Vindictus was enjoying the serenity of his office and had spent the past half hour perusing a portfolio taken during a photoshoot a week prior to the school term starting. It was a nice reprieve from the hectic summer that he endured: International Association of Quidditch meetings (narrowing the three sites for the Quidditch World Cup and the approval of the new rule book), interviews for his book, several photoshoots, and then dealing with his head-strong 16-year old son Ethan who rather embarrassed the family name during a short visit to Diagon Alley.

Suddenly, Max closed the portfolio and sat it to one side of his desk. He began to tap his fingers on his desk.

There was something I was supposed to do, but what was it?

Next up was. Professor Vindictus, Deputy Head Master and Ravenclaw Head of House. Oakey shuddered at the thought of Ravenclaws and their crazy ways. Professor Vindictus was right up there with them too. He had heard what happened during the Basic Flying Lesson and was glad to have missed out on it.

But this had to be done. To really get attention for the cause Oakey was supporting, he would need to get the Head Master and Deputy Head Master to notice these banners.

Oakey gulped and walked quietly up to the door If he were to sneak in to Vindictus' office He'd need to be extra careful. He turned the knob but it stopped halfway. Locked! Oakey mumbled beneath his breath. He looked around quickly to see if anyone was watching. Taking one of his banners, Oakey spread it down the office door so it'd have to be read by turning your head sideways. Taking his wand he cast the sticking charm and the poster stayed nicely put on Crazy Ravenclaw Head of House's office door.

Sierra wasn't entirely sure why her heart was beating so quickly right now. Was it because she was about to knock on Vinny's door and that she'd heard you could lose points just by standing here? Or was it that any second now Kennedy would be along? He would be along, wouldn't? She'd sort of, kind of re-brushed her hair and put a tiny amount of make-up on in the thirty minutes since she'd left the first floor corridor. That was just normal, right?

She'd just wait around for a few more minutes and then when Kennedy arrived, they'd knock.

Kennedy made his way to Professor Vindictus' office while running his fingers through his hair. After he had eaten an apple, drank some pumpkin juice and made a quick trip to the Kitchesns the sixteen year old boy had dashed to the boy's dorms and attempted to tame his hair. He wasn't sure if he should gel it down or just leave it the way it was. At the end he settled with leaving it the way it was. It wasn't bad, just curly.

As he approached the office he rubbed his hands on his jeans. They were moist, why were they moist? It most likely had to do with the combination of Quidditch and Sierra...at the same time. Right. Just don't fall off the broom and make a fool of himself. He could do that. Yeah.

When he spotted her he stood beside her and grinned. See, he wasn't nervous at all. Pssh. "Ready to knock?" he asked. He held up the box of cookies the elves had prepared. He was all set.

Then suddenly, Sierra noticed another person come up directly beside her. Turning, she saw Kennedy standing there with a plate full of cookies. "Well done, Prefect Escalante," she said with a grin. The cookies, she meant. "...and of course I'm ready to knock. Let's get this over with." With that, she raised her hand and knocked three times. *knock knock knock*

Then she stood back and moved off to the side in case somebody else was coming in or out of the door. She didn't want to get knocked over. Not only because she would have to be forced to hex somebody, but also because it'd be done in front of Kennedy. Nope. She was better off stepping to the side.

Alyssa figured that now that she had hung her poster in the waiting room of the Headmaster’s office, that she would do the same for the next in line of authority in Hogwarts. The Deputy Headmaster and Head of House of Ravenclaw, Professor Vindictus.

She carried her contraband all the way to the Quidditch pitch and up to the door of the Professor’s office and looked around to see whether he was anywhere. Since he could possibly be inside his office, Alyssa moved stealthly trying to make as little noise as possible. She pulled out her protest banner and tried to figure out where she would put it. She needed to put it in a place where Professor Vindictus would definitely see it when he came in and out of his office. Then an idea popped into her head.

She quickly looked around and found two sticks. Pulling a roll of twine from her bag, Alyssa cut off two 2 feet lengths of twine using her penknife and then poked two holes at each end of her banner. She slipped one length of twine into the holes at one end and tied it to the stick. Then she walked over to the other end of the banner and did the same. She then picked up the banner with the sticks attached and poked the sticks into the ground right next to the door of the Professor’s office. Next she took out the tape recorder where she had recorded her message, moved the lever to its loudest volume and hid it behind a stone. She then took out her wand and cast the Homenum Revelio spell on it to detect the presence of anyone coming and leaving from the Professor’s office. If anyone passed it, the tape recorder would turn on and blast out her message which said,” WE NEED TO FIGHT FOR OTHER HOUSE UNITY. LET US OPEN THE DOORS TO ALL HOUSE COMMON ROOMS, TO ALLOW ANY STUDENT IN HOGWARTS TO ENTER IN, SO THAT THEY CAN SIT AND TALK WITH THEIR FRIENDS LIKE THEY DO IN ALL THE OTHER ROOMS, SO YES WELCOME EVERYONE, EVEN THE SLYTHERINS.”

Alyssa looked around and seeing no one added a little note at the bottom of the banner.



Then she quickly made a mad dash back to the castle and the safety of her House Common Room.

If it wasn't for Floo Powder, Vindictus would have had to climb down several flights of stairs and then cross the grassy main to his office where he knew students would be waiting outside his locked door. Again, thank Merlin for Floo Powder!

He emerged from the fireplace and brushed the soot from his robes. A few minutes before a mirror and Max was satisfied with his appearance. He smiled and winked at his reflection. You're THE man!

Now it was time to let the kiddos in . Several loud clicking noises were heard as the door unlocked.

"Come on in!" he called out as he situated himself behind his desk.

"Always." A playful smirk spread on his lips at Sierra's compliment. He always did well. In lesson, homeworks, magic and all sorts of stuff. Sure, it was after hard work and he prided himself in that. He even had the confidence to admit to himself and to others now.

He nodded and waited for answer, which didn't take long...



He heard the familiar voice of Professor Vindictus and at the clicking sound of the door Kennedy assumed the door had been unlocked. He opened it and held it open for Sierra - ladies first - and from where he stood he sent the man behind the desk a firm nod. "Good day, Professor Vindictus." Better start off this meeting on his good side.

Sierra stared, just stared, as the two Puffers proceeded in decorated the outside of Vinny's office. Were they insane?! Well, yes, but anyone should know that Vinny was one of the two professors who were always lurking around somewhere, just waiting to dock points. She shook her head then tried to look the other way. If Vinny had some sort of secret viewing screen out here, then she didn't want to get caught even in the vicinity of the Puffers.

Then the man's voice boomed out in the corridors, and Sierra took the opportunity to quickly straighten up and make a huge step towards the door. Nope. She wasn't with the Puffers. Not at all. Sierra looked Kennedy just in time to see him open the door for her to step in first. *SWOON* He'd unknowingly just earned major brownie points in her book. She'd even considered claiming the cookies as her own idea and her's only, but now, she had absolutely no issue with presenting them as a pair. Was Kennedy making her a softie?! O_O

"Hello, Professor Vindictus," she said, stepping into the office. "Prefect Escalante and I had a quick question for you, but first--how are you doing today?" Suck up? Oh, yeah. You better believe it.

Nigel figured if he was going to do this assignment he might as well start with his Head of House. He just hoped he would not get in trouble for this.

Well Nigel thought he guessed he should get started. He got out a banner on his topic on No Homework. He still was wondering why he picked that one. Oh he realized it was because he was in an early class and should not protest early classes.

It took Nigel a little while to get the poster up because he know no charms for it. After about five minutes he got it up and it looked alright for a first year like him.



He quickly left to go back to the common room, hoping he would not get in trouble for putting the banner up even though it was homework.

"Sierra and Kennedy! Welcome! Please have a seat," Vindictus greeted them rather cheerfully. However, the question about how he was doing caught him off guard. Did someone see him in the Hospital Wing? Hmm. Time to find out. "I'm feeling quite well today and thinking about taking a broom out for a ride later in the afternoon. Why do you ask?"

Kennedy just blinked at the Ravenclaw that ran by before he stepped inside the office. Well...that made three students sticking posters on the outside of the office. Hopefully no Slytherins showed up. You never knew how professor Vindictus would take that...but he seemed in a cheery mood at the moment.

That was good.

The sixteen year old sat down on the offered seat while sending Sierra a look. Was he okay? Should they start running? The only times he's seen Professor Vindictus is either in the Great Hall from afar, at lessons and during Quidditch matches. He always seemed firm and tough. Maybe that was just an act? "Sounds like fun," he said, referring to the taking a broom for a ride part. He was going to let Sierra answer his question since she did ask it and...well, he wasn't sure how to answer it since he was here for the brooms and not the professor's well being. It sounded mean, but it was the truth.

Oh! And the cookies. "We brought you these, thought you might like them."

Oh? They were on a first name basis here? Sierra realized that some professors preferred that method, but it still threw her for a loop whenever they did so. Now they'd been offered a seat, too, so Sierra quickly took one of the seats, leaving the other for Kennedy to take. "Why do we ask?" she asked, looking surprised at his question. "I...uhhh...was just asking, actually. I thought it'd be the nice thing to do."

Nice? Nah. A suck up? Of course. "Well, glad to hear you're doing alright. Have fun on the broom ride," she added. "Oh, and speaking of brooms..."

OOC: Continued below.

"Oh, yeah--the cookies!" she said, gesturing toward the plate. "Kennedy and I brought these to you. We knew you'd liked them." *BEAM* She paused and gave Vinny a moment to let that sink in--cookies! All for him!

"...back to brooms. Kennedy and I wanted to hit the practice pitch for a little...well, practice. I wanted to show him some things I've learned from being on the house team for four years," she explained. "I hear we're meant to ask for permission to use the equipment? If so, this is us, asking for permission."

Slytherins + Cookies = Up to Something

Vindictus scrutinized the baked goods that were presented to him. "And what kind are they? Did you make them or the house elves?" he asked Kennedy as he reached for one.

Then he heard Sierra's question. "If I allow you to use the equipment, might I ask who your target will be?"

Kennedy nodded along as Sierra spoke. Professor Vindictus wasn't about to say no to her, right? Heck, Kennedy would have said yes if it was him. What? It was the truth.

Apparently not. Kennedy had the urge to say the cookies were from Kurumi because everyone seemed to really like those - not that he's ever tried one- but it was what it was. Then he thought better of it. What if Vindictus asked Kurumi and she was all "what?"...Hmm. Better not risk it. "They are oatmeal." He wasn't sure about the professor, but those were his favorite. "And the elves made them." He pushed the cookies so that they were now at the center of the desk.

The next question took him by surprise...a bit. They actually wanted to practice, not target anyone...well, he wouldn't mind using a certain Ravenclaw as a target, but he wasn't about to voice that out loud. Plus, he really did want to practice with Sierra.

Sierra could see Vinny staring at the cookies as if he was trying to figure out if they were laced with some sort of poison. Did Slytherins really look that suspicious to Ravenclaws? Sierra even found herself tilting her head to get a better look at the cookies. Did they look bad? She was about to answer his question about the maker of the cookies, but then Kennedy chimed in and supplied that. She did pass Kennedy a curious expression, though. Aren't they just innocent cookies? that expression seemed to say.

"They're just fine, Professor," she said. "They're really just innocent cookies. For you." She gestured toward them again. Go on. Eat one. Or five. We know you love them. Then his next question had her really confused. She looked up at him with eyebrows furrowed inward. "Err, my target?" she asked. Pause. "You mean the bludger?" Had her reputation really preceded her? Merlin!

Vindictus stared blankly at the cookies for nearly a minute. Then he shook his head as if to rid it of any mental cobwebs. "Just be careful out there when using the equipment," he finally said and got out of his chair. He walked over to a nondescript door that was to the left of one of the trophy cases.

He opened the door and took out a trunk. Vindictus carried it over to where Sierra and Kennedy were standing, and sat it on the floor in front of them. "Here's the practice equipment trunk. Make sure you return it when you're done."

Grin.

"Now go have some fun so I can enjoy those cookies."

Kennedy shrugged at Sierra's expression. He was 100% sure they were safe cookies...at least he didn't think the elves would want to poison anyone. Plus, he had eaten one when he was at the Kitchens and was still alive. So, no. These cookies weren't poisoned.

His face lit up when Professor Vindictus took out the equipment trunk and set it in front of them. At the signal to leave Kennedy stood up and lifted the trunk. "Thank you, Sir." This man deserved more cookies.

He turned to Sierra and beamed at her. Time for some Quidditch, Greingoth.

Oooookay.

Professors could act so weird sometimes. Then again, Sierra guessed all adults acted weird in the eyes of a teenager. "Right, ...don't worry. We'll be careful," she said. Was anything about Quidditch ever careful, though? She didn't think so. Standing up, Sierra looked first at the equipment then at the professor. "Thanks, Professor. We'll have it all back to you just as it is now." No way was she damaging Vinny's equipment. That was just five detentions waiting to happen...

She took a step toward the door and then cast a glance at Kennedy. Was he going to levitate the equipment now? Surely he didn't expect the female to do all the work. Be a man, Escalante!

...but then a second later, he did just that, completely surprising Sierra. *SWOON* See, she knew she liked Kennedy for a reason. Smiling at him, she turned and left the office, exiting out onto the grounds of the school.

A month? Or was it three weeks? Probably a month... yeah.. that didn't mean that Louisa let go of that git girl's hexing spree. Nope. In fact now she trusted herself to talk about it to someone without getting all emotional and biased that it was HER beautiful long fingers that turned to jelly. Hmph.

Standing at the door or professor Vee's office, and ignoring the shouts from students practicing the deadly sport, Louisa knocked twice. And waited. Tapping her foot on the ground and wearing a very serious business-like expression.

Vindictus heard the two knocks on his closed office door and sighed as he pushed his paperwork to one side. "Come on in!" he called out and waited to see who was there to visit.

As soon as Louisa heard the professor's voice, she pushed the door open and peered into the office to check whether he was alone or with other person, particularly someone from different house. Because this was a very serious personal issue between a Prefect and Head of House.

Ahem.

"Hello professor," she flashed a bright smile before going in and closing the door behind her, slightly leaning on it. "I won't be taking a lot of your time but this is a serious issue." Cue flat face expressions and a second pause. "There is this Ravenclaw on our hands that had gone rogue." Dun dunn dunnnnnn. "I've seen her hexing someone and when I confronted her about it, she simply waved her wand hexing me." GRRRRR. So.. he should deal with it... maybe by tagging her with a git tag? That sounds highly logical and fair to Louisa.

"A Ravenclaw," Vindictus asked. "Acting like a Slytherin? Did her eyes look right? Maybe she was Imperiused or something. But tell me -who is it?"

He was simply trying to get a grasp on the concept of a Ravenclaw gone rogue.

Louisa nodded seriously, yes a RAVENCLAW. "She looked perfectly fine. An Imperiused person wouldn't mouth back at you smartly, would they? Because that's what she did. She was mouthing off." At least she did it smartly. Snort.

The girl pursed her lips for a second, trying to hold herself from spitting the name out. "Aspen Odessa. Fifth year." Oh and the rest of the story, "It happened a few weeks ago but I thought it'd be wise to wait until you.." unfroze. "...were better, sir." Did he like the flowers and cards his eagles got for him, btw? Or did professor Hadley take them for herself?!