Tsk. Tsk. Tsk.

That day wasn’t going so great, and Gwen just made up her mind to go for a walk outside. Actually… no. She wasn’t really in the mood for a walk. For some reason, the fifth year found herself wandering around the castle, quickly descending the stairs. She eventually got closer and closer to the dungeon corridor.

That seemed to be a quiet place. One of the few of that kind around Hogwarts, it seems. Gwen could just remembering all the people who had been interrupting her the whole morning while she was reading, bothering her with their problems. As if she were the most sympathetic person around. Hmph.

So, with no plan in mind for the day, the Ravenclaw found herself walking around the dungeon corridor. Maybe she would come across some of her Slytherin friends?

Since Elijah refused to get out of the pocket of her robe, which seemed to be his favourite place to hang out, Nora decided against forcing the little guy out and walked out of the common room, although she had no destination in mind. For some reason, she was a bit gloomy for the past few days, even if she was more than happy to be back at Hogwarts. More than that, she was glad to be away from the evil twins until the winter holiday... or maybe she could convince her parents to spend it at the castle!

Once she found herself along the very familiar corridor, the girl wanted to make her way upstairs, or maybe outside to take some fresh air, but she heard... footsteps. Yup, the dungeon corridor was deserted enough to hear the footsteps clearly. Making a few more steps, she suddenly faced the back of... Gwen! But how was she going to let her friend know of her presence without scaring her? Was she easily scared? "Err... Gwen?" She tried gently, hoping she hadn't just given the girl a heart attack. Or maybe she wasn't like Nora. She had a hard time not having heart attacks around those corridors.

Well… this place was probably not the best choice for a walk. The dungeons weren’t really the best place to even hang out, but, despite that, Gwen didn’t leave. As she continued to make her way along the corridor, the fifth year heard footsteps coming from some place close to where she was standing. Gwendolyn didn’t mind to look at the person, because well… it was probably someone she didn’t know. But then, the fifth year heard the person call her name.

She immediately recognized the voice and turned around, in order to face Nora. ‘Hi!’, the Ravenclaw greeted her friend, with a grin on her face. She was really happy to see Nora again. The two of them hadn’t met since Diagon Alley. Hmm. That already seemed like a long time ago. ‘How are you?’, she asked her Slytherin friend.

While waiting for a reply from the other girl, Gwendolyn remembered something. She had promised Nora that she would let her know when she would be back at the topiary garden to finish the sketch… and well… now the topiary garden wasn’t there anymore. She’ll wait a bit before breaking the news to the Slytherin.

For a moment, Nora thought that it wasn't Gwen and almost thought about running away before the girl had the chance to turn around and look at her, but grinned when she saw that she hadn't been mistaken. "Hi!" She said cheerfully, making a few more steps closer so she wouldn't have to yell from the other end of the corridor. The echoes were creepy, too.

"I'm pretty good. I just decided to take Elijah out for a walk," she still grinned, holding a hand protectively over the left pocket of her robe, where her tiny lizard was. Wait... did Gwen know who Elijah was? Because Nora truly couldn't remember. Still, her Ravenclaw friend didn't seem like the type that would start shrieking at the sight of a completely innocent, little reptile, but then again, life was full of surprises. "How about you?"

Gwen waited a bit for Nora to get closer to the place where she was standing before saying anything else. But, just as she was about to ask something, she heard the Slytherin talk. ‘Who?’ Elijah WHO? Wasn’t that the annoying Hufflepuff student? Gwendolyn just eyed her friend for a moment. Fine, maybe it was a bit silly to assume that the Elijah Nora was talking about was a student… but still. There was no ordinary pet around, like a cat or an owl.

Errr.

‘Is he your pigmy puff?’ Because those animals were small, and maybe Gwen just didn’t see it err… him before? Yes, that seemed plausible. The Ravenclaw waited a moment for Nora to confirm the fact that she was right. Because who else could Elijah be? Psh. Please. Gwen was totally right about this one.

In the meantime, she heard Nora ask her something. ‘I’m alright’ Well… she will be. Soon, hopefully. ‘I thought about going out for a walk, and maybe finish some of the sketches… like the one with the topiary lion. But errr…’ Sort pause there. ‘The topiary garden is gone’ Newsflash.

Errr... who... who?

Ah, she didn't know about Elijah, apparently. She was pondering whether to tell her or show her, but instead started giggling when Gwen mentioned a pigmy puff. Truth be told, she never really liked them. "No," she shook her head, grinning. "Elijah is my lizard." And who looked insane now? That's right, Nora! Fifth year girl with a tiny lizard named Elijah. Hehe.

... and then she told her about the topiary lion, but Nora's smile soon faded when she heard that the topiary garden was not there anymore. "Ohh. I didn't even get the chance to check it out myself." Well, it's not like she spent all of her time around that garden, but it would have been nice to see the final result of Gwen's drawing. "Maybe we can find... a similar place? So you could finish your drawing?" Or she could always let it be a lion.

Gwen waited patiently for Nora to say something. Was she right? Elijah had to be a pigmy puff. Hmm. The Ravenclaw never thought Nora kept the pigmy puff after the Care of Magical Creatures class... Well, Gwen would have liked to be able to keep the one she had to take care of for class, but since she had a cat, it was better no to risk and bring a pigmy puff so close to Jinx. But back to Elijah... Elijah who?

A ...LIZARD?

‘You have a lizard?’ That was unexpected news. Gwen had no idea that her Slytherin friend had brought a lizard to Hogwarts. Hmm. How come she didn’t find out about this sooner?

‘Well...’, Gwen started saying, as soon as Nora finished talking about the topiary garden. ‘I don’t know’. She was never really fond of the drawing. She didn’t get the chance to finish it because she found it a bit boring. But she disliked leaving her sketches unfinished. Hmm. ‘I think that’s meant to be just a lion’, she eventually said. The fifth had been meaning to draw the garden, and it ended up being just a lion. Mehhh.

‘Anyway...’, her voice trailed off. ‘There are some new things around here, I guess I could start a few new sketches’, the girl mused. ‘That, if I will get the time...’ Yes, OWLs were taking a lot of her time. Oh... and this reminded Gwen... ‘... as much as I hate to admit it, I think I’ll need some positive thoughts for when I’ll start studying for Divination’ Sigh. She was sooo going o fail that subject. Studying for Divination was probably going to be so boring.

Unless...

The fifth year looked back at her friend. ‘Maybe we could study together?’ Pretty please with cherry on top? Studying with a friend had to make Divination more bearable.

Well, she didn't scream, which was good.

Nora couldn't help but giggle at Gwen's reaction, though. Of course, she got used to it, being the weird Slytherin who had a tiny lizard as a pet. So... was it wise to mention that the little guy was hiding in her pocket? She couldn't bear the thought of keeping Elijah in a small cage (and she wouldn't be able to carry a large one at Hogwarts) so, ever since she'd bought him, he spent most of his time in her trunk and pockets. Those were his favourite places, it seemed. "Do you want to meet him?" She asked with a large, rather mischievous grin on her face. She wasn't going to tell her that Elijah was in her pocket at the moment, just in case she was going to freak out about it. Hehe.

As for the garden that turned out to be a lion... she had to agree. "It does look good as a lion." But then again, everything that Gwen drew looked good - no, awesome - to Nora. She sometimes wondered why she hadn't turned it into a raven, rather than a lion, but it was just one of her many silly questions that didn't really need to be answered. Because Nora was silly like that.

But then... back to the negative thoughts about Divination. "Of course we can," study together, that is. "But I should warn you that I'm no genius, either, but it should be fun, at least." Well, there were subjects like Arithmancy or Potions where she preferred working alone, but others like Divination could make studying in a group fun.

Hmmm.

Why was Nora looking so suspicious? Gwen tried to decide if the Slytherin was indeed planning on showing her the lizard. A lizard… the fifth year didn’t really like those things which crawled… but mehh. ‘Yes..’, the Ravenclaw said a bit hesitantly. Seriously. How bad could a lizard be?

Gwen was sooo not going to freak out.

Did Nora have to go back to the Common Room to get the lizard? No wait… she mentioned something about taking the lizard out for a walk. Hmm. So where was it? Gwen glimpsed at the floor for a few seconds, wondering if the lizard wasn’t anywhere around. But she couldn’t see anything. Meh. Just wait for Nora to call Elijah, then.

Gwendolyn just smirked at her friend’s comment about her drawing. Meh. It didn’t look very good because the page was nearly empty, but that didn’t mean the Ravenclaw would spend a lot of time trying to finish the sketch. Not now. Not when she didn’t have a lot of free time.

Positive thoughts or not, Gwen always enjoyed talking to Nora. And now, she appreciated the fact that she was able to find someone who wasn’t in love and with who she could still have a normal conversation. Not that she had really freaked out when the Gryffindor decided to break the news to her… but Gwen still needed a bit of time to get used to the fact that her best friend was in love. Oh well… Back to Nora now.

Should be fun...

Should.

‘I hope so’, the fifth year responded. ‘I was actually going to start studying in Divination soon…’ Yes, as much as she disliked the subject, Gwen knew she had to start preparing. ‘Are you free now?’ Or maybe they could meet at the library later that day…? That sounded alright. Gwen waited for a reaction from her friend before suggesting that. Besides, she wasn’t planning on hanging around here for much longer. The dungeons weren’t exactly the best place in the castle.

Nora's grin was so wide it almost hurt. When Gwen said that she'd meet her lovely lizard, Nora carefully took the tiny, bright green creature out of her pocket, where he always liked to hang out. "Gwen, meet my dear lizard, Elijah. Elijah, this is a very good friend of mine, Gwen." Giggle, giggle. She couldn't stop giggling as she made the introductions.

As for Divination... she wanted to study now? "Sure?" She spoke rather hesitantly, although not because she didn't want to study right then or because she had something else to do; but because she had no idea where to start from. Truth be told, she avoided studying for several OWLs at the moment, and Divination was one of them. But maybe Gwen had some ideas? "Should we meet at the library in a few minutes?" Or any other peaceful place. She'd have to run back to the common room, though, to leave Elijah and get her notes and textbook.

A sinking feeling twisted Thane's stomach as he walked further down the corridor. The dark, gloomy passageway seemed far from inviting; he ought not to be here, at least not on his own. The thought made him cringe; he had never felt this out-of-place. The hufflepuff sighed, and rounded a corner, following the faint voices that echoed down the corridor, leading him right into a pair of girls - Slytherin girls. Or not. He'd have to find out on his own. "Excuse me, I need some help." Thane forced a smile, his gaze bouncing between the two girls, "I think I'm...lost." Boohoo for being fifteen and lost. Shame.

Meet at the library...

... or maybe stick around for a few more minutes.

Still with her tiny lizard in one hand, Nora was actually surprised that she didn't drop the poor guy on the floor when a boy - Hufflepuff, going by his uniform - bounced between her and Gwen, making her wince. Not only was she easily scared, but they were also in the dungeons! Heh, one would think that being a Slytherin got her used to it, but this... no! She wasn't used to people jumping in sight out of nowhere.

And... he was lost? "Err... You're in the dungeons." Captain Obvious. "Close to the Potions classroom, if that helps...?" Maybe he wanted to get to his common room? It wasn't that far away, after all. See? Why did Hufflepuffs get to stay next to the kitchen, and Slytherins got to stay under the lake? Or wherever they were? Not fair.

Gwendolyn just eyed her Slytherin friend for a moment, trying to keep calm and not tell her friend she wasn’t a fan of lizards.’He’s ehh...’, the fifth year looked at the tiny lizard.

Blink. Blink.

Meh. This one was all right. Elijah didn’t look creepy. ’...nice’, she said a bit hesitantly, and then gave a small nod. Yes, fine. Elijah was not that bad. Gwen drew her attention away from the tiny lizard in order to look back at Nora.

’Sounds like a good plan’, the Ravenclaw said, not really willing to study in Divination, but since her friend was coming, it had to make things better. Look at her. Starting to think all positive... Surely she wouldn’t let Nora know about this.

Gwen wanted to say something, but she was suddenly interrupted by some student who stopped somewhere close to the place where the two of them were standing. What did he want? He was... lost?

*eye roll*

’You think?’, the fifth year said rather curtly, raising an eyebrow at him. Hmph. The ’getting lost’ part was for first years. Gwen glimpsed back at her friend as she heard Nora start talking. Eh, what Nora said was quite obvious, but at least the Slytherin was more helpful than her.

Mehhh.

He was a smart kid, alright. SMART and BRIGHT. Although, some things tended to give him a hard time...say, navigating through a gigantic castle, or kaleidoscopic patterns - they always give him a terrible headache if he stares at them for long. Thane squared his shoulders in a futile attempt to appear mettlesome. "You have been very helpful." He let out a 'pfft' before folding his arms.

Oh my stars! Could these two be any more friendlier? What if...what if it had been a lost puppy in lieu of him? Would they still approach the matter with dripping sarcasm? Of course not. "Oh, I think. Do you?" He rejoined, narrowing his eyes slightly. He mightn't be the nicest hufflepuff, but sure knew a thing or two about sarcasm. "I came to visit the potion's professor, and as you can see," He brushed away stray curls that had fallen over his forehead, "it didn't go as planned." Stupid, stupid, Thane. He never had the chance to meet the professor, and now was stuck in this oh so delightful and not at all creepy corridor. Hogwarts had too many corridors, he decided. "I'd prefer to be returned to the safety of my common room."

Nora couldn't help but raise her eyebrows at the short and rather rude exchange between Gwen and the Hufflepuff whose name was a mystery, and her eyebrows rose even more when she got a rude comment, as well. Very helpful. Pffft. At least she tried to be nice and help! And weren't Hufflepuffs supposed to be nicer?

And then her eyes widened. He wanted to visit professor Lafay? Yes, yes, she knew the woman had a good heart, somewhere deep down, and she hadn't even seen her set any students on fire... but she still didn't want to be near her head of house more than was necessary. "And... you couldn't find her?"

As for the... safety of his common room... "I think that's near the kitchen." Although she didn't really know how to get in there. "Are you new here?" Well... he didn't quite look like a first year to be lost around the castle, unless he was one that grew up too early.

After tipping his robe's hood over his face, Milton briskly walked away from Lafay's office, STILL glaring. He was ANGRY and DEFORMED and it was time to report that cruel, evil, heartless woman to the Headmistress. She deformed his beautiful face and now he had to wait until someone told him that he was charming before his face would return to normal. Which would probably never happen.

Soooo, blinded by his hood, Milton stormed down the corridor like a charging bull. Watch out.

Aurora was in such a good mood today, thanks to certain people... or a certain person actually. Though there was a part of her that wanted to turn Ariana in for attacking her. MHMM. But anyway, that didn't matter because she felt AWESOME. And she was going to go up to the kitchen to get a snack of some kind to celebrate...

But someone was barging down the corridor and, because she was too dreamy right now to pay much attention, she didn't notice until they knocked her into the wall. "Hey!! What in Merlin's name do you think you're doing!" she snapped, rubbing her arm where it had hit the wall. Ravenclaw robes... typical.

As Milton was barging his way down the hall, he didn't see a figure in front of him until it was too late. "Oof!" Milton tripped over his feet and flailed in order to catch his balance. But when he stood straight again, he failed to notice his hood had fallen off his head. Milton turned to see who he had ran into to decide if he wanted to apologize to them. Aurora? HA. No apology. "Watch where you're going." Sneer.

Hmm. A bit drafty in the dungeons, wasn't it..? OH! Milton grabbed his hood and covered his head and deformed face again. MAYBE.... Maybe she hadn't seen his face...

Aurora was GLARING at the idiot who had walked into her... was it Milton? Cause he certainly had the walk and the RUDENESS... but...

oh...

Oh Merlin...

Aurora's eyes widened and an amused smirk spread slowly across her lips... "...Milton..?" She couldn't hide the amusement in her voice and then she started laughing. Hard. "Oh Merlin's Pants, what happened to you?" she managed between the fits of laughter... "You look like a deformed troll! It suits you!" Yep. Now the outside matched the inside. Oh Merlin this was too good to be true. Was she dreaming?

Isaac had just attempted to get in the common room and found it to be locked. What was going on? Had they changed the password maybe? Chewing on his lip he went back to the wall where the common room door was and still couldn't get in! Sighing he sat down with his back against the wall somehow hoping that eventually he'd get in, or someone would tell him what the new password was!

Damn, she had noticed! Milton hid his face more and debated whether he should run away or not. He wanted to, but he also wanted to hex Aurora down the hall. And there was no way he was going to tell her how this happened. He would NOT let Lafay have the glory for this.

PLAN B: "Whaaat? Who is Milton?" Milton asked dumbly, trying out a Scottish accent. Because it CERTAINLY was NOT him... Milton stood there for another moment... and then bolted down the hall, making sure his hood was more secure.

Well... Nora may have been a lot nicer than her, but both of them got a rude remark. Gwendolyn drew her attention back to her Slytherin friend, raising an eyebrow at her. See? There’s NO need to be nice. Not now, anyway.

But what was he saying? They had been helpful? Gwendolyn just rolled her eyes at that. What did he expect? Anyway, it wasn’t really their fault for not knowing where the Hufflepuff common room was. She just remained silent for a moment, not really paying attention to what he was babbling about having visited Professor Lafay or something.

Her attention was, however, drawn back to the Hufflepuff as she heard him say something about returning to the Common Room. ‘Then do so’, the fifth year said rather curtly. Oh, right. He didn’t know how to get back. ‘Go along the corridor, then to the left, and you should be able to figure it out from there’ See. She could TOTALLY be nice. ‘So WHY are you still here?’ Erm. Riiight.

Totally nice.

The fifth year just expected him to leave, and yet, Nora was asking him another question. Was he new? Surely… he had to be. Who else would have gotten lost around the castle? But anyway- Did they really have to make conversation? Gwen just wanted to leave, but she decided to wait a bit, just to finish the plan with studying for OWLs.

"ACHOO!"

Alex Greingoth sniffled and rubbed his nose. Colds were NO fun at all, and he couldn't remember the last time he had a cold, so it was extra worse. He tried to avoid being sick if possible, and had managed to be free of germs for a few years. Now he felt like he was dying. No fun at allllll.

Why was he down here in the dungeons again? Oh right, he'd been hoping to run in to his sort-of-step-mother and see if she had any pepper up potion or something. He could go to the nurse, but the line was ridiculous and he was not about to wait with MORE sick people and make himself even worse.

Sierra was strolling down the corridor at the pace of a snail. Why? Well, she'd been feeling rock bottom sick for a full week today, and for some reason, she just wasn't better at all. She was currently roaming the corridor in search of her mother, who was probably in her office. If she could just get to that office, which seemed about a mile and a half away with her being sick, everything would be soooo much better.

...and on top of that, her blasted arm was still wrapped into a bandage, a battle wound from the Quidditch pitch. Feeling a little weak, her eyes fluttered closed, and then...they opened wide again when she heard a sneeze. She whirled around to see just who this was about to see her in one of her weakest moments. "Alex...ALEX!" she said. She needed him to be her GUINEA PIG, too. There was that one homework assignment, which she thought might be a little late...