happy with it, then so be it," Nia replied, watching him poke his stomach. He didn't seem to have any problems from what she saw. He was quite the handsome guy in fact - without the dark rings of course. But that was just in the short term. "Is that wise? Letting me choose everything?" She raised her eyebrows. "But the lack of pumpkin is noted. As is the sweet tooth." ...And Nia was always up for making a batch of her Mum's recipe cookies in the Charmed Kitchen. Oh yes.

It hadn't even crossed Nia's mind about having to duel in the tournament. Just that knowledge and wandwork would be crucial. This whole thing...was a big unknown, wasn't it? Not that she hadn't known that before. But talking to Raiden had reiterated that fact. Maybe the Goblet had recognised her spontanuity and uncharacteristic lack of thought.

"Just name your time," Nia said with grin. "I can do before breakfast, lunch or evening any time this week." Because she had a ridiculous amount of free time nowadays, without Quidditch Practice. Or at least, it felt overwhelmingly free to her, after being used to being out on the pitch several nights a week for all her previous years at Hogwarts. And it'd be nice to do something a bit more social than sit in front of the Ravenclaw Common Room fire with or good book, or study in the library for funsies.

"Are you now?" Nia said teasingly. "And what sort of situations might they be?" She winked, a smile flickering across her lips.

"We'll do the Snakes' cunning and the Eagles' bookishness together," she said with a nod. "The very best of both." She ran her tongue round the inside of her teeth, thinking of the combination. Perhap odd, considering the difference between her and her Slythie twin brother. But that was a completely different matter. Nia liked Raiden, for a start.

"...And then I'll head off on Mission Vindi." She might not be a Champion. But maybe Nia could still have fun and adventures afterall.

Fee walked down the corridor.
She didnt know why she was here she just was.