Ohhh, so that was a topic to avoid? Got it. He gave her a sympathetic look and even looked at her hand for a moment. "Well, I'm sure it's much better trained for next time." Er... that was the wrong thing to say, right? Ooops! He put his hand over his mouth to shut himself up, but cocked his head at her question.

"Of course I did. Could have done with you around the last couple of days." He smiled at her sadly, but shrugged it off, figuring she wouldn't really want to know all about the drama. "Did you miss me?" He turned her own question on her with a half smile.

Nell barked out a laugh as she hoped that there wouldn't be a next time. Though he did have a point that just wasn't something she wanted to think about right now. Tonight was for her to cut loose and spend some time with her amazing, handsome boyfriend.

Her smile fell at his tone and the look on his face.

Could have done with you around the last couple of days....

A frown of concern had her searching his face and wondering what had happened during her absence. She gave him a small smile her eyes on his face. "I missed you every minute of every day." She said it softly and meant every word. Whatever had been going on she wanted him to know that she was here now.

When her smile fell, he smiled guiltily at her. He hadn't meant to make her feel bad. Her response made him hug her again and steal a quick kiss. He sighed softly at the look on her face though. "I should explain." He took her hand and started to walk around the house with her, wanting to explore while he explained.

"Sutton... kissed Isaac. And he told Amelia." He wasn't going to say just how devastated Amelia had been, it was kind of implied. "But I ended up having to choose which one of the three I was going to comfort first. Hardest decision ever." He shook his head, remembering how awkward it had felt.

Leaning into his kiss she lingered there for a few moments savoring being in his arms again. It had only been a couple of days but it had felt like eternity. Whoever said absence makes the heart grow fonder wasn't playing. Her feelings were swelling up inside her making her feel like she was floating on air.

Nell laced her fingers through his and followed him through the house. She listened just taking everything in. Who was Sutton? And why had she kissed Isaac? She looked into his face and saw the struggle he had been going through. "You can blame yourself or get upset for being human. You can only be in one place at a time." She paused and gave his hand a squeeze. "Who did you choose?"

'Oh PLEASE tell me that Sely didn't consume it!' was constantly running through her head as she was making her way towards the Great Hall. She had heard about this year's annual prefect event and she had been looking forward to it ever since she saw it on the notice board. And she was more than excited to go and see this huge surprise! So excited that she was practically flying while she was running in her boots towards this surprise.

And it had only taken what felt like a matter of moments before she had arrived at the Great Hall. Violet looked throughout the large dining hall biting her lower lip in anticipation. The only thing that she had seen was the large Christmas tree towards the other end of the hall as usual, but then, WAIT! Violet gasped scurrying her feet rushing towards this-MASSIVE GINGERBREAD HOUSE!

She had stopped dead in her tracks, her jaw dropping at this wondrous creation. Was all of it really a gingerbread house? Without another hesitation Violet made her way into the house still in awe. Every simple thing she passed only amazed her more and more. Violet had no idea where to begin first.

A sigh escaped him at the truth in her words. "I know, it's just hard to deal with three people at once, you know?" He picked up a Bertie Bott's bean and after examining it and giving it a sniff, he popped it into his mouth. Oooh, yay! Bubblegum flavour! He had to explain the situation to her fully now just so Nell knew why he'd chosen the only person out of the three who wasn't close to him.

"Well, uh, Amelia. She was absolutely devastated. And once she'd calmed down, she went after Isaac and since she was going after him and I knew she'd make sure he was okay, I went after Sutton." Silly girl had run out into the cold. "She didn't have a coat and instead of using her brain and running back inside, she went out into the cold. I found her by the playground thing hugging the Groundskeeper's dog." He picked up another bean that was exactly the same colour and size as the one he had earlier and offered it to her. "It's bubblegum flavour, promise."

Minerva decided to explore the fun some more. It was starting to put her in a better mood. Moving on to the rest of the fun, Minerva came across a big gingerbread house. This looked interesting, walking into the house she couldn't believe her eyes. Wow was this more then interesting it was amazing.

Going to the rooms to look around she came across an empty one. Wonder why it was empty she thought. Then she saw the walls, hmm did they taste as good as they looked, but what if someone else licked at that spot, what if they were sick and I get sick, she thought to herself. Looking around she shrugged, she had to try this. She leaned at the wall and licked.. Hmm that tasted just like a candy cane. Minerva couldn't help but giggle to herself.

This was simply an extravagant, breath-taking, wondrous event! Beezus couldn't get enough of the different spectacles appearing before her very eyes. It was as if Hogwarts was turned into a Christmas town..

There were so much stuff going on that the Ravenclaw didn't know where to go first. The Meet and Greet booth for the Headmistress was off-limits for her though, too much pink...she'd suffocate faster than she could say Merry Christmas to the woman. The Baking Are was overcrowded too, and seeing as Kurumi and the house elves weren't exactly going about easily with all the other Hogwartians around, Beezus chose to not add herself to the stampede.

So..the gigantic Gingerbread House it is!

Beezus shuffled towards the said structure and stared in awe in front of its doors at how its walls and windows looked so tasty.

Anybody else wanna nom the roof with her?

This is certainly a great Christmas story to share when Juliet goes home. Obviously her parents will definitely ask her first year at Hogwarts. She may not include the things that happened during the first day when they arrived. You know, that train incident where they had to travel by the use of portkey... Yeah, everyone remembers that bit. But this is definitely going to be a tale to tell.

Everything right now just looks magnificent. The moment Juliet entered the gingerbread house, she already wanted to eat the whole thing. Her eyes sort of glittered and sparkled as she scanned the whole house from top to bottom. One thing is for sure, she is liking this house and wishes that she, herself, could have one of these back home.

Spotting a girl beside her, she sort of mumbled to herself, loud enough for the girl hear "Are we allowed to eat this?" she giggled. Are they? Because she would love to have some of those chocolate staircase right now!

He was completely bored since he spent most of his time by sleeping at the dorm. Huh, sleepyhead. Didn't know why but Gary felt like there's nothing special for this term except about the Quidditch. Huh.. Maybe walking around the Hogwarts and take some photographs will make his mood better and cure his boredom.

Grabbing his camera, he walked outside from his dorm and while he was walking at the Great Hall, the blonde guy spotted something different than usual. Ugh, how could he didn't know that there was a special event that held by the Prefects? Of course! He was such an apathetic boy who didn't interested about what's happening around. Hmm.. So he decided to drag himself there. Because it did look interesting.

His blue eyes spotted a giant gingerbread house. Wow! His photography instinct said that he must take some photos of it. Click! It was so wonderful! How could he didn't realize that Hogwarts has cool event like this despite of their weird mystery. Noticed around, Gary saw Beezus was here too.. and the girl who he ever met at the pep rally. Ugh.. Wjhat'shernameagain? Gerald Rush was never good in memorizing people's name. He just smiled to both of them since he's also never good to start a conversation, especially with girls.

Ugh. Icing...and... *SNIFFSNIFF* ..did that smell like honey? Oh, yes it did. She wanted to pounce about the large room now, and start testing which yummy looking things were edible. Plus, she had an Antillergen Potion ready just in case she'd have trouble with chocolate. So yeah, she was ready..

She hoped Erin was there with her right now, the girl would really love everything. Sadly however, her bestfriend was spending some quality time with her biological family so no Erin, only Beezus to commit the crime.

Just as she had intertwined her fingers, ready to take a step into the cavern of delicious ornaments and more, a question from someone beside stopped her on her tracks. Were they allowed to eat it? Beezus gigglesnorted, and turned to the girl. Oh, it was Juliet! From Transfiguration! "Well..I suppose? But...we should try just to make sure, right?" And by that, she meant they go and explore and start the nomming!

The Ravenclaw was in the process of grabbing the she-snake's arm to pull her deeper into the Gingerbread house when another Slytherin came, smiling at them. Gerald Rush. Mr. I-don't-care. Hmm. Wasn't it high time he start caring? Like...care if they could eat that Gingerbread House down? YEP.. Without any hesitation, Beezus went about to grab Juliet's arm and whirled around to grasp Gary's arm with her other one. Then she positioned herself in between the two. "Okay! Let's see if this house is strong enough for our appetites!" Grin to the two. GRIN. GRIN.

"Let's gooo!" ...and off they went, the brunette pulling the two as they entered an empty room full of colorful wallpapers. Hmmm.. only the wallpapers and nothing else... Hmmm.. Hmmmm..

"Gerald, could you lick the wall?"

When the girl turned to face her. Juliet automatically smiled. Because YES, she definitely recognized the short hair Ravenclaw. It's nice to see familiar faces at this time. Juliet barely knew people even from her house but it didn't matter much. She'll eventually catch up or something like that. You know, make more friends in due time.

we should try just to make sure, right?

More giggling. "Beezus right?" if she remembers correctly. She remembers working with her during Transfiguration. They had to design a top for the mannequin and Juliet hopefully, managed to help her at the time. As a response to her question, Juliet nodded. Juliet would love to try anything that her hand can carry right now.

But before she could speak further, a familiar Slytherin is spotted. What's his name again? Juliet knows he's that guy with the camera during the pep rally. Aaaaaaand he still has his camera around. That's good. Taking pictures with muggle cameras are surely fun. Juliet waved her hand to Gary, shyly.

All of a sudden, Beezus just snatched Juliet's arm dragging her........... somewhere. Not that Juliet is complaining about it. Let's see if this house is strong enough for our appetites!

"I'll try" she said with a wide smile as her eyes once again searched for something that will fulfill her palate's content. Not to mention she is sort of not allowed to eat anything heavy NOR sweet at the moment. Her cousin will be furious enough if he knew. Darn that recital! But he need not know right? It's not like he has his own spy around school for her to be careful with it.

"Where to start?!"

Juliet! Yeah, how could he forgor about her name? Oh, maybe because they just met once at the Pep rally and Gary was never good in remembering people's name, and socializing around. He preferred spent his time alone at his bedroom, reading or sleeping. Or go outside for his photography hobby. Just like he wanted to say Hi to her (and Beezus too), suddenly he felt like someone had pulled his arm.

GAAAAAASP!!

The blonde guy didn't say anything when Beezus dragged him to the gingerbread house. Let's see if this house is strong enough for our appetites! Uh oh.. Didn't she know that Gary doesn't like sweets? No, of course. None of people here knew about that except Tiffany... and Zhenya. But.. how to refuse it? "Can we eat all of things here?" Suddenly he asked. Stupid question, Gerald! All of people here will drool and want to eat them.. except someone who doesn't like sweets like you.

Yep. Beezus it was, Juliet.. the Ravenclaw nodded and smiled at the girl in affirmation. She was the only Beezus around, no? So it wasn't like she was going to get her confused with someone else.

Okaaayy..

So..unto the licking of the wall!

WAIT..Why was Rush not licking the wall? The rainbowtastic, candyful, sweet-looking wallpaper! Merlin, merlin. He needed to clean his ears. He was definitely going deaf. She released her hold on the boy and scrunched her nose. "As I've told Juliet a while ago Mr. Apple-obsessed, we are not sure which ones are edible." Nod. Nod. "Hence why I'm telling you to lick the wall," Beezus pointed at a one part that had christmas canes sketches. "...there, that one so we'd know if we could eat it.." Or lick it.

So go, Gary.

On to Juliet..hold on, what?! She was asking where they would start? Beezus sighed and released her grip on the she-snake's arm too. What was wrong with these dungeon people? Can't they see they were on an empty room already, surrounded by yummy looking wallpapers? "Juliet, this IS where we start." Smiles to you girl, okay? "..And we shall let Gerald test the veracity of these wallpapers, if they're comestible or not..since boys are good with licking.." O____o Freeze. WTH? Her blabbering mouth! "..Err..what I meant was he needs to be a gentleman and try it out first." So if ever it was poisoned, they would be saved.

The Ravenclaw then gave the boy a look that clearly said, 'Go! Lick the wall!'

Can we eat all of things here?

Well, that's why him licking the wall should be done, THEN they would know if the place is edible or not. It could technically be charmed because right now, Juliet can smell all the fruity flavors on the wall. OR, it could be the real deal. CANDY!!! Pure sweet and awesome CANDY.

Juliet stood there with Beezus whose arms are still clinging to hers. Juliet let out a giggle when Beezus called him Mr. Apple-obsessed. He likes apples? Then hopefully he likes candies too. Candies are always fun to eat, no questions asked at that.

Anticipating and waiting for Mr. Apples Gary to lick the wall, Beezus, out-of-the-blew- something that wants Juliet to just roll-on-the-floor-and-laugh-out-loud.

since boys are good with licking

But of course she didn't ROTFLOL. She manage to calm herself and every nerve of her body right now. She stared long enough at Beezus but didn't say much other than "T-that's just..." unable to finish the whole sentence as well. But never mind that, Beezus manage to correct herself within seconds. Yeah, nice save.

BACK TO BUSINESS which is Gary. Candy wallpapers. Try it! Go ahead Gary. We're waiting!!!!

"..And we shall let Gerald test the veracity of these wallpapers, if they're comestible or not..since boys are good with licking.."

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTT??

How could she say like that, huh?

NO! Gerald Rush didn't want to LICK the wall. That's disgusting.. and humiliating. Besides that. there's no exact proof that boys are good in licking. Well, that's not the point. The main point is he never like sweets! If he could, he would say that all of them weren't edible and.. Gotcha! They would step back from this... thing.

Exhales

"No." said him short. "Why don't you try it by yourself?" asked him to Beezus. Because she's the one who was so amused about this thing and wanted to eat them, right? The blonde guy didn't notice that Juliet forced him to lick it.. Yeah, that's your idea, Castell! as his mind said why his blue eyes stared at Beezus.

Dude, this is not a good idea! Now he felt regret why he did want to leave his bed and drag himself to this place. Somehow all of his photography instinct always drag him into trouble. First, his camera was stolen by a psycho-puff-girl-whatever-her-name-was and second? THIS!

So? He just casually stood and without doing anything.

Juliet, oh...please no staring.....that's like very awkward considering what just came out of her mouth. She must've saved herself but the look from her companions indicated that they noticed how a certain phrase was used extensively. That's just...? That's just what? Beezus plastered a rather wide smile as she shrugged at Juliet. "What?"

UGH. What was this? He was actually flipping her off? He was ruining their supposed to be fun adventure, spoiling their enthusiasm!

She? She lick the wall instead of him?

Narrowing her eyes, she glared at the he-snake. I will make you lick that wall Gerald Rush, you'll see. "How rude of you Gerald.." *crossing arms* "..no, I am not going to lick the wall unless you have proven that it's safe for consumption." She had no plans on going to the Hospital Wing during Christmas season. Or maybe she could just blackmail Gary and tell him that she'd ask Dylan to kick him out of the Quidditch Team? Yeah...no. She wasn't using Dylan. Beezus huffed then her gaze settled on Juliet...she still couldn't figure out why the girl was oddly familiar.

...then an idea struck her...

"On second thought, I would lick the wall IF you," Yes, we are pointing at you Rush. "..agree to what I'll make you do afterwards." Hmmm? "Don't worry...it won't include licking." Nod, as she shot Juliet a furtive, devious glance.

Tay was wandering around and so happened to end up in the gingerbread house. Taylor glanced around for anyone she knew as she straighten out her red dress with the white fur trimings around the bottom, the neckline and the sleeves. The sleeves went down to her wrists while the skirts were an inch above her knees. The top part was around her shoulders, showing off her shoulders. Tay's curls were cascaded down her back and glistened in the light.

Damon walked up and seeing Taylor, though he no longer felt anything for her but friendship, his heart skipped a beat. He walked over and gave her a hug, "Hey Taylor." He smile down at his technical cousin, "You look amazing, mon ami."

Tay glanced at him and hugged him back, "Thanks, cuz." She ruffled her curls and sighed. Taylor glanced around for someone else but then gave up and looked up at Damon, "Wanna explore this house with me?"

"Sure," He gave a genuine smile, the first one in a while actually, "Sounds like it could be fun."

Tay faked a smile, "Okay..." She looked around the first room and sat down in the bouncing chairs. She held her skirt down, obviously as she let out a giggle.

What?

Juliet wasn't sure as to why she said those words to Beezus in the first place nor she has the exact reason as to WHAT exactly it is. Instead of a reply she just shrugged and looked back at Gary, who is actually having that look on his face. Great. So he and Juliet actually have the same thought in mind.... or... err... not but if he looks just as terrified as Juliet with what Beezus had said then it must be that they bought thought of the same thing right? Then again, maybe not. Teehee...

Juliet just stood there, neither wanting to join in with the argue nor wants to lick the wall. One would look really creepy and at the same time crazy to lick those walls and if Gary has brains that works he WILL NOT lick the wall even if Beezus is forcing him to do so. Juliet never would lick those walls. EVER. Her mother will cut off her tongue if ever that happened.

IDEA!

She sort of raised her hand enough for the two to see and maybe stop with the licking argument. "Why not try using your thumb?" she suggested. Press the thumb into the wall and then lick the thumb afterwards. Same results and none of the creepy stuff.

Minerva had just left the empty room with the yummy walls, she wasn't paying much attention when she almost tripped on her boot. Grabbing whatever in front of her to catch her fall she looked up, "Oh hey Damon, sorry about that." she smiled at her two friends. "Taylor" bigger smile cam across her face. They were getting along that was great. "How are you two? Having fun?" she looked around, "I just kind of got here, but the walls in that room are very yummy."

"Hey, Mins." She ruffled her curls, "Hmm I guess I am good... yeah I guess I am having fun... How are you? Having fun?" Tay glanced around and then back at Mins and Damon.