A lot of wandering was being done lately by the redhead. Most of the time she'd simply strayed off course, lost in her thoughts. Other times, she was purposely looking for a distraction, wherever it may be.

Today was the latter. Today, more than most, she wanted to see him. But she couldn't. Obviously. And even if she could, Ellie'd decided she wouldn't. But he just wouldn't leave her thoughts. She just really wanted to talk to him.

Actually, she really needed to get her mind OFF of him.

Missing him did no good and there was nothing that could be done about it anyway, so what was the point. But maybe she'll write him another letter. Maybe she'll take this time wandering to gather her feelings to put them into words. Merlin knew she wouldn't happen upon a distraction anyway.

She hardly ever did.

The boys' bathroom had been a reliable place of refuge for Max over the past twenty-four hours. After breaking the news to Ellie and literally running away yesterday, he had scribbled and sent a letter to his parents to let them know what he had done. Knowing he could not return to the common room, he took up refuge in the bathroom, the only place he knew she would not be other than his dorm. He only left the restroom to sneak into the common room late at night, then he snuck back out when he knew Ellie would be gone and returned to the bathroom. He could have stayed in the boys' dormitory, but he didn't want to cry in front of his housemates.

Finally, hours later, he felt that he had gotten the overwhelming emotions out of his system. He left the bathroom, unsure of where he was going to go. Maybe for a walk on the grounds, get some fresh air, and think of how he was going to explain the situation to his best friend.

But there she was.

She was walking down the corridor away from him. Not far, but enough that she might not have noticed his footsteps behind her. For a moment, he tried to decide whether to dart back into the bathroom or sneak down the opposite end of the hallway. He knew he shouldn't do that, though. It was fate that she was there - the time was now.

He didn't know what to say, though, and his throat tightened. The sight of her made it difficult to push away the emotions that begged to return. He struggled to steady himself, not wanting his voice to shake, but he blurted out, "I'm sorry, Ellie."

At some point, she'd stuck out her arm beside her, and let her fingers run along the stones, and crevices between them, on the wall. In a way, it was nice to feel something. Something solid and consistent. And something she could lean against, and slide down should she feel the need to do so. It was comforting.

Then she heard a voice that put all her senses on high alert. She froze.

Ellie really didn't want to hear that. She really didn't want to see Max. And she really didn't want to hear he was sorry. Or some lame excuse he had for deserting her. Especially with something like this. Something that meant so much to her, like this. Something that he KNEW was important to her.

After taking a deep breath, a deep inhale and a slow exhale, the girl continued on her way.

The moment the words had left his mouth, his hand flew up over his heart, as if he was trying to keep it from leaping from his chest and running to her down the hallway.

But she didn't even turn around. She just kept going.

No, he thought. It's not going to happen like this.

He jogged down the hallway after her, his heart aching in his chest. "Ellie," he said again, "Wait. Please. You can't just ignore me all term. Can't we... talk about this?" He reached her side, his hand still over his heart, and walked alongside her with a look of utmost despair, regret, and sorrow.

Brilliant. He was catching up to her.

THAT'S NOT WHAT SHE WANTS.

Honestly, the boy who knew her better than herself was doing an awful job of reading her right now. And Ellie felt she was making things fairly obvious to even the most oblivious of people.

No, she knew she couldn't ignore him all term. But a week, at least? Two, possibly?

She stopped again, because continuing to walk would be no use. Max was following her. And he could follow her all the way up to the Common Room, so there really was no point. Ellie turned, and looked him hard in the eyes, a mixture of betrayal and anger and disappointment reflecting in her own.

She didn't want to talk. If she were to talk, she would say something she regretted. And Ellie Stone did not regret things. So, if Max would like to talk... "Go on, then. Talk," she said sharply. Whatever it was he wanted. Because, clearly, she wasn't getting what she wanted. All term. From anyone.

When she finally looked at him, her sharp gaze pierced right through his hand, right through his heart. He lowered his hand, defeated, and frowned at her. He couldn't recall ever seeing her like this. Her reaction to losses at Quidditch were the only comparable thing, but it felt so, so much different to be in her presence when that kind of anger was directed at him.

"I..." he said, his face falling in regret. He should have just run the other way or gone back into the bathroom. He wasn't ready for this and she clearly wasn't either. But... he couldn't coop himself up in the bathroom and dormitory forever. It was better to just approach the situation head-on, he knew that.

Or he hoped.

He looked down at shoes, trying to figure out what to say. He knew all of his reasons. Everything he thought, everything he felt was right there on the surface. So he just squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, clenched his fists, and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Have you ever realized that literally everything I do in my life is a result of what other people want me to do?" he asked. He didn't wait for a response. "I never really minded it - until last term, when I pushed myself to my breaking point. I had to be the best with school work because I had to make my dad proud, and the professors. I had to be the best at Quidditch to make my mom proud... and to make you proud." His voice cracked, he felt his nose begin to clog, and tears threatened to form in his eyes. "I've pushed myself and pushed myself to make everyone else happy. Last term, I pushed myself so far that I passed out before the most important Quidditch match of the term.

"When I was in the hospital wing, I spent the entire time recovering, worrying about you - and the team - and how you were going to react.... react to me letting you down. I let you down, Ellie. I know I did. You... never said it, but I know I did." His eyes were blurred and his nose was turning red, but he blinked back the tears.

"I just care so much about what everyone thinks and I realized... I wasn't truly happy. Don't get me wrong - I mean, I love helping people and being a friend and everything, but that's just it. I love being a friend. Love and friendship... doesn't necessarily mean going out of your way to do everything in your power to make the people you love happy. That's what I was doing. I put one hundred and ten percent in to my school work because my parents would disown me if I wasn't the best." He used his fingers to draw quotation marks around his words. "But when I got my nine OWLs, rather than the ten my father wanted, I realized... that was a really good accomplishment, whether he liked it or not. I didn't need to put so much pressure on myself. I needed to be happy for myself.

"On top of that, I put one hundred and ten percent into Quidditch practices, too, hoping I'd be able to help you win because I know how important it is to you." He stopped briefly to sniff hard and wipe at his nose. "I mean, I love Quidditch, Ellie. I really do. There's no better feeling than diving through the air and making another tricky save. I don't just play for you. But... I... find myself worrying through every practice and game, worrying that I'm going to miss one and let you down. I still loved playing with you. I always did. But... I found that my crippling concern with your opinion of me was overriding the fun and joy of it."

He stopped briefly again, this time to search her eyes for some kind of understanding. "It wasn't like I woke up yesterday and said, 'Boy, I just don't want to be Keeper anymore, I think I'll just abandon my team.' It's not like that at all. I... kind of felt like I had to make this decision when we first got here, but then Quidditch sign-ups were there and I couldn't stop myself and I went to tryouts anyway and tried to have fun and not care what anyone though about how I was playing but... it wasn't that easy. After every save, I found myself looking to you, hoping you'd approve. I wasn't playing for me... I was playing for you."

He had more to say, but he simply sniffed again and rubbed at his nose before drawing his gaze back down to his feet. And he waited for her to say something. Anything.

The girl held her gaze expectantly at her best friend. Waiting. And when she started to speak, but left his sentence hanging, as well as his head, Ellie'd figured that was it. He had nothing to say. He knew he couldn't redeem himself. He was going to give her more time to process the mere act of what he did, before burdening her, perhaps pointlessly, to his reasoning behind it.

Yet, just when she was about to pivot back in the direction she'd been walking, and continue, he burst. And Ellie avoided looking at him. Tried to pretend he wasn't Max right now. He was some team member that she'd yet to get to know, to care about.

It was really hard. Between his words, and sniffles, and so obvious signs of tears. But her anger was strong. She kept a straight face.

The awful truth was, Ellie wasn't the best listener. Especially when it all came at her at once. And there were very few sentences that stuck out to her. That she remembered. That she gave time to think on.

And she came to the conclusion that Max was being incredibly selfish. And confusing. He liked Quidditch, but didn't want to play? He was only playing for her? Well....was that such a bad thing, Maximus? That her last year - her, arguably, most important year of Quidditch - he decided to not be there for her? Couldn't he quit next year? Couldn't he suffer, if Quidditch really was so horrible, through one more year for her?

Ellie didn't even know what to say. But...she had to say something, right? "You're a brilliant Keeper, Max," she said, keeping her eyes off of the boy. "I always approved." Though, she wasn't sure why her approval mattered. "You could be the worst and I'd approve." He wouldn't be on the team, but at least that was a legitimate reason. Not because he seemed to suddenly dislike the sport. Which was what it seemed like to her. That, regardless of what he said, he did wake up yesterday, and decide that he was too good, or not good enough, for it.

Her head turned as she looked toward the end of the abandoned corridor. She took another deep breath and swallowed hard. "I hope you're happy now. If happiness is what you're looking for by quitting." Ellie might not have given him the acknowledgement, but she did sincerely mean what she said. He was still her best friend. Even if she was utterly angry with him.

Max didn't make eye contact, not once through anything she said to him. He could feel her disappointment and anger pouring over him with every syllable. He wanted nothing more than to feed himself to the inhabitants of the Forbidden Forest. He deserved that, didn't he? No one should upset Ellie the way he was. Ever.

...Even in his attempt at freeing himself from worries over what others thought of him, he couldn't stop worrying. But he acknowledged it. He was thinking about Ellie and how Ellie was feeling again. He didn't think he could ever conquer that way of thinking.

"I just thought... maybe I'd figure myself out this way. I'd learn not to care so much about what everyone thinks of me by severing the tie to the one thing that made me most self-conscious." Maybe he was running from his problems that way. Or was he truly facing them head-on? He didn't know. He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to figure things out.

"Sometimes," he said finally, pulling his hands away from his eyes, "I think you need to make sure you're okay before you can take care of anyone else." The sick can't efficiently heal the sick. Max knew he pushed himself too far, too hard. With how worn out he was over everything over the past term, he just couldn't cope. He had to make a change somewhere.

Unfortunately, he might have lost his best - and what often seemed like only - friend in the process.

"I'm really sorry, Ellie. I never, ever wanted to hurt you. That's the one thing I've always tried to avoid." And it's the thing he so blatantly did. He did feel selfish. But... there were more important things than Quidditch, weren't there? He certainly wasn't going to ask Ellie that.

...But maybe he should. He wondered if anyone had ever asked her such a preposterous thing. Well, if he was already in the process of ruining their friendship(and his life), why not go ahead and ask her something she would likely find insulting rather than reflective, the way he meant it?

"Shouldn't there be things that are more important than Quidditch, Ellie?" One's health, mental stability, and taking care of harvesting the beautiful things that made life worth living?

Okay. She didn't need any more explanations. She didn't want any more. "Enough...Max...," Ellie said, finally allowing herself to look at the boy. Her tone was extremely calm, considering. But some of the emotions she was feeling slipped through, too powerful for her to hide. She did try, though. She...couldn't be angry at him for long. Especially not if he was going to feel bad about it. And even more especially if he was doing something for himself.

But the one term she was relying on his compassion and tendency to always be there, to support her, when she had nothing...and he was quitting on her. It sucked. It hurt.

And he knew that, see? He said it right there. Pointed it out. "Max, honestly...please... Do what you have to." Even if it was at her expense. Fine. She'll survive. Somehow. She was a fighter. And somehow, she'll make it. Without him. She'll do it.

Once she had a day or two or a week to recover.

His question took her by surprise. There were....many people Ellie could picture asking such a thing of her. But never Max. He was just full of unexpected twists this week, wasn't he? "I..." HOW exactly was she supposed to answer this? "For most," she nodded, "For me, even, yes. But..." See, she always just expected people to know this about her. Particularly those she was closest to. Did it really seem that she put Quidditch first to everything? "I rely on it so much. I have next to nothing without it." Still, she'd be astounded if he didn't know this. If it was really necessary for her to explain. "No future. Nothing to unwind with. Nothing to relax me. Nothing to take my mind off of everything horrible. No future." Yeah, she said that twice. Because that had been her main concern the past two years, at least.

What would she do without Quidditch? She had no other interests. No other talents. She had decent grades, but mostly on luck, and she'd bet her bottom Sickle that that wouldn't be the case with her NEWTs.

So, while there were things more important than Quidditch....it was still way, WAY, up there. And she just couldn't understand why anyone, let alone her best friend, would abandon it.

But whatever flew his broomstick.

Max nodded as Ellie spoke. "I know." Of course he knew Quidditch was her rock. He wanted her to think about it, though. "I don't think you'd have no future, Ellie. I know it's what you want to do, and that's great! It is. You're going to be the best. I look forward to the day I can come watch you in the World Cup." He smiled for the first time all day. "But you're more than just your Quidditch abilities. You're smart and witty and ambitious and beautiful and you can do anything you put your mind to. I know you've chosen to put your mind to Quidditch and that's what you want, but you could do anything else you ever wanted. I know it doesn't matter, because this is what you want to do, but I believe in you for everything you ever want to achieve." And he meant it.

He drew his hands up near his stomach and played with his fingers. He just felt... bad. So bad. He needed to keep trying to purge that sorrow from his soul. "Just... so you know, though. I do regret it. I didn't quite think it through well enough, and if I could take back my actions yesterday, I would. I'm really sorry," he said again. It was true. He thought he would be brave enough to handle Ellie's disappointment, but he wasn't. It hurt. He looked down at his fidgeting hands. "If... you ever need a substitute, I want to be there for you... if that's okay? If you'll let me?" He wouldn't blame her if she didn't want him there anymore, though.

Then, his biggest worry over the past day came to the surface. He felt like a four year old as he raised his head and asked quietly, "Or... do you not want to be my friend anymore?"

Ellie brought a hand up and combed it through her hair, making sure it fell forward, to hide her face. "I don't understand how you can think so highly of me." Especially when she was such a horrible person most of the time. Like, who got angry at their best friend for losing interest in something? Who? Her and Max had many, many differences. What was one more?

And what kind of person took it so personally?

She still disagreed, of course. Completely. Max wasn't there when she had that mini breakdown with Treyen in her OWL year. When she still thought she had to figure out what she was going to do, when her boyfriend pointed out the obvious. And she's been set on Quidditch since. But before then, she was afraid of not being good enough to do something else. Even if she had nothing specific in mind.

But she couldn't help but smile. If she ever got on a team, let alone to the World Cup, Max was getting so much credit for it. And if she doesn't, she hoped she could prove him right. That she could do something else.

This was why she needed him this term. Her ever optimistic best friend.

"You shouldn't regret things." Ellie'd said that more times than she could count. No one should regret anything. Especially if it was something they really wanted to do. And Max wanted to try out other things. Whatever. It was fine. She should be a good friend and support him.

Maybe tomorrow, though, when things were less fresh and she'd processed it all.

As for stepping in as a sub, "Keep in shape, yeah?" Ellie gave him a sideways glance through her hair. She had to have well fit subs. Though Max had that same natural talent as Treyen, and could go months without so much as touching a broom, and still be the best.

His next words broke her heart. As if it hadn't felt broken enough the past couple months. The redhead fought off tears as she turned to him, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you." And as much as she hated using definitive words, "I will never not want to be your friend."

Got that? He was stuck with her for life.

Max smiled again. "Because I see the things you would see if you weren't so hard on yourself. You are so much more than you realize." He had given Ellie many spiels of encouragement before, but today's had been the most sentimental. Maybe because he was worried this was the last chance he would get to talk to her as a friend.

He shouldn't regret things? Much easier said than done, he thought. He couldn't imagine himself not regretting anything, but he didn't protest her words. He knew it would ease a lot of his anxiety if he lived by that mindset, but that didn't mean he could so easily embrace it. He just didn't know how to do that. Perhaps all things happen for a reason and thereby no valid reason to regret things, but he couldn't help but wonder how things could be if he made different choices.

A wide grin spread across his face. She wasn't angry enough at him to ban him from the team? That was a good sign. "Of course I will." Still, he worried...

...until she gave him a pained expression and embraced him. Never, she said. Relief and emotion hit him like a tidal wave and he wrapped her in a massive bear hug, squeezing her tightly as if they had just reunited after not seeing each other for years. "Thank you," he said, half-laughing as a lone tear fell from each of his puffy eyes. He wasn't going to tell her how crippling the fear was that she wasn't going to talk to him anymore - he wouldn't have known how to deal with that scenario - but luckily, the worry was gone.

He wiped his cheeks behind her back and quickly blinked away the tears that hadn't fallen yet before pulling away. He smiled. "I have every intention of always being here for you, okay? Even when you're married, or always moving around for Quidditch... or even if you're living on the other side of the world. I will always be here for you no matter what happens. Okay?"

And, as far as Quidditch went, just because he wasn't on the team didn't mean he wouldn't show up to their practices sometimes and sit in the stands, if she would let him. He did still care about the Quidditch and the team itself.

She wasn't disagreeing exactly.... Okay, yeah, she was totally disagreeing. But she kept her tone light and friendliest of all in their conversation today, because she knew Max was simply being his encouraging self. And he couldn't help it if he believed everyone had this potential to be more amazing than some of them could ever actually achieve. "I'm not hard on myself." At least not as far as 'amounting to something greater' was concerned. "I'm just realistic." Ellie'd go so far as to believe that Professional Quidditch was realistic for her future. Plus, she had friends that hinted she had very good chances. But she knew she couldn't do anything.

For one, she was only taking about three classes. So unless she could find a job that required only that many NEWTs, pretty much every potential career option was ruled out. Also, she'd literally go insane if she had to get some boring desk job. So...no, she wasn't capable of anything. Even if she wanted to be Minister of Magic, it would never happen.

Right. Ellie was hoping he was pondering on that. No regrets. Do what you want, say what you want, because it's what you want. And you shouldn't let anyone's thoughts or possible reactions hold you back. She took that philosophy very seriously.

"Good." She was almost feeling better about everything.

Until she was definitely feeling better about it all. A hug - a genuine Maximus James hug - was apparently really needed by the redhead. Because his hugs always always ALWAYS meant that everything was going to be okay. And every situation always always ALWAYS turned out to be so.

Ellie wasn't ready to pull back when Max was. All of her anger and disappointment was gone. Sure, she was still incredibly confused, and couldn't comprehend the why of his decision fully yet. But they were better than ever, surely.

Though she couldn't help but cringe at the 'm'-word, contorting her face. Smart of Max to follow it with Quidditch. Because that easily distracted her thoughts. "Okay," she nodded. It was always nice to have a reminder, or affirmation, of something you hoped you had in your friend. "And same goes for me. Promise."

"Shhh." He simply shook his head. "Shh." He didn't want to hear her protests. Max didn't think she was being realistic at all - she was stubborn and didn't give herself enough credit. That was all, and Max knew it.

And then he just smiled. Good. She accepted his promise, and offered one of her own. Every ounce of worry that flooded his system for the preceding twenty-four hours had been washed away. He had his best friend back, and he couldn't recall the last time he was overcome with such elation.

"Where were you going?" he asked, very slowly starting to walk in the original direction Ellie was heading, expecting Ellie to begin walking again, too. Did she want company? Or... had he emotionally exhausted her? Maybe she wanted time alone. He figured it didn't hurt to ask either way.

Hey. Wait. What? He was shushing her? "Well, it's true," she snapped, perhaps a bit too forcefully. Perhaps she was still a bit angry with him. Or perhaps Ellie was just really worried about what this all meant. She needed Quidditch. And this would be the first time in a while she'd have to play without her best friend. It was quite worrisome.

The least she could hope for was that it wouldn't mess with her mental preparation when matches started rolling around.

Max's question plunged her into confusion. Where was she going? She blinked and followed his lead, taking slow steps in the direction she'd been going, and stared vacantly ahead of her, as if she'd find the answer in that patch of air right there. "I don't know.... No where important, I guess..." Or she'd have remembered, yeah?

Laura had just been walking, whilst trying to hold back the tears, she still had the picture in her hands, she knew she could fix it but that's wasn't the thing that bothered her it was the fact that Sophie seemed like she had enjoyed doing what she had done and well Laura though Sophie was her friend but now she wasn't sure.

Laura collapsed on the floor and started to cry, she was very confused with a lot of things that was going on why was she feeling strange everytime Oakey came near, how come her sister had actually got her to work and how come Sophie was acting weird, Laura just wished she could go back in time a couple of years, she was a lot happier then.

Carigan was incredibly out of breath now, she had come all this way from the Hufflepuff common room. She stopped for a moment to quickly catch her breath, only one floor to go!

*THWACK* *THWACK* *THWACK*

The sound of Hailey's flip-flops echoed down the corridor, scaring even the mice back into their holes within the castle's walls. Sure, it wasn't summer yet and it wasn't exactly that warm out but the girl was allowed to wear what she wanted, right? Besides dressing up for classes, of course.
In addition to noisy slippers, she was also chewing an enormous wad of Drooble's Best Blowing Bubble Gum, which she cracked loudly at random intervals. Between the flip-flops and the gum, there was no way you could miss her in the corridor.

"Baby you light up my world like nobody elseeee," She sang, but her voice was drowned out by her shoes. So she just sang louder.

"THE WAY YOU FLIP YOUR HAIR GETS ME OVERWHELMED!"

SCREECH.

'Twas the night that Alice's eardrums busted. Yep, someone who was odd in the head busted 'em up real good. Was that a cat dying? Or maybe it was duck getting trampled in a stampede. Or maybe they weren't words to decribe the horrors that the tiny girl heard that day. WHY?! Why did the whole castle seem intent on ruining her life? Maybe it was 'cause they were jealous of how she had packed so much awesometasticalness into her extra-small body. BUT. She was just that cool.

The short girl finally stumbled upon the creator of the dying-cat noises. Some weird girl with a short head of curls and mouth full of gum. Alice could totally name the song that she was attempting to sing singing. Her grandpa listened to that wannabe boy band on the radio. ALL. THE. TIME.

"GUUUURRRLL." She said, staring up at the maniac who seemed to be oblivious tot he racket she was making. "You've totally messed up the lyrics! What in my world are you singing?! It's totally not evil enough." 'Cause all music had to be evil it wanted to pass Alice's standards. "But when you fall to your knees and scream like a girl, I kno-o-oww that YOU DON'T KNOW I'M TERRIBLE!! Oh, oh oh, and totally horrible!"

Oh, yeah. She had so totally shown this girl who could REALLY screech.

As a female voice loudly cut through her solo, Hailey blinked and looked in front of her. The brunette was staring at the short girl in front of her with her mouth open, her gum visible on her tongue. Not evil enough? Whoever said her song had to be evil?! And before she could even retort, the girl had mutilated her favorite song into a very good parody. And she definitely did NOT have a nice voice--Hailey could sing better than her!

"Um excuse me? And who are you?" She asked haughtily, placing her hands on her hips, cracking her gum loudly. It was clear this chick was younger than her and perhaps it was their age difference that gave Hailey the courage to stand up to her like that. But she also had a big heart and was in no way trying to be mean. Just menacing.

"You totally ruined, like, the best song ever. It goes like THIS." And she proceeded to screech sing the rest of the stanza the way it was supposed to be sung.

"But when you look at the ground, it ain't hard to tell you don't kno-o-ow, you don't know you're BEAUTIFUL!"
Classic.

Alice put her hands over ears as the girl cracked her gum. That sound was even more horrid and squeaky than her singing. "Who am I? You haven't heard of me?" Honestly, people needed to read up on their history. "I am the majestic Queen Alice Fischer. You may bow now," she said, looking up at the taller girl. Did people have no respect for the more awesometastical? But this girl's voice would provide a good method of torture once the lioness had enslaved her, so she didn't pester the redhead just yet.

"I did not ruin it, I made it more awesometastical." But Alice's sour mood quickly vanished when the girl sang the rest song to her. "Well, actually, I already did know I was beautiful, though I must thank you for saying so!" BEAM. "But I don't think you should be singing me songs of worship just, you've only just met me!" Then again, she did make a very powerful first impression. "What is your name, faithful servant?" Maybe this girl could be her new maid? 'Cause Mr. Sourpuss a.k.a. Edric had quit within the first minute.

After promptly nodding her head when asked if she had ever heard of her, Hailey stared. Queen? Who did this girl think she was? But one thing was fer sherrr, she was NOT bowing to some random chick. Even if in her OWN mind, she was a queen. Pfft.

"Well, Alice," Hailey said, stressing the girl's name so she noticed that Hailey had chosen not to call her 'Queen'. "You should know that in order to be a queen, you need a KING." She hadn't planned on saying that but it sounded playful anyway. Plus, it was true.

But when Alice thanked her for singing the rest of the song, thinking Hailey had been singing TO her, the Gryffie narrowed her eyes. Now that was just annoying.
"I wasn't calling you beautiful, I was just--" But she broke off. Considering her behavior, Hailey was sure Alice would just twist her words around and make it sound like Hailey had been complimenting her eyes or something. Which she would never do.

"Nevermind," She concluded with an eyeroll. As annoying as she was, Hailey kind of liked her. "I'm Hailey and I think I'd rather be eaten alive by a Basilisk than be your servant," She replied, her nose upturned. Clearly, Alice was being used to bossing people around. Even though she was probably only twelve.

The lioness frowned as she stared up at the tall well, taller than her, at least redhead. Well. One day, when this girl worked for her, she'd be tripping over herself to call Alice her queen, now wouldn't she? :3 But. Her new servant sure had a mouth on her. "WH-WHAT?!" The third year spluttered, jumping in surprise. "A king?! EW. Dating is GWOSS, don't even get me started on marriage!" She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I saw these two old kids snogging in the corridor last night and I'm still not all gagged out." Gag. She didn't understand how Eve could stand to place her lips on Duck Chow's filthy ones. Weren't Prefects supposed to be role models?

Alice beamed again, calming down from her rant about all things GWOSS. "Well. You're quite pretty, too.. err.. what's-your-face." BEAMBEAMBEAMBEAMBEAM. OH. So her name was Hailey? Hailey the Faithful Servant. Quite suiting, no? "Well, Hailey. We can arrange that. But are you sure you wouldn't be eaten by a Grindylow instead? I think that would be more amusing." BUT. The lioness liked this other girl already. A servant who was willing to be eaten by a creature just to provide her Queen with amusement?

If only there were a thousand more Haileys. Sigh.

Harvey was walking along the corridor, well more like having a stroll in the park. Here he was on his birthday just walking along the corridor like he always did, and usually people ended up finding him. He then remembered that Ella wanted him to hang out with everyone on this day but he had somehow forgotten to owl them. It didnt matter anyway, no-one would have time right now what with exams not too far away he was sure the workload would have increases keeping everyone more busy than usual.